Story: Style, Structure, Substance, and the Principles of Screenwriting

by Robert McKee

The Controlling Idea is the purest form of a story’s meaning, the how and why of change, the vision of life the audience members carry away into their lives.

In creating the dimensions of your story’s “argument,” take great care to build the power of both sides.

A good story, like a good paper, presents the two opposite sides with equal importance and brings the two to a seemingly inevitable, yet satisfying, end.