Writing with Passion
Robert McKee explains how the pursuit of technical perfection can be an invaluable impulse for writers working on projects for which they have no personal passion.
Arousing Concern for Your Protagonist
Robert McKee teaches the importance of avoiding cheap devices when seeking to arouse empathy for your protagonist.
Truth and Idealism in Story
Robert McKee reaffirms the difference between fact and truth in storytelling, and teaches how even the most idealistic core meanings can still be true.
Finding Your Voice
Robert McKee teaches the folly of trying to artificially create a style, and how writers can discover their unique way of telling a story.
Creativity vs. Innovation
Robert McKee discusses the creative struggle, how it differs between individuals and groups, and what strategies a writer can employ to create truly innovative work.
Reversing Your Story’s Genre
Robert McKee teaches the benefits and risks involved in reversing genres to create a unique story.
Why Is Study Essential to a Writer?
Robert McKee discusses the romanticism of creativity and teaches how destructive and limiting it can be to a writer’s education.
Why Quality Writing Is Rare
Robert McKee addresses a common complaint about Oscar-nominated screenplays, and discusses the relative scarcity of works of supreme quality.
Do You Have to Write Out All Your Drafts?
Robert McKee teaches the importance of writing your ideas down, and why its dangerous keeping rewrites in your head.
Creating Empathy for Secondary Characters
Robert McKee teaches the benefits and dangers of allowing supporting characters to draw more empathy than your protagonist.
Drama vs. Dialogue
Robert McKee teaches the difference between excessive dialogue and character talk that serves an essential purpose in story.
Do Screenwriters Supply the Film’s Image System?
Robert McKee discusses the process a director might use when implementing image systems, and how ultimately they are embedded in the story by the writer.