Quotessence
Home / Authors / Chuck Wendig

Chuck Wendig Quotes

Novelist

Filter quotes by topic

AllWritingStoriesCharacterAdviceIfsKnowsMeanNeedsBookFriendsFriendshipGivingMindRelationshipsSometimesWayAnswersAspiring WritersConflictCrazy

Famous Chuck Wendig Quotes

“Characters exist in a flat line until we challenge them - sometimes they challenge themselves, sometimes they're challenged by other people, by nature, by robots, or by fungal infections in and around one's nether-country. Stories need conflict across the physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual spectra. Accidents, betrayals, cataclysm, desperation, excess - these are the letters in the alphabet of conflict.”

PeopleNeedsWritingCountrySometimesCharacterStoriesSpiritualChallengesLinesEmotionalConflictIntellectualLettersBetrayalAccidentsFlatsExcessDesperationRobotsAlphabetInfection
Author:Chuck Wendig
Create image

“Storytelling is an act of cruelty. We are cruel to our characters because to be kind is to invite boredom, and boredom in storytelling is synonymous with big doomy death-shaped death. So: be cruel to your protagonist. Rob him of something. Something important. Something he needs. A weapon. An asset. A piece of knowledge. A loved one. A DELICIOUS PIE. Take it away! Force him to operate without it. Conflict reinvigorates stale stories. New conflict, or old conflict that has evolved and grown teeth.”

NeedsWritingKindImportantCharacterStoriesBigsForcePiecesConflictWeaponsTeethStorytellingCrueltyBoredomBe KindAssetsInvitesLoved OnesPieDeliciousStaleProtagonists
Author:Chuck Wendig
Create image

“Question the Chestnuts. Chestnuts: the new name for boobs? No. NO. Why would you even say that? Get your mind out of the gutter. No, by "chestnuts" I mean, "those old pieces of writing advice that you hear as common refrain." 'Write what you know.' 'Adverbs give Baby Jesus hemorrhoids.' 'If you write a prologue, an orphan loses his sight.' All the "old saws" need to be put on the chopping block.”

IfsKnowsNeedsGivingWritingMindMeanJesusNamesLosesCommonSawsPiecesAdviceBabySightBlockWriting AdviceOrphanRefrainGuttersChoppingChestnutsAdverbsPrologueBaby JesusHemorrhoids
Author:Chuck Wendig
Create image