Alan Bennett Quotes

Now, when I started my theater, the modus operandi was having the actors stare right into the audience.

My relationship with my readers is somewhat theatrical. One of the main things I try to do in my work is delight my readers.

I'm very aware of the presence of a reader, and that probably is a reaction against a lot of poems that I do read which seem oblivious to my presence as a reader.

My major contribution to the format was to suggest that I be able to step out of the plot and speak directly to the audience, and then be able to go right back into the action. That was an original idea of mine; I know it was because I originally stole it from Thornton Wilder's play Our Town.

I am so used to being up on stage and talking to my fans that it's strange to be on stage and be someone else. I can't look at the audience during 'In the Heights' or I will start talking to them.

I do not write for the reader to come, but for him who is here, short of reading the text on my shoulder.

I write things in my house, and hopefully there's a reader out there who enjoys it and has an experience with it, but that's very different than a performer on stage, where there's an immediate dance with the audience. It's incredibly powerful.

People read me but they don't subscribe.

I enjoy the Web site a lot and I like being able to talk to my readers. I've always had a very close relationship with them.

You can't visit readers where you think they are. You have to invite them home to where you are and try to lure them into your universe. That's the art of storytelling.

The Web critic relies on his or her readers for attentiveness and approval.

If we as writers could predict what readers grab on to, we would write it.

Whenever I write, I'm always thinking of the reader.

I love connecting with readers!

In fiction, the reader will make jumps with you. If you can make the reader make that leap with you, it's a thrilling moment for everyone.

I liked being on stage; I just didn't like the theatrical aspect of being in front of people.

You write for two people, yourself and your audience, who are usually better educated and at least as smart.

To me, it's the kiss of death when you start winking at the audience as an actor. I just never liked it. I don't like it when we do monologues, looking into the character.

Like 'Metro' and 'Motor,' 'Troublemaker' is written in first person. The only narration that happens is Barney speaking to the reader/thinking in her head. First person was a big challenge in the graphic novel because we want both men and women of all ages to enjoy 'Troublemaker.'

I try to write short novels and leave details out not because I want to be minimalist, but because I think that it enables the readers' creativity and interaction with the book.

The idea of audiences becoming part of the show is, I think, where theatre is going.

When the protagonist breaks the fourth wall by looking at the camera in a movie, it's generally been used for comedic purposes, rather than feeling like they're looking into your soul.

I've always published a range of responses to my work in the letters section of my comic book.

I love breaking the fourth wall, and being given permission to play with the audience!

I don't want to hear at all what the artist thinks about his art. And I'm not writing for the artist. I'm writing for the reader, and I want to tell the reader what I think.