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Orson Scott Card

Orson Scott Card Quotes

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Famous Orson Scott Card Quotes

“I think Santa Claus is, by and large, quite beneficial, for when the child is finally allowed -- or forced -- to recognize the nonexistence of Santa Claus, then the child is able to go through the vital intellectual process of reconstructing reality in light of new evidence, complete with back-forming new stories to account for past events. This prepares the child for many other disillusionments and gives her vital and well-supported experience in maintaining her grip on reality independent of the stories told to her at any given time.”

ThinkingGivingWellsChildrenStoriesRealityLightAblePastGivenProcessEventsIntellectualEvidenceAccountsIndependentMaintainingBeneficialSantaSanta ClausDisillusionmentPast EventsReconstructing
Author:Orson Scott Card
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“In creating the strange milieu in which your story takes place, you must first understand as well as you possibly can the familiar milieu in which your own life is taking place. Until you have examined and comprehended the world around you, you can't possibly create a complex and believable imaginary world.”

WorldFirstsWellsStoriesLife IsStrangeCreatingComplexesFamiliarImaginaryBelievableMilieuImaginary World
Book:How to Write Science Fiction & Fantasy
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“You grow a whole lot more as a writer by getting old stories out of the house and letting new ones come in and live with you until they grow up and are ready to go. Don't let the old ones stay there and grow fat and cranky and eat all the food out of the refrigerator. You have dozens of generations of stories inside you, but the only way to make room for the new ones is to write the old ones and mail them off.”

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Author:Orson Scott Card
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“At some point, every science fiction and fantasy story must challenge the reader's experience and learning. That's much of the reason why the genre is so open to experimentation and innovation that other genres reject--strangeness is our bread and butter. Spread it thick or slice it thin, it's still our staff of life.”

StillsReasonStoriesChallengesFictionFantasyReaderInnovationScience FictionSpreadBreadGenreReason WhyRejectsThickStaffExperimentationStrangenessBread And ButterGenre IsScience Fiction And FantasyFantasy StoriesExperience And Learning
Book:The Writer's Digest Guide to Science Fiction & Fantasy
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“...You believe that the kind of story you want to tell might be best received by the science fiction and fantasy audience. I hope you're right, because in many ways this is the best audience in the world to write for. They're open-minded and intelligent. They want to think as well as feel, understand as well as dream. Above all, they want to be led into places that no one has ever visited before. It's a privilege to tell stories to these readers, and an honour when they applaud the tale you tell.”

ThinkingWorldWayWantFeelsWritingBelieveWellsKindStoriesDreamMightFictionFantasyAudienceReaderIntelligentScience FictionPrivilegeTalesHonourOpen MindedScience Fiction And Fantasy
Author:Orson Scott Card
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“I think that most of us, anyway, read these stories that we know are not "true" because we're hungry for another kind of truth: the mythic truth about human nature in general, the particular truth about those life-communities that define our own identity, and the most specific truth of all: our own self-story. Fiction, because it is not about someone who lived in the real world, always has the possibility of being about oneself. --From the Introduction”

ThinkingKnowsWorldHumansKindRealSelfStoriesCommunityFictionHuman NatureIdentityPossibilityParticularOneselfHungryReal WorldIntroduction
Book:Ender's Game
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“She remembered the story from her childhood, about Adam and Eve in the garden, and the talking snake. Even as a little girl she had said - to the consternation of her family - What kind of idiot was Eve, to believe a snake? But now she understood, for she had heard the voice of the snake and had watched as a wise and powerful man had fallen under its spell. Eat the fruit and you can have the desires of your heart. It's not evil, it's noble and good. You'll be praised for it. And it's delicious.”

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Book:Ender's Game Boxed Set I: Ender's Game, Ender's Shadow, Shadow of the Hegemon
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“Writer’s block is my unconscious mind telling me that something I’ve just written is either unbelievable or unimportant to me, and I solve it by going back and reinventing some part of what I’ve already written so that when I write it again, it is believable and interesting to me. Then I can go on. Writer’s block is never solved by forcing oneself to “write through it,” because you haven’t solved the problem that caused your unconscious mind to rebel against the story, so it still won’t work – for you or for the reader.”

WritingMindStillsI CanStoriesProblemInterestingWrittenHavensGoes OnReaderOneselfSolveBlockUnconsciousRebelUnbelievableUnimportantBelievableWriter's BlockUnconscious MindReinventing
Author:Orson Scott Card
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“Everybody walks past a thousand story ideas every day. The good writers are the ones who see five or six of them. Most people don't see any.”

PeopleWritingIdeasStoriesPastWalksFiveWrittenThousandSixGood WritingGood WritersFiction WritingWriters And WritingFiction WritersNovel WritingWriting FictionWriting By WritersGreat WritingStory WritingWriting StoriesCreativity And WritingInspiration To WriteFamous WritersStory WritersWriting Every DayWriting Scripts
Author:Orson Scott Card
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“The danger that keeps me just a little frightened with every book I write, however, is that I'll overreach myself once too often and try to write a story that I'm just plain not talented or skilful enough to write. That's the dilemma every storyteller faces. It is painful to fail. But it is far sadder when a storyteller stops wanting to try.”

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Author:Orson Scott Card
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“Never mind that the story had turned out to be lies and foolishness—there was always folks stupid enough to say, Where there's smoke there's fire, when the saying should have been, Where there's scandalous lies there's always malicious believers and spreaders-around, regardless of evidence.”

ShouldMindHas BeensEnoughStoriesLyingFireStupidEvidenceShould HaveFolksBelieverSmokeFoolishnessShould Have BeenMaliciousScandalous
Book:Alvin Journeyman: The Tales of Alvin Maker
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“I learned to separate the story from the writing, probably the most important thing that any storyteller has to learn-that there are a thousand right ways to tell a story, and ten million wrong ones, and you're a lot more likely to find one of the latter than the former your first time through the tale.”

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Book:The Ender Quintet
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“[It] was written and sold. I knew it was a strong story because I cared about it and believed in it. I had no idea that it would have the effect it had on the audience. While most people ignored it, of course, and continue to live full and happy lives without reading it or anything else by me, there was still a surprisingly large group who responded to the story with some fervency.”

PeopleStillsIdeasStoriesCoursesReadingBeliefStrongAudienceWrittenGroupsEffectsNo IdeaHappy LifeIgnoredLarge Groups
Book:Ender's Game: Ender Series
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