David Milch Quotes

Playing with different genres and perspectives and ways of telling stories is one of the perks of being a novelist, but at the same time, I want precision. And in order to be precise about stuff, you have to get personal. Symbolism is very boring.

I'm not interested in cutting the feet off my characters or stretching them to make them fit my certain political view.

I don't think I could write a book that had an ideological plan going in - I think that would be a terrible book.

Unlike a state, a writer cannot plead the historical necessity of his actions.

To think in terms of what the effect of a story is going to be, as opposed to trying to discover its inner logic, is one of the fundamental dangers in the process.

I like to control my films from beginning to end, to write them the way I want.

When you're writing something to direct, you just write exactly what you're going to do. You don't have to write it in a way for other people to understand or interpret.

And what makes Bob Dylan stories interesting is that the only person who can decide their outcome is Bob Dylan, so you never know how they're going to go.

I think once you write fiction, you put it out, and it can be interpreted in a variety of ways, some of which are going to be shocking to the writer.

Since childhood, I'd dreamed of making a film, but producers in France and Germany wanted to make commercial films with chinoiserie. I refused.

It all comes down to what is best for those particular genres, and if you believe in the stories that you're telling and the characters that you like that you want to tell those stories with, you can pretty much apply it to any genre.

It's so amazing that you can give somebody like David Fincher 'House of Cards,' and he can do whatever he wants - Netflix doesn't say, 'Oh, you can't do that,' or, 'We need a subplot here about this.' It's pretty neat that it is allowing the creatives to be creative.

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.

As much as I really like the screenwriting thing, the novel is where the author has so much control.

I purposely adopted a style in my storytelling wherein I don't have to explain everything or why the story is moving in a particular way.

You have to write your own story, your own graph and rhythm.

Of course I want the things I write to reflect well on me or anyone who might feel represented by me, but also, I'm not writing a guidebook on how to be or how my people should be seen. I'm telling very specific stories.

This politics is bound to be reflected in the work of a serious filmmaker. When I make a film, I try to tell a human story to the best of my ability. I do not set out either to preach messages or purely to entertain.

You know you have made it as an artist when you have the power to say no.

I think, as a filmmaker, you're always responsible for your film.

No matter how big or new they are, I always look for the intention of the filmmaker first. Their intention has to be in the right place.

I can only do music if I can do it the way I can do it.

I feel very strongly as a writer and as a director it is not my job to crush the audience's imagination.

I always say I want creative control. A lot of people don't think about that. And that's what every artist should think of - being creative and not just a puppet.

I never let the technical stuff get in the way of the storytelling.