Immortality. We all want to be remembered: We want to do things that will make people say, ‘Isn’t he wonderful?’
BrainyQuote. 2020. Lajos Egri Quotes. [online] Available at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/lajos_egri_645000 [Accessed 4 June 2020].
There is only one realm in which characters defy natural laws and remain the same—the realm of bad writing. And its the fixed nature of the characters which makes the writing bad. If a character in a short story, novel, or play occupies the same position at the end as the one he did at the beginning, that story, novel, or play is bad.
Motives, Egri, L. and Miller, G., 2020. The Art Of Dramatic Writing. [online] Goodreads.com. Available at: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/106092.The_Art_of_Dramatic_Writing [Accessed 4 June 2020].
We must start a play at a point of decision, because that is the point at which the conflict starts and the characters are given a chance to expose themselves and the premise.
Motives, Egri, L. and Miller, G., 2020. The Art Of Dramatic Writing. [online] Goodreads.com. Available at: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/106092.The_Art_of_Dramatic_Writing [Accessed 4 June 2020].
No, you don’t have to start your play with a premise. You can start with a character or an incident, or even a simple thought. This thought or incident grows, and the story slowly unfolds itself. You have time to find your premise in the mass of your material later. The important thing is to find it.
BrainyQuote. 2020. Lajos Egri Quotes. [online] Available at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/lajos_egri_645000 [Accessed 4 June 2020].
No two dramatists think or write alike. Ten thousand playwrights can take the same premise, as they have done since Shakespeare, and not one play will resemble the other except in the premise. Your knowledge, your understanding of human nature, and your imagination will take care of that.
BrainyQuote. 2020. Lajos Egri Quotes. [online] Available at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/lajos_egri_645000 [Accessed 4 June 2020].
Although you should never mention your premise in the dialogue of your play, the audience must know what the message is. And whatever it is, you must prove it.
BrainyQuote. 2020. Lajos Egri Quotes. [online] Available at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/lajos_egri_645000 [Accessed 4 June 2020].
Everything has a purpose or premise. Every second of our life has its own premise, whether or not we are conscious of it at the time. That premise may be as simple as breathing or as complex as a vital emotional decision, but it is always there.
BrainyQuote. 2020. Lajos Egri Quotes. [online] Available at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/lajos_egri_645000 [Accessed 4 June 2020].
Rolando Andrés Ramos 
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