Tim O'Brien Quotes

All the writing elements are the same. You need to tell a good story... You've got good characters... People think there's some dramatic difference between writing 'Little Bear' and the 'Hunger Games,' and as a writer, for me, there isn't.

An attempt to write nothing but characterization will soon bog down; I for one don't want to have somebody tell me about someone else.

Stories of all lengths and depths come from different parts of the cave. For a novel, you must lay in mental, physical and spiritual provision as for a siege or for a time of hectic explosions, while a short story is, or can be, a steady, timed flame like the lighting of a blow lamp on a building site full of dry tinder.

I'm not very good at story. In fact, compared to character and language, I barely care about story at all.

A good story cannot be devised; it has to be distilled.

I think almost always that what gets me going with a story is the atmosphere, the visual imagery, and then I people it with characters, not the other way around.

Plot is what happens in your story. Every story needs structure, just as every body needs a skeleton. It is how you 'flesh out and clothe' your structure that makes each story unique.

The thing I am attracted to is just good writing and stories that are based somewhat in reality.

Over the years, a number of people have asked me why I tend to write at this great length. I've put some thought into the answer, and it can be boiled down one word: consequences. Well, maybe two words: consequences and characters. Or perhaps, consequences, characters, and the subconscious mind - above all the subconscious mind.

A good scenario doesn't make a good science fiction story - but it's a setting within which a good science fiction story might be told.

I spent ages figuring out things like viewpoint, how you tell the story, and so on.

A good writer is basically a story teller, not a scholar or a redeemer of mankind.

I find it satisfying and intellectually stimulating to work with the intensity, brevity, balance and word play of the short story.

Some authors, when starting a novel, imagine a place first. Others, a character starts taking shape in their head. I start with a hook, a situation, a 'what if.'

Technique is of less interest than character and story.

The only thing I knew about novels from a technical point of view was that they should have conflict.

It always comes down to script and characters.

When I'm writing a story, I try to reduce it to the barest possible components and go from there.

No matter what kind of writing you do, it's always the details that make the story.

But basically, I'm trying to write a fun story.

To combine telling an interesting story with brilliantly written characters is the most difficult thing to do.

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.

As far as personal philosophies go, I think you should know your ending. I know that's radically different from a lot of other writers who just organically like to find the story. Other than that, I try different things and mess around. I'm still just playing a good bit.

A short story is something that you can hold in your mind. You can really analyze how the entire thing works, like a machine.

I began to be impressed by what made a good book-how you needed to have a sensible story, a plot that developed, with a beginning, a middle, and an end that would tie everything together.