[G]reat stories communicate simple truths that reflect the poetic dimensions of the human soul. Not only do powerful characters help us understand our lives, their stories reflect our core values as human beings.

Karl Marx: “Religion is the opiate of the masses.”Carrie Fisher: “I did masses of opiates religiously.

If the story you’re telling, is the story you’re telling, you’re in deep shit.

Outside the cinema I had not yet learned to live, but within it I had most certainly learned to die. I could die for you in every way known to man, and in a few...

All writing is discipline, but screenwriting is a drill sergeant.

Your audience is your adversary. If you don’t have one get one – imagine it. Imagine it now. To whom is your story addressed and why? Audience is always a creative act of the imagination....

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.

The answer to the question, ‘where’s the drama?’ is another question: ‘what’s the problem?

Makebelieve is a writer’s best friend.

Collaborating on a film script involves two people sitting in a room separated by the silence of two minds working together.

Nowadays films and television are what I like to call “Microwave Media”. I like mine in the oven, giving the production time to simmer; get the juices flowing, and cooked to perfection. And that takes...

It’s an enormous wall that’s built between you and your dreams. And if every day, you just chip away… It may take ten years, but eventually you just might see some light.

people don’t really want original stories. they want different versions of the same story. this is called meta-narrative.

To paraphrase Muggeridge: Everything is a parable that God is speaking to us, the art of life is to get the message.

I think, because…well, I like the idea of coming up with a story that never existed before, but I don’t really want to be in charge. I don’t want to be famous. I guess I...

When he was in college, a famous poet made a useful distinction for him. He had drunk enough in the poet’s company to be compelled to describe to him a poem he was thinking of....