“When I first thought of the idea for 'Sweet Valley High,' I loved the idea of high school as microcosm of the real world. And what I really liked was how it moved things on from 'Sleeping Beauty'-esque romance novels where the girl had to wait for the hero. This would be girl-driven, very different, I decided - and indeed it is.” WorldFirstsIdeasDifferentRealWould BeSchoolRomanceGirlWaitingSleepNovelSweetHeroHigh SchoolDecidedMovedDrivenReal WorldValleysRomance NovelMicrocosmSleeping Beauty Author:Francine Pascal
“I've always loved writing emotionally rich, character-driven novels that explore the way people fall in love and deal with life's triumphs and tragedies. I enjoy writing the contemporary and historical books equally, though perhaps 'enjoy' is the wrong word.” PeopleWayWritingBookCharacterFallEnjoyDealsNovelRichTragedyHistoricalFalling In LoveDrivenContemporaryTriumphWrong Words Author:Susan Wiggs
“. . . you [film critics] always overstress the value of images. You judge films in the first place by their visual impact instead of looking for content. This is a great disservice to the cinema. It is like judging a novel only by the quality of its prose. I was guilty of the same sin when I first started writing for the cinema. . . . Now I feel that only the literary mind can help the movies out of that cul de sac into which they have been driven by mere technicians and artificers.” FeelsWritingMindFirstsHas BeensHelpingFilmValuesSinQualityNovelJudgingImpactMereCriticsDrivenGuiltyCraftsCinemaVisualsProseTechniciansDisserviceFilm Critics Author:Orson Welles
“Natural writers will often try to force themselves into a form - novel, story, screenplay, or poem - that is not necessarily the appropriate form for the way they see the world... if, in fact, they are writing from the artist's impulse, which is a deep, inchoate vision of some sort of order behind the apparent chaos of life on planet earth, they'll be driven then to express that vision in the creation of the object - the art object.” IfsWorldWayWritingTryingArtFactsStoriesEarthFormArtistOrderForceNaturalBehindsVisionNovelCreationObjectsPlanetsChaosDrivenImpulseAppropriateScreenplaysPlanet Earth Author:Robert Olen Butler
“Introduce your main characters and themes in the first third of your novel. If you are writing a plot-driven genre novel make sure all your major themes/plot elements are introduced in the first third, which you can call the introduction. Develop your themes and characters in your second third, the development. Resolve your themes, mysteries and so on in the final third, the resolution.” IfsWritingFirstsCharacterNovelMysteryDevelopmentElementsMajorsThirdsFinalsDrivenGenreThemePlotResolveResolutionIntroducingIntroductionMain Characters Author:Michael Moorcock
“I think there's a false division people sometimes make in describing literary novels, where there are people who write systems novels, or novels of ideas, and there are people who write about emotional things in which the movement is character driven. But no good novels are divisible in that way.” PeopleThinkingWayWritingIdeasSometimesCharacterNovelMovementEmotionalDrivenDivisionDescribingEmotional Things Author:Dana Spiotta
“There are lots of authentic, moving characters in so-called systems novels, just as there are certainly deep structural ideas in some character-driven novels.” IdeasCharacterMovingNovelDriven Author:Dana Spiotta
“I've always been a fan of the 19th century novel, of the novel that is plotted, character-driven, and where the passage of time is almost as central to the novel as a major minor character, the passage of time and its effect on the characters in the story.” CharacterStoriesNovelFansEffectsCenturyMajorsDrivenPassagesMinors19th CenturyPassage Of TimeMinor Characters Author:John Irving
“I hate the term "mystery". That's not what I write. I think the Scarpetta novels are much more character-driven than an average puzzle solver. Writing should be like a pane of glass - there's another world on the other side and your vision carries you there, but you're not aware of having passed through a barrier to get there.” ThinkingWorldShouldWritingCharacterHateSidesTermVisionNovelMysteryI HateAverageGlassesDrivenBarriersCarriePuzzlesAnother World Author:Patricia Cornwell