“An actor cannot and must not become more important than the story.”
“One bright sunny day at a successful Literary Agency… Literary Agent: “So, Tina – we asked you to try and write a children’s story…” Tina: “Uh-huh.”
“An event without a good presentation is like a pizza without cheese.”
“A good presentation = Conviction + Story + Message. Subject does t matter.”
“We can feel isolated and powerless when living with chronic illness, but what if your story begins to bridge the barrier or open a way for someone to connect? What if your story offers a glimmer of hope to someone standing at the edge of desolation? ...What if your story starts the conversation?”
“Because every story is a ghost story, even mine.”
“Facts bring us to knowledge, but stories lead to wisdom.”
“...story is a powerful stimulant with tremendous influence over how we think and act. Like meth, only safer.”
“I can change the story. I am the story.”
“A myth is a story that is more than true. Many stories are true because one person, somewhere, at some time, lived it. But a myth is more than true because it is lived by all of us, at some level. It s a story that connects and speaks to us all.”
“Too many film schools, as well as any number of screenwriting gurus and an obscene number of how-to-write tomes, have made a business of catering to fledgling screenwriters and filmmakers by exploiting their belief that the only thing standing between them and an Oscar is the right kind of knowledge. If only one knew enough, one could easily become rich and famous. Unfortunately, almost all are susceptible to that eternal malady – “that last great infirmity of the soul” – which is FAME. And whilst I don’t deny the value of technical knowledge, such knowledge matters very little if the story one is trying to tell doesn’t matter, either because it’s incoherent or simply because it fails to make us care.”
“The space between the private and the public is the nexus of the personal and the social, if not political. It’s where we meet the strong or subtle cultural censors who attempt to define what community, race, class, or gender can or cannot speak, to tell us which stories are told and valued and which are not. In short, it’s where we’re reminded of the power of personal stories and the power of the storyteller.”
“The ordinary stories of our ordinary lives have extraordinary gifts coded within them. . .”
“Who lives inside your head? The hero of your story OR The victim of someone else s?”
“It’s the oldest story in the world. You want him back, don’t you?”
“You don’t need to be a poet, a performer, a writer, or a journalist to tell your story powerfully. You do, however, need to elevate your language in ways that will bring your story to life clearly and imaginatively for others.”
“An inclusive narrative structure provides the executive brain with the best template and strategy for the oversight and coordination of the functions of mind. A story well told, containing conflicts and resolutions, gestures and expressions, and thoughts flavored with emotion, connects people ad integrates neural networks”