Laura van den Berg Quotes

All my fiction starts from a feeling of unique perception, the pressure of a secret, a story that needs to be told.

My first duty to write a gripping yarn. Second is to convey credible characters who make you feel what they feel. Only third comes the idea.

People want good stories.

Setting is my primary joy as a writer, building a world and watching people respond to it.

I never set out to write literature; I set out to tell stories. And some of my work may be very raunchy and very bloodthirsty - but life, for me, is a violent thing.

I don't care whether the story is real or fantastical. I tell the story that needs to be told.

As a writer, I absorb stories, allow them to churn within my own head and heart - often for years - until I find a way of telling them that fits both my time and temperament.

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

Those of us with this ancient compulsion to tell stories sometimes start with a single kernel of something.

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

All that non-fiction can do is answer questions. It's fiction's business to ask them.

Getting to share the stories in my head with other people and have them enjoy those stories, and having them come to see my characters as real. That's so cool.

A novel should be a book of questions, not a book of answers.

I've tried to tell a story. For me, it is the best one.

Fiction is life with the dull bits left out.

I think most fiction focuses on uncomfortable settings because that's interesting.

I enjoy receiving and giving realistic fiction, for both children and adults, with strong characters, beautiful language, and humane visions.

No, the thing is, we all love storytelling, and as a writer you get to tell stories all the time.

Fiction is about telling a good story, first and foremost. But of course, everything I'm interested in or angry about leaks into my writing, from art to violence against women.

I think that the mark of a great book is that it will meet you wherever you're at and you'll feel and experience something new and different each time you read it.

Sometimes my lyrics may describe a situation that happened to a friend. Other times, I create a story from the ground up.

I'm going to try to tell stories and let each tale skate its own way into dark or light territory as the needs of the story steer me.

I always like to tell a story.

In my books I try to tell a good story, not give messages.

I'm a fan of great storytelling.