“The urge to create a fictional narrative is a mysterious one, and when an idea comes, the writer's sense of what a story wants to be is only vaguely visible through the penumbra of inspiration.” WantIdeasStoriesInspirationMysteriousNarrativeVisibleUrges Author:Adam Johnson
“The darkness inside your head is something your imagination fills with stories that have nothing to do with the real darkness around you.” RealStoriesImaginationDarknessDarkness Inside Book:The Orphan Master's Son Source: The Orphan Master's Son
“A good story feels both surprising and inevitable, fresh and familiar.” FeelsStoriesFamiliarInevitableSurprisingGood Story Author:Adam Johnson
“But, in North Korea, it's just the opposite. There's one story. It's written by the Kim regime. And 23 million people are conscripted to be secondary characters. There, as a youth, your aptitude towards certain jobs is measured, and the rest of your life is dictated, whether you'll be a fisherman or a farmer or an opera singer.” PeopleCharacterStoriesJobsLife IsCertainMillionsWrittenYouthOppositesSingersFarmersOperaRegimesKoreaRest Of Your LifeNorth KoreaFishermanKimAptitudeOpera SingersOpera Singing Author:Adam Johnson
“In America, the stories we tell ourselves and we tell each other in fiction have to do with individualism. Every person here is the center of his or her own story. And our job as people and as characters is to find our own motivations and desires, to overcome conflicts and obstacles toward defining ourselves so that we grow and change.” PeoplePersonsCharacterStoriesJobsAmericaDesireMotivationGrowsFictionConflictOvercomingObstaclesIndividualismDefiningDefining Ourselves Author:Adam Johnson
“I know it really sounds cheesy, but I did feel a duty to try to tell the stories of people who couldn't speak for themselves.” PeopleKnowsFeelsTryingStoriesSpeakSoundDutyCheesy Author:Adam Johnson
“Writing is hard work, and if anything's true about the process, it's that fact that a good story is hard to find and even trickier to get on paper. What's less romantic than staring alone at a blank screen? And edgy? I've changed the cat little because I didn't know what my characters were going to say next.” IfsKnowsWritingLittlesHardCharacterFactsStoriesNextProcessChangedHard WorkPaperCatScreensStaringBlankGood StoryEdgyI've Changed Author:Adam Johnson
“Where we are from... [s]tories are factual. If a farmer is declared a music virtuoso by the state, everyone had better start calling him maestro. And secretly, he'd be wise to start practicing the piano. For us, the story is more important than the person. If a man and his story are in conflict, it is the man who must change.” IfsMenPersonsImportantStatesStoriesWiseCallingConflictPianoFarmersBeing WiseFactualMaestroVirtuoso Author:Adam Johnson
