David Maraniss Quotes

I'm big on story structure. I studied with John Truby, who mapped out story by means of moral wants and needs, and that's what I do. Hey, so does John Irving.

The great thing about a trilogy is that it feels like you've got a beginning, a middle, and an end.

Every story has its demands.

My only conclusion about structure is that nothing works if you don't have interesting characters and a good story to tell.

I think all good short stories are about what it means to tell a good story.

People tend to think of their lives as having a dramatic arc, because they read too much fiction.

In a lot of ways, TV writing taught me how to be a good storyteller. I learned about dialogue, scenes, moving the plot forward.

I tend not to know what the plot is or the story is or even the theme. Those things come later, for me.

Theme is great for people who like to approach stories that way, but it's an organizing principle that helps us write a story that has some weight; it's not something that all readers have to care about.

In a story, you have to have a theme and an angle, you have to have a beginning, middle and an end. You have to have a defining moment and kick it to death. You gotta be able to recognize that, by the way. It probably takes experience.

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.

It took me many years to figure out how to structure a compelling story.

As I work, I see my writing - each scene, each chapter, each section, each book - in three-act structures and classic myths, and I analyze them through the handy filter of the detective story.

I believe in three-act structure. When I say that to novel people, or people in the world of books, they go, 'Well, that's a film thing.' However, even a good joke has three acts.

One of the things that I have learned since trying to bring in an interesting story in under 28 pages is that we already agree on great chunks of typical superhero stories.

I'm very good at plot.

I care about narrative structure; I care about how stories unfold.

For me, 'The Hobbit' is an object lesson in storytelling, both in terms of characterization and story structure. It is an exemplar of storytelling in that regard.

I write largely plot-driven stories.

I could make up characters till the cows came home. Plot's what hard. Very hard.

You have to look for story. That's obvious. If that's not on the page, you can forget it. But I also read whatever character I'm being offered. And if you can cut them out without it affecting the story, then I say no straight away.

Whatever the case, oftentimes, for a story to feel complete to me, I need more than one point of view.

You don't idea your way into a plot but plot your way into an idea.

Where are the beginnings, the endings, and most important, the middles?

I don't make unconventional stories; I don't make non-linear stories. I like linear storytelling a lot.