Home / Topics / Plot Quotes

Plot Quotes

Browse 1030 quotes about Plot.

Plot Quotes

“The most difficult part of writing a book is not devising a plot which will captivate the reader. It's not developing characters the reader will have strong feelings for or against. It is not finding a setting which will take the reader to a place he or she as never been. It is not the research, whether in fiction or non-fiction. The most difficult task facing a writer is to find the voice in which to tell the story.”

“As a reader I like both great characterization and fast moving plots. The challenge is to balance the both and not compromise one for the other.”

Moving Challenges Reader Balance Compromise Plot Great Character Characterization

Author:Tobsha Learner

“I read a lot of literary theory when I was in graduate school, especially about novels, and the best book I ever read about endings was Peter Brooks' 'Reading for the Plot. '”

Book School Reading Novel Theory Plot Graduates Peter Brooks Graduate School Literary Theory

Author:Lev Grossman

“Enjoy the present, plot the progress, you'll still reach the goal”

Stills Enjoy Goal Progress Plot

Author:Debra Searle

“Oh, how great is the power of truth! which of its own power can easily defend itself against all the ingenuity and cunning and wisdom of men, and against the treacherous plots of all the world.”

Men World Truth Plot Cunning Ingenuity Treacherous

Book:Delphi Complete Works of Cicero (Illustrated)

Source: Delphi Complete Works of Cicero (Illustrated)

“Paul Levinson has outdone himself: The Plot to Save Socrates is a philosophically rich gem full of big ideas and wonderful time-travel tricks.”

Ideas Bigs Rich Wonderful Tricks Plot Time Travel Gems Big Ideas Wonderful Times

Author:Robert J. Sawyer

“plot is character in action.”

Character Action Plot

Author:Maren Elwood

“All the plots of hell and commotions on earth have not so much as shaken God's hand to spoil one letter or line he has been drawing.”

Has Beens Hands Earth Lines Hell Letters Drawing Plot Spoil

Book:The Christian in Complete Armour: Daily Readings in Spiritual Warfare

Source: The Christian in Complete Armour: Daily Readings in Spiritual Warfare

“40 Words for Sorrow is brilliant-one of the finest crime novels I've ever read. Giles Blunt writes with uncommon grace, style and compassion and he plots like a demon. This book has it all-unforgettable characters, beautiful language, throat-constricting suspense.”

Writing Book Character Beautiful Language Compassion Novel Grace Style Crime Sorrow Brilliant Suspense Demon Plot Throat Finest Uncommon Blunt Unforgettable Crime Novels

Author:Jonathan Kellerman

“Shakespeare, who never could think up a plot by himself, found this one [Macbeth] in Holinshed's Chronicles, changing it just enough so that no one would recognize the source. He didn't count on the resourcefulness of modern scholars, who have to discover things like this to become associate professors.”

Thinking Enough Found History Modern Source Plot Professors Scholar Associates Chronicles Resourcefulness

Book:Twisted Tales from Shakespeare, in which Shakespeare's Best-known Plays are Presented in a New Light: The Old Light Having Blown a Fuse; Together with Introductions, Questions, Appendices, and Other Critical Apparatus Intended to Contribute to a Clearer Misunderstanding of the Subject

Source: Twisted Tales from Shakespeare, in which Shakespeare's Best-known Plays are Presented in a New Light: The Old Light Having Blown a Fuse; Together with Introductions, Questions, Appendices, and Other Critical Apparatus Intended to Contribute to a Clearer Misunderstanding of the Subject

“Night Owls is a fast, fun read that kept me turning the pages. Lauren M. Roy delivers a plot that zips, dialogue that zings, and a cast of characters you'll cheer for to the very end. Thumbs up!”

Ends Character Night Fun Pages Casts Dialogue Plot Cheer Thumbs Owl Zips Lauren Thumbs Up Night Owl Zing

Author:Devon Monk

“I think the further away you get from completing a book, the more responses you see to it from readers, the more your own tastes and opinions shift and the more you start to see things you could have written differently in the detail, or done differently on the broader scale of plot and character.”

Thinking Book Done Character Opinion Written Reader Taste Response Details Scales Plot Completing

Author:Joe Abercrombie

“As in all Abercrombie's books, friends turn out to be enemies, enemies turn out to be friends; the line between good and evil is murky indeed; and nothing goes quite as we expect. With eye-popping plot twists and rollicking good action, Half a King is definitely a full adventure.”

Book Eye Action Turns Evil Lines Half Enemy Adventure Kings Good And Evil Plot Twists Popping Good Actions Plot Twists

Author:Rick Riordan

“Language is the ticket to plot and character, after all, because both are built out of language.”

Character Language Built Plot Tickets

Author:Aimee Bender

“But I'm a fairly mechanical worker - I tend not to think about themes so much as plot. I want to get the feeling right. If it's moving through tunnels, I ask myself, what is it like to move through tunnels?”

Ifs Thinking Want Feelings Moving Asks Workers Theme Plot Tunnels

Author:Brian Selznick

“I grew up reading SF in the 70s and 80s, and I like fast, thought-provoking plots that take you places in fully realized worlds.”

World Reading Grew Grew Up Plot Thought Provoking Provoking 80s

Author:Kim Harrison

“There is nothing - no program, no hobby, no vice, no crime - that does not 'create jobs'. Tsunamis, computer viruses and shooting convenience store clerks all 'create jobs'. So that claim misses the plot; it applies to all so is an argument in favor of none. Instead of an argument on the merits, it is an admission that one has no such arguments.”

Doe Jobs Missing Crime Computer Program Argument Claims Vices Stores Favors Shooting Merit Plot Hobbies Convenience Viruses Admission Clerks Tsunami Computer Viruses

Author:Chris Horner

“A lot of roles for people with disabilities are quite patronising. It's a real pity when they are just used to give dull PC kudos to a drama, or when they're wheeled on in a tokenistic way without any real involvement in the plot.”

People Way Giving Real Used Roles Drama Pity Dull Plot Disability Involvement People With Disabilities

Author:Mark Haddon

“I better make the plot good. I wanted to make it grip people on the first page and have a big turning point in the middle, as there is, and construct the whole thing like a bit of a roller coaster ride...”

People Firsts Whole Bigs Wanted Middle Pages Plot Constructs Turning Points Roller Coaster Coasters Roller Coaster Rides

Author:Mark Haddon

“Have you ever visited that portion of Erin's plot that offers its sympathetic soil for the minute survey and scrutinous examination of those in political power, whose decision has wisely been the means before now of converting the stern and prejudiced, and reaching the hand of slight aid to share its strength in augmenting its agricultural richness?”

Mean Hands Political Decision Share Minutes Offers Aids Soil Reaching Plot Portions Examination Richness Sympathetic Surveys Political Power Converting Erin

Author:Amanda McKittrick Ros

“When I started in television, it was brand new. It was the miracle over in the corner of your room. Now the audience has seen every story line. People have heard every joke. They can predict the plot almost before a show starts. That's a hard, sophisticated audience to reach.”

People Hard Stories Shows Lines Rooms Audience Heard Television Jokes Miracle Corners Brands Plot Sophisticated Brand New Your Room

Author:Betty White

“I could never be a part of an adaptation of a film where there's pressure to not disappoint the immense fan base. In those cases, they often wind up with filmed books on tape, quite uncinematic. Having said that, I'd say all the adaptations I've done are quite faithful to the original... You have to pick and choose which storylines and plot threads, because you don't have the time to kill in the film as they have in novels. All those pages with detours and plots and different storylines. But films add a lot, and you gotta keep it moving.”

“The characters are the plot. What they do and say and the things that happen to them are, in a sense, what the plot is. You can't take character and plot apart from each other, really.”

Character Happens Plot

Author:Terry Pratchett

“Just as a gardener must tend his or her plot, keeping out the weeds, you must tend the garden of your mind, weeding out the thoughts of lack, limitation, and negativity. You must nurture and tend the thoughts of happiness, success, and purpose.”

Mind Purpose Garden Limitation Plot Weed Negativity Nurture Gardener

Book:Prosperity Mind: How to Harness the Power of Thought

Source: Prosperity Mind: How to Harness the Power of Thought

“Storytelling is ultimately a creative act of pattern recognition. Through characters, plot and setting, a writer creates places where previously invisible truths become visible. Or the storyteller posits a series of dots that the reader can connect.”

Character Creative Reader Truth Is Series Patterns Invisible Setting Storytelling Settings Recognition Visible Plot Storyteller Dots

Author:Douglas Coupland

“If you've got a plot the size of a car or a tiny yard in Italy, you're going to be growing tomatoes and basil and celery and carrots, and everybody is still connected to the land.”

Ifs Stills Growing Land Car Size Connected Tiny Plot Yards Tomatoes Carrots Celery Basil

Author:Frances Mayes

“Through rationality we shall become awesome, and invent and test systematic methods for making people awesome, and plot to optimize everything in sight, and the more fun we have the more people will want to join us.”

People Want Fun Tests Sight Method Plot Rationality Systematic

Author:Eliezer Yudkowsky

“I start with a beat sheet, which is more of an abbreviated outline. It hits all the major plot points. From there, I move to note cards. But the most important part of my process is my inspiration board.”

Important Inspiration Moving Process Majors Beats Notes Cards Boards Plot Sheets Outlines

Author:Kami Garcia

“In silent films, quite complex plots are built around action, setting, and the actors gestures and facial expressions, with a very few storyboards to nail down specific plot points.”

Action Film Actors Expression Built Silent Complexes Setting Settings Plot Gestures Nails Facial Facial Expression Silent Films

Author:Laurie R. King

“I keep an elaborate calendar for my characters detailing on which dates everything happens. Im constantly revising this as I go along. It gives me the freedom to intricately plot my story, knowing it will at least hold up on a timeline.”

Giving Character Stories Happens Knowing Give Me Things Happen Plot Calendars Revising Timelines

Author:Maria Semple

“The Cloud Roads has wildly original worldbuilding, diverse and engaging characters, and a thrilling adventure plot. It's that rarest of fantasies: fresh and surprising, with a story that doesn't go where ten thousand others have gone before. I can't wait for my next chance to visit the Three Worlds!”

World I Can Character Stories Three Next Waiting Chance Fantasy Gone Adventure Thousand Ten Originals Clouds Plot Surprising Diverse Engaging Thrilling

Author:N.K. Jemisin

“I've never really found inspiration for story ideas in the news, but I'd say it certainly affects our lives in so many ways. I would say that certainly the stories of the day appear in the work - I just have never gone so far as to say, well, this particular event could influence a plot of an entire book.”

Way Wells Book Ideas Stories Inspiration Found Gone Our Lives Influence Events Particular News Plot

Author:Michael Koryta

“Delicious... Everything I'd hoped for in a new Wild Cards book. The character interactions and plot twists have exactly the complexity, surprise, and unsentimental realism I'd expect out of a George R. R. Martin project.”

Book Character Projects Surprise Cards Complexity Plot Interaction Realism Delicious Twists Plot Twists

Author:Austin Grossman

“I definitely feel that plot flows from character. I dont believe that you can construct a plot and insert people into it.”

People Feels Believe Character Flow Plot Constructs Insert

Author:Lisa Unger

“Bangkok 8 is one of the most startling and provocative mysteries that I've read in years. The characters are marvelously unique, the setting is intoxicating and the plot unwinds in dark illusory strands, reminiscent of Gorky Park. Once I started, I didn't want to put it down.”

Want Years Character Dark Mystery Unique Setting Settings Parks Plot Provocative Strands Illusory Unwind Bangkok

Author:Carl Hiaasen

“In everything I've written, the crime has always just been an occasion to write about other things. I don't have a picture of myself as writing crime novels. I like fairly strong narratives, but it's a way of getting a plot moving.”

Way Writing Moving Strong Novel Written Crime Occasions Narrative Plot Crime Novels Pictures Of Myself

Author:Peter Temple

“In writing, I'm totally anti-plans of any kind. All my attempts to plan and plot novels have come to grief, and in expensive ways.”

Way Writing Kind Grief Novel Plans Expensive Plot

Author:Peter Temple

“Many of my favorite films, if someone were to tell me simply what they're about, I probably wouldn't be that interested. Plot often has so little to do with what's at the heart of a film.”

Ifs Heart Littles Film My Favorite Plot

Author:Shane Carruth

“I think that sometimes, romantic comedies have to be really broad, and that the plot of people falling in and out of love or whatever is not enough. Enough Said had that stuff, but I wanted it to be fun and funny while also grounded in reality.”

People Thinking Said Sometimes Enough Reality Wanted Fall Fun Stuff Comedy Plot Broads Grounded Enough Said

Author:Nicole Holofcener

“When the plot flags, bring in a man with a gun.”

Men Gun Plot Flags

Author:Raymond Chandler

“The real story is not the plot, but how the characters unfold by it.”

Real Character Stories Plot Real Story

Author:Vanna Bonta

“There are those who maintain that in this world women have no right to interfere in the affairs of state, in politics, in plots and counter-plots. Others that are who, more chivalrous, are willing to admit that women have as much right to act, think, and speak as men.”

Thinking Men World States Speak This World Willing Affair Plot Interfere

Book:Belle Boyd in Camp and Prison

Source: Belle Boyd in Camp and Prison

“And if I'm guilty of having gratuitous sex, then I'm also guilty of having gratuitous violence, and gratuitous feasting, and gratuitous description of clothes, and gratuitous heraldry, because very little of this is necessary to advance the plot. But my philosophy is that plot advancement is not what the experience of reading fiction is about. If all we care about is advancing the plot, why read novels? We can just read Cliffs Notes.”

Ifs Writing Littles Philosophy Care Reading Sex Fiction Novel Violence Clothes Notes Guilty Description Plot Advancement Cliffs Advancing Feasting Reading Fiction

Author:George R. R. Martin

“A country is strong which consists of wealthy families, every member of whom is interested in defending a common treasure; it is weak when composed of scattered individuals, to whom it matters little whether they obey seven or one, a Russian or a Corsican, so long as each keeps his own plot of land, blind in their wretched egotism, to the fact that the day is coming when this too will be torn from them.”

Littles Long Country Matter Facts Individual Strong Wealth Common Family Land Members Weak Blind Unity Seven Treasure Plot Wealthy Torn Wretched Egotism

Book:Letters of Two Brides

Source: Letters of Two Brides

“yet it seems Life scarce can cast a fragrance on the wind, Scarce spread a glory to the morning beams, But the torn petals strew the garden plot; And there's but common greenness after that.”

Life Seems Common Morning Wind Glory Garden Casts Spread Plot Torn Fragrance Scarce Beam Petals Transience

Book:The Collected Works of W. B. Yeats: Volume I: The Poems, 2nd Edition

Source: The Collected Works of W. B. Yeats: Volume I: The Poems, 2nd Edition

“The westward march has stopped, upon the final plains of the Pacific; and now the plot thickenswith the change, the pause, the settlement, our people draw into closer groups, stand face to face, to know each other and be known.”

People Knows Faces Known Groups Draws Finals Plot March Pauses Face To Face Pacific Settlement

Author:Woodrow Wilson

“The plots of God are perfect. The Universe is a plot of God.”

Universe Perfect Plot

Book:Complete Works Of Edgar Allan Poe: The New Raven Edition

Source: Complete Works Of Edgar Allan Poe: The New Raven Edition

“Nothing aids which may not also injure us. Fire serves us well, but he who plots to burn His neighbor's roof arms his hands with fire.”

Wells May Hands Fire Arms Aids Neighbor Plot Roof Duality

Author:Ovid

“Once a novel gets going and I know it is viable, I don't then worry about plot or themes. These things will come in almost automatically because the characters are now pulling the story.”

Knows Character Stories Worry Novel Theme Plot Pulling

Author:Chinua Achebe

“Good manners, Madam, are had these days not For your asking, nor mine, nor what-we-used-to-be's. The day is a loud grenade that bursts a smile Of serious weeds in a comic lily plot.”

Used Mines Serious Asking Used To Be Comic Manners These Days Loud Plot Good Man Weed Lilies Good Manners Grenade

Book:Collected Poems, 1919-1976

Source: Collected Poems, 1919-1976