Robert McKee Quotes

No matter our talent, we all know in the midnight of our souls that 90 percent of what we do is less than our best.

Porque los artistas no deben tener sólo ideas que expresar, sino ideas que demostrar. Expresar una idea, en el sentido de presentarla, nunca es suficiente. El público no debe únicamente entender; debe creer.

Anxious, inexperienced writers obey rules. Rebellious, unschooled writers break rules. Artists master the form.

live in a fictional reality that illuminates our daily reality.

Write every day, line by line, page by page, hour by hour. Do this despite fear. For above all else, beyond imagination and skill, what the world asks of you is courage, courage to risk rejection, ridicule and failure. As you follow the quest for stories told with meaning and beauty, study thoughtfully but write boldly. Then, like the hero of the fable, your dance will dazzle the world.

An honest story is at home in one, and only one, place and time.

The art of story is not about the middle ground, but about the pendulum of existence swinging to the limits, about life lived in its most intense states. We explore the middle ranges of experience, but only as a path to the end of the line. The audience senses that limit and wants it reached. For no matter how

"Eavesdrop on any coffee shop conversation and you'll realize in a heartbeat you'd never put that slush onscreen. Real conversation is full of awkward pauses, poor word choices and phrasing, non sequiturs, pointless repetitions; it seldom makes a point or achieves closure. But that's okay because conversation isn't about making points or achieving closure. It's what psychologists call "keeping the channel open." Talk is how we develop and change relationships."

Stanislavski called this the “Magic if …,” the daydreamy hypothetical that floats through the mind, opening the door to the imagination where everything and anything seems possible.

La ignorancia es una estupidez temporal debida a una falta de información, mientras que la estupidez es decidida, independientemente de cuánta información se transmita.

The weakest possible excuse to include anything in a story is: “But it actually happened.” Everything happens; everything imaginable happens. Indeed, the unimaginable happens. But story is not life in actuality. Mere occurrence brings us nowhere near the truth. What happens is fact, not truth. Truth is what we think about what happens.

Designing story tests the maturity and insight of the writer, his knowledge of society, nature, and the human heart.

Every host in Hollywood has made that mistake: “Let’s invite some comedy writers to the party! That’ll brighten things up.” Sure… till the paramedics arrive.

"Sí yo fuera este personaje y en estas circunstancias nuevas, ¿qué haría?". Tras encontrar el camino hasta esa reacción y esa acción, volvemos a salir de ese punto de vista y preguntamos, "¿qué sería lo contrario?"

If the scene is about what the scene is about, you’re in deep shit.