Jason Reynolds Quotes

I have to have a character worth caring about. I tend not to start writing books about people I don't have a lot of sympathy for because I'm just going to be with them too long.

I am a firm believer that a good plot makes for a fun enough read, but it's not what binds us. If we don't care about the characters, we won't care - not in a lasting way - about what's happening to them.

I'm focused on finding characters I connect to.

You have to be involved and relate to the characters in order to make a film that is true emotionally.

I can tell you that as a writer and as a reader, I regard character as king. Or queen. No matter how riveting the action or interesting the plot twists, if I don't feel like I'm meeting someone who feels real, I'm not going to be compelled to read further.

You need the audience to become invested in the characters and in order to become invested, they need to identify with the characters... and that's why the characters need to be real.

I've always felt, even with sketches, that if you don't care about these people, then it doesn't matter.

You can't make the audience fall in love with a character you don't like.

My characters are always utterly sympathetic to me, if that makes any sense.

I think, ultimately, if you create characters that people like and can relate to, your characters are grounded on a human level even if your cars are not.

All my characters have been relatable.

If we get caught up in a story, it's because we've started to care about the characters, and that can only happen if we've moved beneath the surface.

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

One of the things that separates a good genre movie from a bad genre movie, I always think, ironically, is when you care about the people. The dime a dozen ones are where you don't have any awareness of the character.

As a writer, you have to realize that people want to like the characters, so you have to be careful to keep them involved.

I think you have to love the characters that you write. I don't know how you could possibly write a TV show where you didn't love the characters.

If I don't fall in love with my characters, I cannot shoot.

I'm sorry, but to ask an audience these days to invest three hours in a show requires your heroine be an understandable and fully rounded character.

I really fall in love with my characters, even the bad ones. I love getting together with them. They tell me what to do; they take me on a wild and wonderful trip.

I think I try to look at all my films and break them down because, at the end of the day, it's about creating characters that you like.

It's very hard to connect with a character when you haven't gotten a sense of who they are.

Smart writers really take their time in investing in backstories and characters. As a viewer, you have to invest in them and love them before you can chip away at what's going on more on a deeper level with secondary characters.

What makes an audience watch something and care about the characters is the emotional life of the characters.

I love characters songs and I love to fit into a story. I love singing through a character's journey.

When writing a novel a writer should create living people; people not characters. A character is a caricature.