Robert J. Sawyer Quotes

All the great writers root their characters in true human behaviour.

The great thing about writing is that you always put yourself in the shoes of the character. If you're doing it right, you can see into the heart of all your characters. Usually, when there's a writing problem, it's because you aren't doing that.

The analysis of character is the highest human entertainment.

I always say I write my own novels and the characters don't take control of me, but in fact, I look at the characters in the early stages and I think, 'What is he or she like,' and they slowly come together and they become the person they are.

Never argue with your characters; they know themselves better than you do.

What I look for in any character, good or bad, is whether I can hear him speak. If I can imagine him that clearly, then I can write about him.

I try to distinguish my characters from each other.

I try to create characters that I am fascinated by on some level or intrigued by or can't stand.

I start out giving characters archetypes and parameters. Once I know the basics and have a rudimentary model, it's easier to carve unique curves and edges. It's quite easy to guess how a character is going to react if you know their background, and at a certain point, you realize you understand them personally.

All my characters have been relatable.

I always try to make my characters people, and yet I always want to entertain.

Writers often say that characters begin to write themselves, and I never used to believe that. I always thought that was complete hogwash.

The thing with videogame characters is that they tend to be really undercooked, and people don't take the time to really flesh them out. They don't treat them with the respect that a writer writing characters in any other medium would treat their character.

I have always argued, in a good novel, interesting things happen to interesting people.

To me, characters are at the heart of great literature.

You decide which characters you want and then do the best you can to bring their humanity to the forefront in the context that you place them in - the crises in which you've placed them.

The writer of stories or of novels settles on men and imitates them; he exhausts the possibilities of his characters.

I always believed in my characters. I lived them.

I like movies about people and movies with characters; that's what I'm drawn to as a person who likes to create these characters within the story, but I like it all, really.

I suppose it's possible that a writer would have feeling for his characters, but I can't see how, because writing is such a meticulous, intricate, technical business. I wish I could say that I love my characters and that frequently they take over the book and run away with the plot and so on. But they don't exist.

When you write, you hear the characters speaking to you as you take dictation from what they say. And obviously, they had particular personalities when you hear them.

If you let the plot be determined by what you feel is in the character's mind at that point, it may not turn out to be a very good play, but at least it will be a play where people are behaving in a kind of truthful way.

I think it's important that a director be able to know his characters inside and out.

My first job is to write the characters as full and authentic people as well as I can.

You've got to leave the reader with more than just a name and a costume - they need to know who the character is, what they're like, what kind of attitude they have, what sort of role they play.