Matthew Reilly Quotes

The key is a good story. If you have a good story, you have enough emotional beats that you can hit.

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.

The luxury we have when we do a series is that we go through a long journey, and it keeps a lot of information and things to be revealed.

Every story has its demands.

I'm always writing about character first. Plot, such as it is, comes from the characters.

A structure is a bit like a story. People will go along with you - they see where you're going.

Whether it's 'The West Wing' or anything else, my first thought is always, 'What's a good story?'

For me, the best moments in storytelling are the ones where I feel I'm discovering something.

I write largely plot-driven stories.

I don't like plots. I don't know what a plot means. I can't stand the idea of anything that starts in the beginning - you know, 'beginning, middle and end.'

My writing has always been what you call 'narrative fiction' in the sense that it's got very strong plots and twists at the end.

The suspense of a novel is not only in the reader, but in the novelist, who is intensely curious about what will happen to the hero.

I'm a storyteller, not a prophet. I'm just interested in a good story.

This is the story, this is your character, I have the sense of the landscape, I have the sense of the scene, I have all that stuff. But I'm also looking for something else to happen, an accident or something. You're focused on the story you intend to tell and then you have to have a peripheral net out to catch these accidents.

Good stories are driven by conflict, tension, and high stakes.

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.

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

Marc Cherry is so good at writing himself into a corner, then writing himself out of that corner. It's really fun to watch that.

I have a plot, but not much happens.

When you have really good writing, you're compelled by the actors who are in it, and you may think it's the actors or the design or the filmmaking of it, but then you're like, 'Well, the base is a really rich story that these guys have created.'

If you have a beautiful story, it has to have conflict. If you don't have conflict, it can't be a good story.

Tension is the cornerstone of any good story.

The way I express ideas is through the plot, Suspense is an important part of expressing an idea.

I much prefer a plotted novel to a novel that is really conceptual.

When you learn about stories in school, you get it backward. You start to think 'Oh, the reason these things are in stories is because a book said I need to put these things in there.' You need a death, as my husband says, and you need a little sidekick with a saying like 'Skivel-dee-doo!'