Dan Harmon Quotes

Once upon a time there was what there was, and if nothing had happened there would be nothing to tell.

It's always about finding the right balance between answering some questions and raising new ones to keep your story going.

I believe that the writer should tell a story. I believe in plot. I believe in creating characters and suspense.

I write for the same reason I read: to find out what's going to happen.

A story to me means a plot where there is some surprise. Because that is how life is - full of surprises.

I think situations are more important than plot and character.

In a story, you have to have a theme and an angle, you have to have a beginning, middle and an end. You have to have a defining moment and kick it to death. You gotta be able to recognize that, by the way. It probably takes experience.

For me a thriller is a very carefully structured story.

Stories work better when not everyone gets what they want.

Happily ever after never happens in the second act.

Typically, the performance has a story - a beginning, the crescendo and the end.

I think the best stories always end up being about the people rather than the event, which is to say character-driven.

This world of ours has been constructed like a superbly written novel: we pursue the tale with avidity, hoping to discover the plot.

Fairy Tales always have a happy ending.' That depends... on whether you are Rumpelstiltskin or the Queen.

Is she going to, or has she done it? Has it happened? What is the story here?

What's the matter princess? Do you know the end of your story?

Notice how every science fiction movie or television show starts with a shot of the location where the story is about to occur. Movies that take place in outer space always start with a shot of stars and a starship. Movies that take place on another world always start with a shot of that planet. This is to let you know where you are. Novels and stories start the same way. You have to give the reader a sense of where he is and what's happening as quickly as possible. You don't want to start the story by confusing the reader.

Choices are much more practical and small when you're dealing with a real story. It's about execution, it's not about content.

What is either a picture or a novel that is not character?

Tell the readers a story! Because without a story, you are merely using words to prove you can string them together in logical sentences.

We all - in the end - die in medias res. In the middle of a story. Of many stories.

Every scene should be able to answer three questions: "Who wants what from whom? What happens if they don't get it? Why now?"

Character is half the reason we read. We're excited because of the plot, but we care because of the characters.

The world was more than a place. Life was more than an event. It was all one thing, and that thing was: story.

But after all, the villains are the salt in the soup of a story.