Is Your Fictional World Believable?

Can fiction go too far? Robert McKee explains the key to credibility, whether your story stretches reality or exists in an alternate reality.   Quote of the Week “Fiction can show you a different world. It can take you somewhere you’ve never been....

Where does ‘truth’ in story come from, if not from suffering?

  And what constitutes ‘truth’ in story? Robert McKee explores how stories make meaning.   Quote of the Week “Suffering is no more drama than Happiness is. Happiness and Suffering  are the static states of emotion experience in which nothing changes....

How to Create a Great Short Work

Telling a Story in One Act Short films, advertisements, and water cooler stories all require a quick entry, a turn, and an exit. Robert McKee explains what makes them work well. For the list of Oscar-nominated short films mentioned in the video, please click...

What Makes a Story Uniquely Told?

In story design, what matters most? Action or reaction? “In story, as in life, the number of different events that can happen to a human being is limited. You win or lose; you fall in love or out; you suffer injustice or get revenge; you become a better person...

How Can I Write a Timeless Story?

Robert McKee responds to a question about consciously trying to write a classic, and discusses whether approaching your writing in that way is worthwhile.   A few suggestions about how to write from other writers: “Every good storyteller nowadays starts...

Do Your Scenes Turn?

Changing the Positive and Negative Charges of a Value to Create Truly Effective Scenes. From Robert McKee’s bestseller, STORY: Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting (also available as an audio book):   “A SCENE is an action...

Are Video Games Art?

Robert McKee discusses the storytelling potential of video games, and helps to frame the “Game vs. Art” debate by delineating the key difference in the experience each aims to provide: the required activity or passivity of the audience.    Bassim...