“I explained to Amazon that I don't like outlining or projecting what something's going to be. I like to allow a story to arise as I'm writing scripts. I find it horrible when I try to think of something for the plot without really being on the ground and seeing where it goes. I was really resistant to do the mini-bible. So I gave them something, but I really didn't want to do it that way.” ThinkingWayWantWritingTryingStoriesSeeingScriptsAriseHorriblePlotAmazonOutliningWriting Scripts Author:Whit Stillman
“I was born in the era of the novel. I've written many, as well as collections of poetry, and essays for mouthing off. I've written to inches, word-counts, page-counts, even the sonnet and the screenplay (which I call a plot poem). I write narrative. That's it. I just want to tell it.” WantWritingWellsBornNovelWrittenPagesErasNarrativeCollectionsPlotInchesEssaysSonnetScreenplays Author:Julianna Baggott
“The poem has to bear the weight with image, language... the screenplay with dialogue, plot.” LanguageBearsWeightDialoguePlotScreenplays Author:Julianna Baggott
“I try not to divide plot and character. I get to know a character by what they want and fear and how those internal forces play out in their lives.” KnowsWantTryingPlayCharacterForceInternalsPlotDivides Author:Julianna Baggott
“It takes work to plot a course that is both thrilling and truthful, but it's worth it.” CoursesPlotTruthfulWorth ItThrilling Author:Matt Charman
“I'm probably more character-driven than plot-driven. It's rare for me to attach myself to an idea for a story.” IdeasCharacterStoriesDrivenPlot Author:Steven Soderbergh
“I start with an image, then I go from the image toward exploring the situation. Then I write a scene, and from the scene I find the character, from the character I find the larger plot. It's like deductive reasoning - I start with the smaller stuff and work backward.” WritingCharacterStuffSituationSceneReasoningPlotExploring Author:Dan Chaon
“Plot and scene are still the hardest things for me, though I think they're the building blocks of what makes a story work.” ThinkingStillsStoriesBuildingSceneHardestBlockPlotHardest ThingBuilding Blocks Author:Dan Chaon
“I started out as a poet who primarily wanted to write about image and moment. Over the years I've been trying to teach myself how to do plot and scene. My first story collection had the most issues with the plotlessness, and when I was writing my second collection I was teaching myself how to make things happen.” WritingTryingYearsFirstsMomentsStoriesHappensWantedTeachIssuesTeachingPoetSceneThings HappenCollectionsPlotMake Things Happen Author:Dan Chaon
“I was selling a piece of my art on eBay from The Escapist, which was an adaptation of The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, and the person who bought it was Alan Heinberg, one of the executive producers of the show and was a huge fan of my work and asked if I'd be interested in maybe being the ghost artist for Seth. It clicked and I could relate to Seth's plight on the show. It became really easy to fill in his shoes, and people really grabbed onto it; they really dug that sort of very minor sub-plot in the show.” PeopleIfsPersonsArtShowsArtistEasyPiecesFansAdventureHugeShoesGhostSellingProducersRelatePlotExecutivesMinorsAdaptationClayPlightEbayEscapists Author:Eric Wight
“It's just about trying to find material where I'm doing more than just being a plot device. I want to actually get to do scenes that go to interesting places and are challenging to me.” WantTryingChallengesInterestingMaterialsScenePlotDevicesJust BeingInteresting Places Author:Mary Elizabeth Winstead
“One wise decision I made was buying a plot of land with planning permission in Richmond, and building my own five-bedroom home on it. I sold three years after I completed the building and more than doubled my money. I like Richmond and always have my eyes open for other properties in the area.” YearsMadeHomeEyeThreeMy OwnDecisionFiveWiseLandBuildingAreasPropertyPlanningBuyingPlotThree YearsPermissionBedroomWise DecisionRichmond Author:Anthea Turner
“We get to get into the nitty-gritty and the minutiae of the way they relate now, and that's really valuable. We just have to make sure we don't repeat ourselves and we plot this thing so it doesn't dead end too much, and so that's the challenge really. It's like, how do you keep those balls in the air and make it exciting still?” WayStillsEndsChallengesToo MuchAirBallsExcitingValuableRelateRepeatsPlotDead EndsMinutiae Author:Mark Duplass
“We actually needed the memory - if you see the film - as a very different kind of a plot device of revealing some information to our main character. So we chose to represent it as these sort of beautiful little snow globes, which kind of, weirdly, that's the way we think of memories - at least, most of the folks that we talked to. You think of these memories as being very pure and absolute and unchanging. That's not actually real life.” IfsThinkingWayKindLittlesDifferentRealCharacterBeautifulFilmMemoriesInformationNeededPureAbsolutesFolksReal LifeSnowPlotDevicesDifferent KindsGlobesRevealingThink Of MeUnchangingMain Characters Author:Pete Docter
“Over 80% of the poor are people who have small plots of land and grow their own food and they don't grow enough to sell much into the marketplace. So they will be hit hard by the worst in climate. They really get hit hard starting in the 20-year time frame and thereafter.” PeopleYearsHardEnoughGrowsPoorLandWorstSellsClimateStartingPlotMarketplace Author:Bill Gates
“Also, as an author, character has always been what I'm most interested in - much more so than plot or setting, although those are good things too.” CharacterGood ThingsSettingSettingsPlot Author:Lauren Myracle
“Usually when I put my focus on the pacing, the plot, the specific characterizations, - it's ironic - but then I actually increase my chances of writing something that moves people because I haven't become too self-conscious of the goal.” PeopleWritingSelfMovingGoalChanceFocusHavensConsciousIncreasePlotIronicSelf ConsciousCharacterizationPacing Author:Christopher Rice
“I started natural farming after the war with just one small plot, but gradually I acquired additional acreage by taking over surrounding pieces of abandoned land and caring for them by hand.” WarHandsNaturalPiecesLandCaringJust OnePlotAbandonedFarming Author:Masanobu Fukuoka
“I suspected learning a language would be both useful and enjoyable (I love memorising lists of things), and would get rid of the embarrassment of being monolingual at 21. I'd been obsessed with reading for as long as I could remember, the only thing I'd ever thought I might want to be was a writer, but I was much better at crafting sentences than at stringing plots together.” WantLongMightWould BeTogetherRememberReadingLanguageSentencesListsObsessedPlotEnjoyableEmbarrassmentLearning Language Author:Deborah Smith
“I like writing non-fiction - and when you pick a [non-fiction] subject, it saves you the hassle of coming up with a plot.” WritingFictionSubjectsPicksPlotNon FictionHassle Author:Richard Hell
“I think I was annoyed going through the '90s just as a guy who loves music. There wasn't a lot of music for me. Everything was groove driven. We lost the plot with the melody. There's no more melody.” ThinkingGuyLostDrivenPlotMelodyAnnoyedMusic LoveGroove Author:Michael Buble
“If, technologically, it is possible to make an impenetrable device or system where the encryption is so strong that there's no key - there's no door at all - then how do we apprehend the child pornographer? How do we solve or disrupt a terrorist plot?” IfsChildrenStrongDoorsKeysSolveTerroristPlotDevicesEncryption Author:Barack Obama
“That's what life is, it's the small struggles. You walk down the street for half an hour, you see half an hour of drama. You don't need convoluted plot lines. You don't need long-lost brothers. You don't need it's set on the future; it's set on the moon.” NeedsLongLife IsLostHoursLinesWalksHalfStruggleStreetsBrotherDramaMoonPlotConvolutedPlot LinesLost Brother Author:Ricky Gervais
“People are considered pure of heart when they do not approach power and pomp; but those who can be near without being affected are the purest of all. People are considered high-minded when they do not know how to plot and contrive; but those who know how yet do not do so are the highest of all.” PeopleKnowsHeartKnow HowPureApproachHighestPlotTaoismAffected Author:Zicheng Hong
“I make very involved drawings, even little structures, and try using design to figure out the rhythm of a plot. If there are several narrators then a clue has to pop up in the first line. There have to be certain grammatical clues, or distinctive names.” IfsTryingFirstsLittlesCertainNamesLinesFiguresDesignInvolvedStructurePopsDrawingRhythmPlotClueDistinctiveNarrators Author:Louise Erdrich
“A two-hour movie tends to be a plot-delivery device; you tend to have to introduce all the characters, say what the goal is, and then get there with a setback, but that's not really how life is or what a story necessarily wants to be.” WantTwoCharacterStoriesLife IsGoalHoursPlotDevicesIntroducingSetbackDelivery Author:Noah Hawley
“My supporters and family have limited resources, very limited resources; but the FBI has the unlimited resources of the most powerful government in the world today. It's amazing that they haven't successfully had me assassinated since I have been in here. There have been plots uncovered in the past that I know of to have me killed.” KnowsWorldHas BeensGovernmentTodayPastPowerfulHavensResourcesPlotMost PowerfulSupporterUnlimitedFbiWorld TodayLimited ResourcesPowerful Government Author:Leonard Peltier
“What terrifies me? When I read about plots of evil taking over the world and obliterating women's hard-won rights.” WorldHardEvilRightsPlot Author:Julie Carmen
“It's like low-budget filmmaking - a focus on dialogue and relationships over plot. Quirky. Improv.” FocusLowsDialogueBudgetsPlotFilmmakingQuirkyRelationship Over Author:James Franco
“I consider myself to be an inverse paranoid. I always operate as if everything is part of a universal plot to enhance my well-being.” IfsWellsUniversalWell BeingPlotParanoidInverse Author:Jack Canfield
“Listen to these words of [apostle] Paul: "We war not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, and the rulers of the darkness of this world and spiritual wickedness that's in high places." It's in "high places" that the plot against Black and Brown, and poor White is going on; it's spiritual wickedness that's way up in the ruling classes of religious people who don't want to see the little man rise. It's the principalities and the powers.” PeopleMenWorldWayWantLittlesWarSpiritualBlackReligiousWhitePoorClassDarknessBloodThis WorldFleshBrownPlotRulersWickednessRulingApostlesFlesh And BloodLittle ManHigh PlacesApostle Paul Author:Louis Farrakhan
“One of the stories that dominates our family literature was the fact that my maternal grandfather contracted for - I don't know under what terms - but, for a large section of the old slave plantation. He established himself - sisters and brothers, cousins, etc. on fifty- and sixty-acre plots.” KnowsFactsStoriesLiteratureTermBrotherSlaveOur FamilyFiftyEtcPlotGrandfatherSixtySectionsBrothers And SistersCousinAcresPlantations Author:Ella Baker
“When I would create a dance, I wouldn't have the luxury that ballet people do when they take a piece of music and impose a dance upon it. What we did in motion pictures was have a song and within that song try to elaborate. My usual method was to do what a writer does: get a plot.” PeopleTryingDoeSongPiecesMethodLuxuryPlotUsualBalletMotion Pictures Author:Gene Kelly
“Since a photograph is frozen and mute, since there is no before and after, I don't want there to be a conscious awareness of any kind of literal narrative. And that's why I really try not to pump up motivation or plot or anything like that.” WantTryingKindMotivationAwarenessConsciousPhotographNarrativePlotFrozenLiteralMutePumpsConscious AwarenessBefore And After Author:Gregory Crewdson
“When in doubt, the rule of threes is a rule that plays well with all of storytelling. When describing a thing? No more than three details. A character's arc? Three beats. A story? Three acts. An act? Three sequences. A plot point culminating in a mystery of a twist? At least three mentions throughout the tale. This is an old rule, and a good one. It's not universal - but it's a good place to start.” WritingWellsPlayCharacterStoriesThreeDoubtMysteryBeatsUniversalDetailsTalesStorytellingPlotTwistsSequenceDescribingArcsGood PlaceWhen In Doubt Author:Chuck Wendig
“The history of the world for the past several centuries and current events at home and abroad confirm the existence of such a conspiracy (to destroy Christianity and obtain global power). The world-wide net-work of diabolical conspirators implements this plot against the Christian faith while Christians appear to be sound asleep. The Christian clergy appear to be more ignorant or more indifferent about this conspiracy than other Christians ... It seems so sad.” WorldHomeSeemsChristianPastSoundExistenceChristianityCenturyEventsCurrentsWideIgnorantPlotConspiracyIndifferentWorld HistoryChristian FaithClergySo SadDiabolicalCurrent EventsConspirators Author:Benjamin H. Freedman
“Even if the experience in my stories is not autobiographical and the actual plot is not autobiographical, the emotion is always somewhat autobiographical. I think there's some of me in every one of the stories.” IfsThinkingStoriesEmotionPlot Author:Katie Wech
“Discovered W. Somerset Maugham in about 5th grade. Didn't understand the plots, but loved the descriptions.” GradesDescriptionPlot Author:W. P. Kinsella
“The story line of my novel [The Kite Runner] is largely fictional. The characters were invented and the plot imagined.” CharacterStoriesLinesNovelPlotRunnersKites Author:Khaled Hosseini
“I can't imagine otherwise - I guess Virginia Woolf could write wonderful novels where the women never have sex, and her novels work. But for me, I don't think I could write a plot without sex happening somewhere.” ThinkingWritingI CanSexNovelImagineWonderfulHappeningsPlotVirginiaWoolf Author:Shirley Geok-lin Lim
“In a way, this kind of insight or recognition often permeates the way I think of character, how I plot action, and the way in which I use imagery, seeing binaries as false.” ThinkingWayKindCharacterUseActionSeeingInsightRecognitionPlotImagery Author:Shirley Geok-lin Lim
“It's not the plot [of Valley of Violence] - the plot is the reason to get all these things to happen, all these character moments to happen. It was always meant to have these two perspectives.” TwoReasonMomentsCharacterHappensViolencePerspectivePlotValleys Author:Ti West
“With my horror movies or with this movie [Valley of Violence], same thing. The subtext of this movie is what to take away from it. Plot is never something that's been my driving force as a filmmaker.” ForceViolenceHorrorDrivingFilmmakerPlotValleysDriving ForceSubtext Author:Ti West
“I don't go to see movies to see plots. I'm not interested in puzzles like an Agatha Christie story.” StoriesPlotNot InterestedPuzzlesChristie Author:Ti West
“In comedy writing, a sitcom plot is basically the same thing: What's the worst thing that could happen? But you're playing it for comic effect. It's a similar muscle being used with Black Mirror.” WritingHappensUsedBlackComedyWorstEffectsMirrorsComicMusclesPlotWorst ThingsSitcomComedy Writing Author:Charlie Brooker
“The development of the plot of the novel leads to a single point, and it's my opinion that the ending that the novel has, which is a somewhat ambiguous ending, is the only logical ending given the structure of the book as a whole.” BookWholeGivenOpinionNovelDevelopmentStructurePlotLogicalAmbiguous Author:Emily Barton
“Once you've got a concept and a sense of themes and what it's about, then you can start to add your plot and sort of Tetris in all of the elements that you want to see, but also attach them to something that has cohesion, like a mold.” WantElementsConceptsAddThemePlotMoldCohesionTetris Author:Shane Black