jared hogan

1.    to find the truth, get your own heart to pound while you write.

2.    story is metaphor for life; no story is innocent.

       no story is just entertainment.

3.    an honest writer constantly questions the human significance

       of what he has done.

4.    story lies in the gap between expectation and reality.

5.    a writer must use both sides of his brain, right and left, equally.

6.    it’s as if one half writes emotive poetry, the other, diagnostic criticism.

7.    i encourage you to study both positive and negative examples

       of writers you admire.

8.    of the five faculties a writer must have - analysis, insight, craft,

       interpretation and judgement - judgement is bedrock to the other four.

9.    sharpen your working judgement against a whetstone of honest insight.

10.    creative judgment is grounded in result, not intent.

[by robert mckee]

the 9 commandments of screenwriting

I.     thou shalt respect thine audience.

II.    thou shalt research.

III.   thou shalt dramatize thine exposition.

IV.   thou shalt layer a subtext under every text.

V.    thou shalt create complex characters rather than merely complicated story.

VI.   thou shalt use neither false mystery nor cheap surprise.

VII.  thou shalt not use deus ex machina to get thine ending.

VIII. thou shalt not make life easy for thine protagonist.

IX.   thou shalt take thine story into the depth and breadth of human experience.

[by robert mckee]

“being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me … going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful … that’s what matters to me.” - steve jobs