Farhan Akhtar Quotes

We have a writing process that's very much you try to create the character in a complicated way and then you let the story lead you to discovering who the character is in a natural way.

And the nice thing about writing a novel is you take your time, you sit with the character sometimes nine years, you look very deeply at a situation, unlike in real life when we just kind of snap something out.

You can't take a character anywhere they don't expect the character to go. But within those confines is where creativity lies.

And I have the support of the writers: I have a great relationship with the creative team, and they have a good hold of my character and my personality, and they come up with some great stuff, and I'm forever trying to change it up, keep it fresh.

I spend a lot of time with my characters.

Most good fiction also has a character the writer seems to know more deeply than anyone can actually be known in life, but a few unusual writers can make something great without that.

One of the things that I've been trying to do with my characters, one of the things that does lead to me turning things down, is I don't really want to repeat myself.

Whether writing fiction or nonfiction, I've never had the sense I was 'making up' a character. It feels more like watching people reveal themselves, ever more deeply, more intimately.

To combine telling an interesting story with brilliantly written characters is the most difficult thing to do.

I mean, can I really create a full, three-dimensional character? I don't know anymore. I'm certainly going to try.

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

From a writer's standpoint, each character and story presents its own unique challenges and delights. I'm deeply curious about all of my characters, and I love peeling away their layers to see what's underneath their skin, or secreted deep within their hearts.

Outside books, we avoid colorful characters.

A novel is utterly your own creation, a very private process. I think of a novel as a noun and a screenplay as a verb. In a novel, very little needs to happen; you can explore a person's memories and thoughts and fantasies. In a screenplay, it's all action; you must push the story on.

The world is full of novels in which characters simply say and do. There are certainly legitimate genres in which this is sufficient. But in real and lasting writing the character is.

The fun thing about doing origin stories is you are introducing the audience to characters.

We set ourselves a limit and cut characters which weren't so vital.

I do like to embed a fictional character firmly in an occupation.

You can throw a novel into focus with one overheard line.

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

When I wrote for TV, I was always thinking in terms of character and story. After fifteen years, it became hard-wired in me.

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

It's hard to know whether certain characters come to life or not, they either come to have their own life or they don't. I've written many things in which the characters just remain inert.

I remember my dad working with me on breaking down my script and writing out a back story for my character and all that stuff.

The moment comes when a character does or says something you hadn't thought about. At that moment he's alive and you leave it to him.