“Whether you look at Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, or Buddhism, wherever a distinction of sex is made, it is to the advantage of men. If you think of religions as if they were novels, the authors are men, and so are the major characters.” IfsThinkingMenLooksMadeCharacterSexChristianityNovelBuddhismMajorsAdvantageIslamMade ItDistinctionHinduismJudaism Author:Katha Pollitt
“One of the major challenges facing creative individuals is that of building upon the continuity of human knowledge while achieving novel insights. ... On the one hand, to intensify an inquiry and develop a sense of commitment to a creative life, the learner needs models, teachers, and collaborators. On the other hand, the individual, while building upon the past, needs to transform it, and thus broaden his or her choices.” NeedsHumansHandsPastChoicesIndividualChallengesCreativityNovelCreativeTeacherAchieveBuildingMajorsModelsCommitmentInnovationInsightInquiryContinuityLearnersCollaboratorsHuman KnowledgeCreative Life Author:Vera John-Steiner
“Jayne Anne Phillips . . . is at the height of her powers in Lark and Termite. . . . This is a major novel from one of America's finest writers.” AmericaNovelMajorsHeightFinestLarks 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
“A major boom in real stock prices in the US after Black Tuesday brought them halfway back to 1929 levels by 1930. This was followed by a second crash, another boom from 1932 to 1937, and a third crash. Speculative bubbles do not end like a short story, novel, or play. There is no final denouement that brings all the strands of a narrative into an impressive final conclusion. In the real world, we never know when the story is over.” KnowsWorldRealEndsPlayStoriesBlackLevelsNovelMajorsThirdsFinalsConclusionNarrativeReal WorldShort StoryBubblesCrashImpressiveHalfway1930sTuesdayStrandsStock PriceDenouement Author:Robert J. Shiller
“A good novel is an indivisible sum; every scene, sequence and passage of a good novel has to involve, contribute to and advance all three of its major attributes: theme, plot, characterization.” ThreeNovelSceneMajorsThemePlotPassagesAttributesSequenceIndivisibleCharacterization Book:The Ayn Rand Lexicon: Objectivism from A to Z Source: The Ayn Rand Lexicon: Objectivism from A to Z
“My major preoccupation is the question, 'What is reality ?' Many of my stories and novels deal with psychotic states or drug-induced states by which I can present the concept of a multiverse rather than a universe. Music and sociology are themes in my novels, also radical political trends; in particular I've written about fascism and my fear of it.” I CanStatesStoriesRealityPoliticalUniverseDealsNovelWrittenParticularDrugMajorsConceptsRadicalThemeTrendsFascismSociologyPreoccupationPsychoticMultiverse Author:Philip K. Dick
“The Chicago Way is a wonderful first novel. Michael Harvey has studied the masters and put his own unique touch on the crime novel. This book harkens the arrival of a major new voice.” WayFirstsBookVoiceNovelWonderfulCrimeMastersMajorsUniqueChicagoArrivalsHarveyCrime Novels Author:Michael Connelly
“Irving Wallace wrote a bestselling novel, The Man, in the 1960s about a black man becoming president of the United States. We thought that such a possibility was thousands of years in the future. Some people may still have some difficulty with the idea, but that's a major cultural meme shift.” PeopleMenYearsMayStillsIdeasStatesBlackPresidentUnitedUnited StatesNovelPossibilityHe ManBecomingMajorsDifficulty1960sMemesBecoming President Author:Wayne Dyer
“Despite the war, and bombings, and all the big things that happen to us, the stuff of our lives is small and always will be. During a war it is different, but even then, it is perfectly possible to write novels during a major war, which are about those thing which endure. It is what makes us human and the thing which is going to keep going.” WritingHumansDifferentWarBigsHappensLife IsStuffNovelOur LivesMajorsEndureDespiteKeep GoingBig ThingsBombing Author:Robert Dessaix
“One never knows enough about characters in real life to put them into novels. One gets started and then, suddenly, one can not remember what toothpaste they use; what are their views on interior decoration, and one is stuck utterly. No, major characters emerge; minor ones may be photographed.” KnowsWritingMayRealEnoughCharacterUseRememberViewsNovelMajorsStuckReal LifeMinorsCan NotInteriorsDecorationToothpaste Book:Conversations with Graham Greene Source: Conversations with Graham Greene
“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
“The careful choice of words, the scrubbing of language, the calculated images we presented to the external audiences - those were all major parts of my daily life over there. So, some of that is going to seep over into what I showed in the novel and - more importantly - how I showed it.” ChoicesLanguageNovelAudienceMajorsCarefulDaily Life Author:Dave Abrams
“Math-thinking, I would say, encourages flipping and substituting letters in words (in the novel, one of the boys double-majors in math and myth, for example, and his twin cracks a joke about the father's handwriting that morphs "cacography" into "dadography").” ThinkingFatherBoysNovelExampleMajorsJokesLettersMathMythCracksTwinsHandwriting Author:Mary Kay Zuravleff
“I was an English major in university and that got me into novels, but I read a lot of books as a kid.” BookKidsNovelMajorsUniversityEnglish Major Author:Dan Mangan
“More than anything, being an English major made me more appreciative of authors and what an incredible feat it is to just finish a novel, let alone a really brilliant one.” MadeNovelMajorsIncrediblesBrilliantFeatsAppreciativeEnglish Major Author:Dan Mangan
“It so happens that the major relationships in the novel [The Kite Runner] are between men, dictated not by any sort of prejudice or discomfort with female characters, but rather by the demands of the narrative.” MenCharacterHappensNovelDemandMajorsFemalePrejudiceNarrativeRunnersDiscomfortFemale CharactersKites Author:Khaled Hosseini
“Even my novels offer passages in which the major character is imagined as a writer. In Joss and Gold, Li An is a business writer who edits her company's weekly public relations magazine. And in Sister Swing, Suyin writes human interest stories for a free, local community paper, The Asian Time.” WritingHumansCharacterStoriesInterestCommunityCompanyNovelOffersPaperMajorsGoldRelationLocalsMagazinesPassagesSwingsAsianEditsPublic RelationsLocal Community Author:Shirley Geok-lin Lim