J. A. Konrath Quotes

I really think if you take away a character's obstacles then there's no comedy.

A story isn't interesting unless a character has real challenges to deal with.

The story is the only thing that's important. Everything else will take care of itself. It's like what bowlers say. You hear writers talk about character or theme or mood or mode or tense or person. But bowlers say, if you make the spares, the strikes will take care of themselves. If you can tell a story, everything else becomes possible. But without story, nothing is possible, because nobody wants to hear about your sensitive characters if there's nothing happening in the story. And the same is true with mood. Story is the only thing that's important.

A story is a character who wants something and overcomes conflict to get it.

My job as a dramatist is to find out where these characters want to go, and make it as hard as possible for them to get there.

Fans want to see a story with characters, and they want to see a story.

Whether you're writing a horror show or a James Bond film, I think what bubbles beneath is interesting characterization. The colors that emerge through storytelling is what a dramatist does. There's always got to be something bubbling underneath that will erupt at some point.

I'm all about the story. If I like the character and I think the story's entertaining, I'll do it.

No, the thing is, we all love storytelling, and as a writer you get to tell stories all the time.

Listen to great storytellers; slowly, you will learn about voice, timing, tension, structure, climax - all the things you need to tell stories that will capture the imagination of your audience.

A story is built on characters and reasons.

The fundamentals for me are character and conflict. I put character first because readers will be indifferent to conflict if they are indifferent to the character who is experiencing it.

You won't have a story unless you have conflict, which means if there's no conflict in a situation, people look for a way to make some.

It's often lost in most Silicon Valley startups, the importance of storytelling when most people are thinking about they assemble their team and the critical functions that the team needs to be successful. Storytelling is normally not on the list.

With thrillers, I tend to concentrate on the research and pace more than the characters.

I write largely plot-driven stories.

Every character comes with its own challenges.

We need the villain sometimes. It makes for an interesting story.

The writing is only ever the attractive thing about a part. And also if all the elements within the writing come together - the character and the structure and the narrative - if they are all there then you become excited.

Conflict is the place where character and plot intersect.

Character is plot, plot is character.

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.

Every scene should be able to answer three questions: "Who wants what from whom? What happens if they don't get it? Why now?"

If I really knew how to do good storytelling, I would be a writer. Mystery is not a huge part of it. ... It's tension, it's relationships. I think it's a struggle.

Get to know your characters as well as you can let there be something at stake, and then let the chips fall where they may.