13th July 2016 | for Creatives | characters, writing, Donald Maass |
"Douse your main characters in gasoline. Have your secondary characters throw Molotov cocktails. You are a god hurling thunderbolts—or you can be."
"I believe in sending characters down fearful paths. Stories pushed beyond the limits of comfort stick in readers' imaginations."
"It's this funny headspace you get in, where you're acting, really. .... You literally pretend you are this person, and you go about your life as if you are this person. And so, when people will ask me, 'Did you like this character?' I don't know. Because I'm so far inside them, I can't judge them at all. You're behaving as if you are this person."
"You just have to say, 'This is who this [character] is. And I'm going to write it the way I see it and the way she feels it, and have faith that readers will follow."
"What gives a story high impact is that which is most personal and passionate in its author. That includes your own fears. They are your compass. They're directing you toward what unsettles. And also to what matters."
"You just have to say, 'This is who this [character] is. And I'm going to write it the way I see it and the way she feels it, and have faith that readers will follow."
Don't miss a single, riveting word! Be the first to hear of new releases, special promotions, and other news and nifty things...