Robert McKee Quotes

11 Sourced Quotes

What happens is fact, not truth. Truth is what we think about what happens.

Robert McKee
When talented people write badly, it's generally for one of two reasons: Either they're blinded by an idea they feel compelled to prove of they're driven by an emotion they must express. When talented people write well, it is generally for this reason: They're moved by a desire to touch the audience.

Robert McKee
Night after night, through years of performing and directing, I've stood in awe of the audience, of its capacity for response. As if by magic, masks fall away, faces become vulnerable, receptive. Filmgoers do not defend their emotions, rather they open to the storyteller in ways even their lovers never know, welcoming laughter, tears, terror, rage, compassion, passion, love, hate—the ritual often exhausts them.

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

Robert McKee
The material of literary talent is words; the material of story talent is life itself.

Robert McKee
Story isn't a flight from reality but a vehicle that carries us on our search for reality,

Robert McKee
Given the choice between trivial material brilliantly told versus profound material badly told, an audience will always choose the trivial told brilliantly.

Robert McKee
If you can't play all the instruments in the orchestra of story, no matter what music may be in your imagination, you're condemned to hum the same old tune.

Robert McKee
Secure writers don't sell first drafts. They patiently rewrite until the script is as director-ready, as actor-ready as possible. Unfinished work invites tampering, while polished, mature work seals its integrity.

Robert McKee
The mark of a master is to select only a few moments, but give us a lifetime.

Robert McKee
Talent without craft is like fuel without an engine, it burns wildly but accomplishes nothing.

Robert McKee