Abhimanyu Singh Quotes

Plots may be simple or complex, but suspense, and climactic progress from one incident to another, are essential. Every incident in a fictional work should have some bearing on the climax or denouement, and any denouement which is not the inevitable result of the preceding incidents is awkward and unliterary.

In plotting a book, my goal is to raise the stakes for the characters and, in so doing, keep the reader mesmerized.

I hate plots.

The thing should have plot and character, beginning, middle and end. Arouse pity and then have a catharsis. Those were the best principles I was ever taught.

I think too often in films, people think endings are a summation of plot, and I don't like that. Because once you know where you're going as an audience member, then it's like a video game. You're just waiting for them to get through the levels and beat the bad guy. And I just think that's boring.

With storytelling, you have to see yourself as the hero in the movie of your own life, and I kind of see myself as a supporting role, a walk-on role that has five lines. I say, 'Mr. President, the Russians are here.' That's how I see myself.

We need the villain sometimes. It makes for an interesting story.

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.

Characters who are on screen from start to finish are not necessarily the ones who have the greatest impact.

Fiction demands structures and recognizable shapes. Big surprises only draw attention to the writer's hand.

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

The villain drives the plot.

I love good stories; you have to have a good plot - characters which intertwine with a good plot.

I love a really good storyline.

The hero is never the star of the story.

I'm just an entertainer. In a way crime stories are boring. A crime's been committed and at the end you know it will be solved. So you've got to make the story interesting besides it just being a plot. And that's why character matters, why you've got to make the characters interesting.

I better make the plot good. I wanted to make it grip people on the first page and have a big turning point in the middle, as there is, and construct the whole thing like a roller coaster ride.

The more successful the villain, the more successful the picture.

I'm not much of a plotter. I start off with an inciting incident, and in classic crime fiction what happens is that all the action flows from that incident. It's very comfy when it all ties up and feels like a complete universe, but my stuff doesn't always work that way.

Tension is the cornerstone of any good story.

I'm struggling with what is epic. People decided I was epic - if by epic, do you mean a big, heavy book? 'David Copperfield' is a big book - is it epic? Amount of time covered, length, drama, or story - that's the real appeal - if the story is long you have a better chance of becoming more connected.

If the reader is rooting for the protagonist, they'll forgive you just about everything else.

The good ended happily, and the bad unhappily. That is what fiction means.

The challenge in any kind of storytelling, as far as I know, it is, you're looking for the moment that is completely unexpected, but at the same time, you think to yourself, 'Of course, that's the only way it could have gone.' It has to feel like it's the truth of it.

If significant amounts of time go by without suspenseful action - which is often most powerfully motivated by backstory - the story loses momentum, and readers lose interest.