Sidney Sheldon Quotes

I believe in research you cannot do enough research; believability comes out of what's real.

If you set your story in Rome, Ireland or Sheboygan, for that matter, go there. If you're broke, set it in the town where you live, or where you grew up.

I don't believe in writing anything that I don't know about or haven't researched about personally. I like to transport the reader to places, and in order to do that I have to do the research.

You got to go there to know there.

Well, one thing I'm really interested in, when I'm writing, is being accurate.

I can't write a novel without first really doing reporting. I don't even call it research; it's reporting. That process is very important to the granularity of my writing. I have to know what the reality is so I can be more convincing in the writing.

I'm real. I believe what I'm saying. If Motel 6 wasn't the type of operation they say it is - and I stay at them when I travel - I wouldn't do their commercials. That comes through on the radio, and that's what it's all about.

I never reflect or convey that which I have not experienced myself.

If you ever want to get the facts straight about me or the Batman, please write to the original source, myself, for the truth, instead of second guessing.

I have a rule in research: The third time you hear something, it's generally true.

People forget that unauthorized does not mean untrue and authorized does not mean authentic.

Tricks you need to transform something which appears fantastic, unbelievable into something plausible, credible, those I learned from journalism. The key is to tell it straight. It is done by reporters and by country folk.

You shouldn't use anything as the sole source for anything, in my view.

It's impossible for an editor to know every source for every story.

I don't edit information, I follow it.

I do crazy amounts of research. I want this stuff to 'work,' so to speak. I need to be, at least to me, believable - because if I feel - if I cannot invest some element of verisimilitude, the reader is absolutely not going to buy in.

Get the facts, or the facts will get you. And when you get them, get them right, or they will get you wrong.

You can’t report on something that you don’t know about.

If you believe everything you read, better not read.

When we hear news, we should always wait for the sacrament of confirmation.

… he who makes an assertion without knowing whether it is true or false, is guilty of falsehood; and the accidental truth of the assertion, does not justify or excuse him.

Always believe what you see - with your own eyes, that is. Always believe what you see. That's the best way to go about this business. I've heard a lot of things about a lot of people, and it was never true.

I did a book event with a former colleague, Bob Bauer, and was so relieved that he said I got all the CIA stuff right.

If something comes on the radio or in print, I don't think there are any facts to it at all until someone shows some proof.

I don't give false claims any due.