“But the real life of a writer resides in showing up at the keyboard every day, with the necessary patience and mercy, and making the best decisions you can on behalf of your people. It’s a slow process. It often feels hopeless, more like an affliction than an art form. Most of us will have to find our readers one by one, in other words, and against considerable resistance. If anything qualifies us as heroic, it’s that private perpetual struggle. Put down the magazine, soldier. Forget about the other guy. Remember who you are.” PeopleIfsFeelsWritingArtRealRememberFormGuyProcessDecisionForgetStruggleReaderMercyWho You AreSoldierReal LifeResistanceMagazinesHopelessHeroicPerpetualAfflictionBehalfOther GuysKeyboardsShowing UpRemember Who You Are Author:Steve Almond
“Most people are middle class. Most people do wish their lives were better than they are. And I think by making my main characters ordinary, average guys, it helps readers identify with their problems. It also helps ground the supernatural events that follow in a recognizable reality and perhaps gives some of my wilder scenarios a little verisimilitude.” PeopleThinkingGivingLittlesCharacterHelpingProblemRealityGuyWishClassMiddleEventsReaderOrdinaryAverageMiddle ClassScenariosMain CharactersWilder Author:Bentley Little
“I know what the attitudes of the readers are: These are guys who love women and respect women.” KnowsGuyAttitudeEconomyReaderRespect Women Author:Christie Hefner
“It's important to me that the reader goes on a ride with the characters, that you set context enough to know, "Okay, here's where we are in the world. Now we're just going to go inside this person's head, this guy's heart, this woman's ambitions and take it down to very, very small scale."” KnowsWorldHeartPersonsImportantEnoughCharacterGuyGoes OnReaderAmbitionOkayScalesThis Guy Author:Don Winslow
“One of the best places for a shy person to meet people is in a coffee shop. If you are a reader, bring a book and read it there - that gives a guy something to ask you about. Same goes for sketching, writing, or any hobby you can take with you.” PeopleIfsGivingWritingPersonsBookGuyAsksReaderCoffeeShopsShyHobbiesBest PlaceCoffee ShopSketchingShy Person Author:Laurie Helgoe
“The advantage of horror books is to take the reader and cut him out of the pack and work on him one on one. It has its advantages because the people that are there in the movie theater really are a mob. If you get one guy alone you can do a more efficient job of scaring him.” PeopleIfsBookJobsGuyCan DoCuttingReaderHorrorAdvantageTheaterEfficientPacksMovie TheaterOne On One Author:Stephen King
“We've lost that very simple transaction that's so pure, where a reader can say, "I support what you're doing, here's my dollar. I know that you guys are gonna be watchdogs or keep the government accountable, so here's my 50-cent contribution each day." It's just so tidy, and I think so inspiring.” ThinkingKnowsGovernmentGuyLostSimpleSupportReaderPureDollarsContributionEach DayCentsTransactionsTidy Author:Dave Eggers
“My objective always is to stay as close as possible and shoot the pictures as if through the eyes of the infantryman, the Marine, or the pilot. I wanted to give the reader something of the visual perspective and feeling of the guy under fire, his apprehensions and sufferings, his tensions and releases, his behavior in the presence of threatening death.” IfsGivingFeelingsEyeWantedGuySufferingFirePerspectiveReaderBehaviorObjectivesReleaseTensionVisualsPilotsThreateningMarineApprehensionThrough The EyesInfantryman Author:David Douglas Duncan
“The good agent probably is not the reader, he's just the guy who can put together a deal.” TogetherGuyDealsReaderAgents Author:Rod Serling
“I have three boys. And I wanted to make sure it connected with them and then those guys who grew up like me, in environments like me.And then I knew something about science that your New York Times reader would be interested in. So I was thinking about it in multiple ways: I'll connect with the people who grew up like me first, and then the New York Times reader will be interested in the science because it's so good and they want to be "in the know."” PeopleThinkingKnowsWayWantFirstsWould BeWantedGuyThreeBoysEnvironmentNew YorkGrewReaderGrew UpConnectedLike MeMultipleNew York Times Author:Carl Hart