storytelling skill Quotes

The problem with trying to make a film good and have it work for an audience is the problem of trying to tell a story well. The shape or the color of it doesn't matter.

I've written short stories from male perspectives before, and I've never had a problem with it as long as I've understood the character's emotions and motivations.

Boy, if Garth Ennis had created a religion, I would sure like to be a part of that. It just makes sense, the way he tackles things in it. It's really heavy stuff and it's incredibly well written.

I'm crazy about 'Breaking Bad,' but I wouldn't know how to write an episode of it.

Fortunately, our audiences are used to a kind of boredom in the theatre, and if the writer is skillful, he will flatter them into thinking: 'Why, that's us up there, and aren't we - for all our little foibles - pretty nice guys and gals?'

When I was a boy, unconsciously, spontaneously I learned the art of telling ironic stories.

What a director should be doing is making it appear as though there was no script.

Writing is incidental to my primary objective, which is spinning a good yarn. I view myself as a storyteller more than a writer. The story - and hence the extensive research that goes into each one of my books - is much more important than the words that I use to narrate it.

Why has Scandinavia been producing such good thrillers? Maybe because their filmmakers can't afford millions for CGI and must rely on cheaper elements like, you know, stories and characters.

Writers are nothing but beggars with a good line.

I like a good story well told. That is the reason I am sometimes forced to tell them myself.

I love writing thrillers.

You have to tell a good story first. If it's a good story, people will be interested. It doesn't matter about the content.

Humans know when it's not a good story. Unless you do this for a living, you may not know exactly why you don't like a story, but you can't fool an audience ever. They know when you have it and they know when you don't.

Well, the secret to writing is writing. It's only a secret to people who don't want to hear it. Writing is how you be a writer.

Everything has to be pulling weight in a short story for it to be really of the first order.

I loved the show Lost, in part because the writers were so nimble in how they would take things from previous episodes, that probably weren't created with any intent towards a larger narrative, and they would get woven into narratives in a really elegant and exciting way.

You know there's some great folks, great story telling at 'Dateline,' and I'm glad to be a part of it.

People are interested if you tell stories well and relevantly.

Jordie Bellaire knows how to tell a story with color.

I have been successful probably because I have always realized that I knew nothing about writing and have merely tried to tell an interesting story entertainingly.

The highest praise a writer can give another is to say he wishes he had written his book. I wish I had written Forty Words for Sorrow. Giles Blunt has a tremendous talent. If you miss Forty Words for Sorrow, you'll miss one of best novels of 2001.

History: Gossip well told.

Too many writers think that all you need to do is write well-but that's only part of what a good book is. Above all, a good book tells a good story. Focus on the story first. Ask yourself, 'Will other people find this story so interesting that they will tell others about it?' Remember: A bestselling book usually follows a simple rule, 'It's a wonderful story, wonderfully told'; not, 'It's a wonderfully told story.'

I really admire Nick Hornby - for example, the way that he can make ordinary stuff so beautiful!