Arthur Slade Quotes

I tend to spend a lot of time building characters that the reader will believe in and sympathize with.

To make a book convincing, it's less important that the right tree be in the right place than that the characters are emotionally real.

The question of likability is a bit of a puzzler for me. You know, I don't write people with likability in mind. It's more whether or not I find them compelling.

What makes characters real are details, and if you're crafting a person from scratch, you're probably not going to pay as much attention to a question like, 'Does this person bite their nails?'

Plot and character are virtually the same thing.

As a writer, you have to realize that people want to like the characters, so you have to be careful to keep them involved.

My first job is to write the characters as full and authentic people as well as I can.

I believe that if the story is fleshed out and the characters more believable, the reader is more likely to take the journey with them. In addition, the plot can be more complex. My characters are very real to me, and I want each of my characters to be different.

You've got to leave the reader with more than just a name and a costume - they need to know who the character is, what they're like, what kind of attitude they have, what sort of role they play.

The way of creating believable characters is not by conforming to a set of PC rules.

Even in horror novels where you know most characters aren't going to make it to the end, it's crucial to have fully fleshed-out characters. If you don't do that, the reader doesn't care what happens to them.

I do not choose characters because I think, 'Wow, that woman is so strong.' I chose these characters with utmost conviction because I think they were realistic enough to exist, and I really liked the scripts.

I love making characters real and believable, through my own experience and choices.

What I look for in any character, good or bad, is whether I can hear him speak. If I can imagine him that clearly, then I can write about him.

I love those preliminary conversations about who a character is. You try on wigs, shoes and clothes. It's preferable when it's not about looking pretty. It can get a little dull to just be cute. We talk about things like, maybe my character can't afford these Christian Louboutins.

I feel like my responsibility as an actor is to make characters as compelling and believable as possible.

I try to get roles that challenge me in what I can do and who I think I can portray. For me, it's about creating characters with really fascinating stories, because that's what I like to watch on TV.

I try to begin with a strong grasp of my characters. Even if it's schematic, I need it clear in my head who these people are.

I can tell you that as a writer and as a reader, I regard character as king. Or queen. No matter how riveting the action or interesting the plot twists, if I don't feel like I'm meeting someone who feels real, I'm not going to be compelled to read further.

I always try to write about believable people.

I'm about my characters.

Usually when I'm trying to establish character, I try and find out where they live.

You can't make the audience fall in love with a character you don't like.

I do think you need to understand a character's motivation and perspective.

You don't want to have a character say what's bothering him; you want to define characters by action.