Home / Quotes / Quote by Wallace Shawn

Quote by Wallace Shawn

“I don't have an idea for a play until after I've finished writing it. I write first, and come up with what it's about later. My technique could be compared to having a large canvas and coming in every day and putting a dot on it somewhere, and after several years - literally - I begin to say, That reminds me of an elephant, so I think I'll make it one.”

Quote by Wallace Shawn

Author

Wallace Shawn, born on November 12, 1943, is an American actor, playwright, and voice actor. He has made significant contributions to the stage and screen in Hollywood and on Broadway, known for his unique acting style and sense of humor. more

You May Also Like

“A good play is a good play. If you want to chalk up your rejection letters to the fact that you're a woman, that's your choice. But often you get a rejection letter because your play isn't ready. Or the time isn't ready for your play. And that has nothing to do with gender.”

Ifs Want Play Facts Choices Ready Letters Gender Crafts Rejection Chalk Rejection Letters

Author:Jane Anderson

“[I was] particularly eager to give voice to the women of my mother's place and generation, who grew up in turn-of-the-century, privileged New England households, who really never had a chance to flower and assess themselves and find out who they were. More than anything, I wanted to give voice to the sort of anger that women of that generation could never express for themselves.”

Giving Wanted Mother Turns Voice Chance Generations Century Flower Grew Grew Up England Crafts Household Privileged New England

Author:Tina Howe

“I do think the challenge, in a way for me, is to write a narrative film and when you finish watching it you feel like it's a collage. You tell the narrative, you tell the story, but you feel like you've created this tapestry. But it also has a shape, a story. So I think there's a middle ground that I try to strike... away from where everyone else seems ready to go, which is, setup, payoff. You know, He's afraid of water, oh, and at the end he's swimming in water - oh, my God. I hate that stuff.”

“I love to play with language; make it do tricks, turn a word inside out to see if it's got a hidden meaning tucked away somewhere, or perhaps find that it's capable of an extra entendre or two. . . . Plotting is nothing I did, or do, naturally. It is the hardest part of the writing process. No matter how many times you plot a script successfully, the next one, representing new and uncharted territory, convinces you that you really don't know how to do it at all.”

“I don't believe in inspiration. Inspiration is for amateurs. Some of the time you know you're cooking, and the rest of the time, you just do it.”

Knows Believe Inspiration Cooking Don't Believe Crafts Just Do It

Author:Chuck Close

“I felt, if I'm going to take on some of the most overdone material, which is men and women and affairs and betrayal of friends, I had better have a new take on it. I think my films come from a desperation not to be boring.”

Ifs Thinking Men Film Felt Materials Men And Women Affair Boring Betrayal Crafts Desperation Friend Betrayal

Author:Neil LaBute

“I think of a plot, I think of an idea, and then I wonder, How can I get that onto the stage? . . . Whatever devices you use should always be there to serve the theme. If the theme has been overtaken by the device, then something's wrong.”

Ifs Thinking Should Has Beens Ideas Use Wonder Stage Crafts Theme Plot Devices

Author:Alan Ayckbourn

“Write plays that matter. Raise the stakes. Shout, yell, holler, but make yourself heard. It's time for playwrights to reclaim the theatre. We do that by speaking from the heart about the things that matter most to us. If a play isn't worth dying for, maybe it isn't worth writing.”

Ifs Writing Heart Matter Play Heard Dying Raises Theatre Crafts Stakes Playwright Things That Matter Speak From The Heart

Author:Terrence McNally

“As you write plays, you discover what you believe. And until you know what you believe, you can't write a play.”

Knows Writing Believe Play Crafts Believe You Can

Author:David Hare

“There is a trend in the whole [U.S.] culture toward making things shorter. People have been watching too much television, and they have a television mentality. I think people really are wary of sitting in a theatre too long. They're not used to it.”

People Thinking Long Has Beens Whole Used Culture Too Much Television Sitting Theatre Crafts Trends Mentality

Author:Rocco Landesman