Story is metaphor for life and life is lived in time. - Robert McKee

Story is metaphor for life.

Within the first pages of a screenplay a reader can judge the relative skill of the writer simply by noting how he handles exposition.

THE PRINCIPLE OF CREATIVE LIMITATION Limitation is vital. The first step toward a well-told story is to create a small, knowable world. Artists by nature crave freedom, so the principle that the structure/setting relationship restricts creative choices may stir the rebel in you. With a closer look, however, you’ll see that this relationship couldn’t be more positive. The constraint that setting imposes on story design doesn’t inhibit creativity; it inspires it.

an audience will always choose the trivial told brilliantly