Robert McKee
Robert McKee
Robert McKeeis a creative writing instructor who is widely known for his popular "Story Seminar", which he developed when he was a professor at the University of Southern California. McKee is the author of a "screenwriters' bible" called Story: Substance, Structure, Style and the Principles of Screenwriting. Online, McKee has a blog and a writers' resource website called "Storylogue"...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionEducator
CountryUnited States of America
moving two profound
Story is morally neutral. It can express profound truth or propaganda. The two greatest political storytellers of the 20th Century were Winston Churchill and Adolph Hitler. Because storytelling is a form of persuasive jujitsu, and because world is full of black belt storytellers, the corporate leader has to train both his offensive and defensive moves
profound choices given
Given the choice between trivial material brilliantly told versus profound material badly told, an audience will always choose the trivial told brilliantly.
accomplish-nothing fuel crafts
Talent without craft is like fuel without an engine, it burns wildly but accomplishes nothing.
powerful drama light
A culture cannot evolve without honest, powerful storytelling. When a society repeatedly experiences glossy, hollowed-out, pseudo-stories, it degenerates. We need true satires and tragedies, dramas and comedies that shine a clean light into the dingy corners of the human psyche and society.
lists stories bullets
Stories are how we remember; we tend to forget lists and bullet points.
erosion stories universal
The universal erosion of values has lead to the universal erosion of story.
artist rebellious break
Anxious, inexperienced writers obey rules. Rebellious, unschooled writers break rules. Artists master the form.
sex law return
The Law of Diminishing Returns is true of everything in life, except sex, which seems endlessly repeatable with effect.
stories currency humans
Stories are the currency of human relationships.
stories originality duplication
Story is about originality, not duplication
culture stories bigs
Stories build cultures by answering the big questions.
stories form universal
Story is about eternal, universal forms, not formulas.
plato civilization too-much
No civilization, including Plato's, has ever been destroyed because its citizens learned too much.
boredom suffering desire
Boredom is the inner conflict we suffer when we lose desire, when we lack a lacking.