Story: Style, Structure, Substance, and the Principles of Screenwriting

The Spine is the deep desire in and effort by the protagonist to restore the balance of life.

Values, the positive/negative charges of life, are at the soul of our art.

to validate themselves one to the other as authentic Californians—“centered” and “in touch with their inner beings.

We can turn scenes only one of two ways: on action or on revelation. There are no other means.

The screenwriting is the art of making the mental physical.

the quantity of conflict in life is constant. Something is always lacking.

In most cases, the Inciting Incident is a single event that either happens directly to the protagonist or is caused by the protagonist.

A story cannot be told about a protagonist who doesn’t want anything, who cannot make decisions, whose actions effect no change at any level.

We have only one responsibility: to tell the truth.