Anne Lamott Quotes

Whether you're writing a horror show or a James Bond film, I think what bubbles beneath is interesting characterization. The colors that emerge through storytelling is what a dramatist does. There's always got to be something bubbling underneath that will erupt at some point.

I'm all about the story. If I like the character and I think the story's entertaining, I'll do it.

The fundamentals for me are character and conflict. I put character first because readers will be indifferent to conflict if they are indifferent to the character who is experiencing it.

I love storytelling. I love characters that are complicated and layered, real people, that you see why they do what they do.

Every scene should be able to answer three questions: "Who wants what from whom? What happens if they don't get it? Why now?"

A story is a character who wants something and overcomes conflict to get it.

Characters make their own plot. The dimensions of the characters determine the action of the novel.

Character development is conflict.

The most important aspect of any story, to me, is character.

The villain drives the plot.

A story is built on characters and reasons.

Character is plot, and casting is character.

I think the best stories always end up being about the people rather than the event, which is to say character-driven.

All you need to know about plotting is twofold. 1. Give your characters goals. 2. Don't let them reach those goals.

I'm probably more character-driven than plot-driven. It's rare for me to attach myself to an idea for a story.

You can't tell a good story without conflict - the story can't be beautiful or meaningful. We're taught to run from conflict, and it's robbing us of some really good stories.

My job as a dramatist is to find out where these characters want to go, and make it as hard as possible for them to get there.

If you have no conflict, you have no story. That's number one. That's a rule of novels.

When a novelist or screenwriter is looking for a subject, the element he's seeking is conflict. Conflict makes drama. Conflict produces great characters and memorable scenes. So war is a natural topic.

I don't think in terms of optimism and pessimism when writing a story. I am telling a story.

It was always about the story rather than the character.

Here's what happens in a play. You get involved in a situation where something is unbalanced. If nothing's unbalanced, there's no reason to have a play. If Hamlet comes home from school, and his dad's not dead and asks him if he's had a good time, it's boring. But if something's unbalanced, it must be returned to order.

Fans want to see a story with characters, and they want to see a story.

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

Storytelling is about two things; it's about character and plot.