David Hare Quotes

Character deaths in and of itself should never be done for shock.

If you kill a character people feel sad. That's too easy.

The rule for finding plots for character-centered novels, which is to ask: 'So what's the worst possible thing I can do to *this* guy?' And then do it.

I think of 'Liar & Spy' as completely different and actually not at all like a 'When You Reach Me'-type story. I feel like 'Liar & Spy' has a much quieter, more emotional revelation.

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

The thing that intrigued me about 'Breaking Bad' from day one was the idea of taking a character and transforming him.

Yes, it's annoying that Hamlet doesn't kill his stepfather ten minutes into the play, but if he did kill his stepfather ten minutes into the play, there wouldn't be a play. He has to be annoying, if you will, and not do what would be the thing to do.

I think predictability is built into any good novel in some way - you begin reading Anna Karenina and you know pretty much what's going to happen at the end. But that doesn't mean you know what's going to happen in the middle. For me, it's that sense of what happens in the middle that's important.

I think that internal conflict works very well, because, after all, all the best drama is fuelled by conflict.

It's an interesting plot device to enter in a third wheel - it always helps raise the stakes for all parties involved. But often, those characters can be one-dimensional.

I think 'The Condemned' has a great story. It's a lot more than a mindless action flick.

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

Character is plot, plot is character.

Typically with HBO shows, the ninth episode often winds up being a big one and when lots of exciting stuff happens. And then the tenth one is the more placid, character-based one.

I think it's good to leave people with the memory of that being a great character. And if we have a reason to bring him back, we'll bring him back.

Meaningful stories have lots and lots of conflict. If we avoid conflict, our stories won't be meaningful.

Honestly, when you're writing you try to stay on the story, on the character's mind, trying to throw stuff at them. There is danger, and the scares have to kick in the right places with the drama. And you try not to do too much to try to create those moments. Those moments create themselves.

I have always wanted to do a book about actors because I think that the death of a character is a tremendously emotional experience.

As the story unfolded, the cast of characters changed to match it.

So it's nice to know that Rita had that impact, and it was nice to end a character on a high note like that. But, again, in the moment... I always say, nobody was more devastated than me [from Rita's death in Dexter]!

Roughly, the action of a character should be unpredictable before it has been shown, inevitable when it has been shown. In the first half of a novel, the unpredictability should be the more striking. In the second half, the inevitability should be the more striking.

So I’m thinking this is the part of my movie where things appear as if nothing is going to work out. I have to remind myself that all movie characters go through this sort of dark period before they find their happy ending.

The way my books are structured, everyone was together, then they all went their separate ways and the story deltas out like that, and now it’s getting to the point where the story is beginning to delta back in, and the viewpoint characters are occasionally meeting up with each other now and being in the same point at the same time, which gives me a lot more flexibility for killing people.

Tolkien made the wrong choice when he brought Gandalf back. Screw Gandalf. He had a great death and the characters should have had to go on without him.

The reader wants to see something happen between pages one and four hundred, and nothing happens if the characters don't change.