Quotes for Writers on Narrative and Storytelling

“We all want the movies we write to get made. And that’s only going to happen if someone likes the script. Executives read a guh-zillion scripts on the weekend. It would be idiotic for me not to have him try and enjoy the ride.”
(William Goldman, from his book Four Screenplays with Essays)

“Movies are finally, centrally, crucially, primarily only about story.”
(William Goldman, from the introduction in his book Five Screenplays with Essays)

“What is happening now is apt to be less dramatically interesting than what may or may not happen next.”
(Alexander Mackendrick)

“All drama is conflict. Without conflict, you have no character; without character you have no action. Without action, you have no story, and without story, you have no screenplay.”
(Syd Field, from his book Four Screenplays)

“Good screenwriting plays against the grain, plays against the obvious, plays against the way you would expect things to happen.”
(Syd Field, from his book Four Screenplays)

“In art, the obvious is a sin.”
(Edward Dmytryk)

“Whenever you write, whatever you write, never make the mistake of assuming the audience is any less intelligent than you are.”
(Rod Serling)

“The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.” (William Arthur Ward) Substitute the word “teacher” with “writer” and you have a powerful, relevent piece of advice for the screenwriter.

“I try to make my screenplays as readable an experience as I can, for a good and greedy reason—I want the executives, who read them and who have the power to greenlight a flick, to say, ‘Hey, I can make money out of this.’”
(William Goldman, from his book Four Screenplays with Essays)

Writer Motivation – Quotations

“I shall live badly if I do not write, and I shall write badly if I do not live.” (Francoise Sagan)

“Why do writers write? Because it isn’t there.” (Thomas Berger)

“Close the door. Unplug the phone. Cheat, lie, disappoint your pals, if necessary, but get your work done.” (Garrison Keillor)

“One hasn’t become a writer until one has distilled writing into a habit, and that habit has been forced into an obsession. Writing has to be an obsession. It has to be something as organic, physiological, and psychological as speaking or sleeping or eating.” (Niyi Osundare)

These next five are some of my favorite quotes for general motivation toward taking on any monumental task, whether writing or not:

”The most important thing I have learned over the years is the difference between taking one’s work seriously and taking one’s self seriously. The first is imperative, and the second disastrous.” (Margaret Fontey)

“We have forty million reasons for failure, but not a single excuse.” (Rudyard Kipling)

“Every production of genius must be the production of enthusiasm.” (Benjamin Disraeli)

“They are ill discoverers that think there is no land, when they can see nothing but sea.” (Francis Bacon)

“A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.” (Chinese Proverb)

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act, but a habit.” (Aristotle)

“As I got ready to write the screenplay [for Terminator 2], I kept asking myself, What’s the real goal of this movie? Are we going to blow people away and get them all excited? Is that it? Or is there a way we can get them to really feel something? I thought it would be a real coup if we can get people to cry for a machine. If we can get people to cry for Arnold Schwarzenegger playing a robots, that would be terrific.”
(Screenwriter-Director James Cameron)

“Illusion is the first of all pleasures.” (Oscar Wilde)

Characters & Characterization

“Good screenwriting allows the main character to discover what’s going on at the same time as the audience discovers what’s going on. Character and audience are connected by the community of emotion.”
(Syd Field, from chapter 12 of his book Four Screenplays)

“At the end of a movie (or any good narrative) ask yourself, How did the main character change? What did she want or need at first, how did she go about getting it, and what did she finally achieve or discover? What did that character learn? Usually there is an obvious answer that hides some more problematic issues: the action plot may be over, but a new plot is just beginning.”
(Stephen J. Cannell)

“A character in isolation is hard to make dramatic. Drama usually involves conflict. If the conflict is internal, then the dramatist needs to personify it through the clash with other individuals.”
(Film director Alexander Mackendrick from his book On Film-Making)

“Self pity in a character does not evoke sympathy.”
(Film director Alexander Mackendrick from his book On Film-Making)

“It is desirable that all characters, even those only shown briefly shown, be presented as whole human beings. Any character worth keeping is worth developing.”
(Author and Film director Edward Dmytryk from his book On Screen Directing).

“Beware of sympathy between characters. That is the END of “drama.”
(Film director Alexander Mackendrick from his book On Film-Making)

“A good film is behavior. In the language of screenwriting, action is character. What a person does is what he is. How the characters respond, what they do, what they say, how they act or react in a particular situation are what really define their character.”
(Syd Field, from his book Four Screenplays)

“What I’ll do is go out in the backyard in the morning, and just sit there and try to open myself up and let the characters come to me; let them talk to me. So much of writing is about getting quiet enough so you can hear your characters talking. Sometimes I feel they choose you because they know you’re listening. You just have to shut up and listen.”
Screenwriter Callie Khoury

“When you have two characters equally sharing the role of protagonist, their combined personalities become a single entity — the yin and yang… two halves that complete each other.” He uses Thelma and Louise as an example of this.
(Syd Field, from his book Four Screenplays)

“Obstacles must confront your hero throughout your screenplay”
(Michael Hauge, author and Hollywood script consultant)

“When the screenwriter stares into that 60 page unit of dramatic action that makes up Act II, it’s important to remain focused on the dramatic need of the character. It establishes the foundation of the conflict that pushes the action forward through Act II and will provide a context for the Confrontation.”
(Syd Field, from chapter 12 of his book Four Screenplays)

“Stories are driven by desire; Your hero’s goals and objectives determine the story concept, plot, and structure.”
(Michael Hauge, author and Hollywood script consultant)

“In every film that’s worth its salt, there’s the text, and there’s the subtext. And the subtext of this film is alienation. The language and the culture worked against Gene’s character.” John Frankenheimer, Director talking about the lead character in French Connection II played by Gene Hackman)

Scene Structure

“Every scene in a book or script should do two things. First, It should progress the story. The test is, if the scene is removed does it leave a hole in the plot? Second, the scene should simultaneously advance the character relationships.” (Stephen J. Cannell)

(on creating narrative drive) “The end of a scene should include a clear pointer as to what the next scene is going to be.”
(Film director Alexander Mackendrick from his book On Film-Making)

“In screenwriting, where you enter the scene becomes important, and the general rule is to enter late and get out early.” (Syd Field, from his book Four Screenplays). He advises designing the scene so that you “enter at the last possible moment, just before the purpose of the scene is established. Then end the scene literally before it is ended,” so as to create a narrative tension, drawing the viewer into the next scene.

“The opening scenes should create identification between audience and hero – a sense that they are equals in some ways … by giving heroes universal goals, drives, desires, or needs.” (Christopher Vogler, in The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structures for Writers )

“If you don’t know whether to write a scene or not, write the scene.” (Syd Field, from his book Four Screenplays , regarding those moments where you are not sure whether to trust that the audience will “get it” or whether you need to come right out and say/show something to make sure they get it)

(On the subject of Narrative Drive) “The end of a scene should include a clear pointer as to what the next scene is going to be.”
(British film director Alexander Mackendrick)

“Particularly in a screenplay or teleplay, it is important to write economically. A great scene often accomplishes several things at once, skillfully weaving together elements of plot, character, conflict and foreshadowing. Do it in one scene instead of four. Look for opportunities of compression without overloading. After you write your scene or chapter, go back and ask yourself: What can I cut to make it cleaner and clearer?”
Writer and lecturer Stephen J. Cannell