Quotes from Michael Arndt

Changing how you think costs you no money and it takes no special talent. It does take a commitment on your part to be different.

My God, there are so many mediocre screenplays out there.

In terms of writing characters or stories, at least initially, there's no difference between live-action and animation. A good story is a good story, whatever the medium.

A good story is a good story, whatever the medium.

Working at Pixar has been like my graduate school for screenwriting.

I can write two scripts concurrently, but I usually prefer to do one at a time. However, I also usually have 5 or 6 story ideas that are percolating in my head at any one time, so it can get a little crowded in there.

The best writing really does come from the deepest, most private part of you.

Writing a great script - not just a good one, but a great one - is almost an impossible task.

The great thing about the animation process is that is goes from, I write the lines, it goes to the actors, the actors bring a whole world to that, they bring the characters to life, then it goes to the animators, then it goes to the editor who cuts it together, and then you screen it and it goes back through the system again.

Failure can only exist from stagnant perceptions. Everything is a process of learning and if you learn something useful, you have success.

Line up your thoughts up for potential, take action and success will follow.

Good writing is deceptive in that it hides its own artifice - it makes it seem easy.

You never want your second act or the whole movie to just be this relentless march towards its goal. You want things to take the audience by surprise.

In live-action, writing, production, and editing happen in discrete stages. In animation, they overlap - happening simultaneously. This allows a real dialogue to occur between the writer, the director, the actors, and the editor, and it makes the writing process a lot more collaborative and a lot less lonely.

If you write a bunch of different characters with a bunch of different opinions, you end up with these long scenes of everyone standing around talking.

One of my favorite films is LATE SPRING by Yasujiro Ozu. To me, it represents film as art.

I like to begin every screenplay with a burst of delusional self-confidence. It tends to fade pretty quickly, but for me, at least, there doesn't seem to be any other way to start writing a script.

The fluidity of thought is based on the flexibility of beliefs and the emotional boundaries surrounding them.

The way you think either stands in your way or assists you in achieving your goals.