Quotessence
Home / Authors / Alex Garland
Alex Garland

Alex Garland Quotes

Novelist

Filter quotes by topic

AllFilmWritingPeopleIfsThinkingLongReasonBeachBookDreamNovelTravelKnowsMistakeNightPerspectiveProblemRememberStuffWay

Famous Alex Garland Quotes

“Show people your stuff, listen carefully to their responses, but ultimately don't value anyone's opinion above your own. Be influenced by writers you dislike as well as writers you like. Read their stuff to figure out what's wrong. Find a balance between the confidence that allows you continue, and the self-critical facility that enables you to improve. Get the balance wrong on either side, and you're screwed.”

PeopleWritingWellsSelfShowsValuesStuffSidesOpinionFiguresBalanceResponseCriticalDislikeFacility
Author:Alex Garland
Create image

“I never feel a huge need for backstory in my novels or films. Quick sketches are often enough. When you encounter people in life - like a chance encounter at a bar or wherever you happen to be - you make these incredibly quick, quite intricate decisions about people based on very small amounts of coded information. We're good at that. Long descriptions prior to meeting someone or as you're getting to know them almost don't work.”

PeopleLongEnoughFilmChanceDecisionNovelMeetings
Author:Alex Garland
Create image

“The thing video games had to learn was to write, which is not to let people choose their own stuff, but actually prescribe it. To say, "This character is not a blank canvas that you can project onto. I'm going to tell you what this character is like. And I'm going to tell you what happens to them. You're going to feel involved in other ways." Video games made the mistake of thinking everything had to be projectable, and this doesn't do that at all.”

PeopleThinkingWritingCharacterMistakeCanvasBlank Canvas
Author:Alex Garland
Create image