Frank Miller Quotes

My writing has always been what you call 'narrative fiction' in the sense that it's got very strong plots and twists at the end.

Plot is what happens in your story. Every story needs structure, just as every body needs a skeleton. It is how you 'flesh out and clothe' your structure that makes each story unique.

I always think plot is what you fall back on if you can't write, to keep things going.

In fiction workshops, we tend to focus on matters of verisimilitude largely because such issues are so much easier to talk about than the failure of imagination.

To me the most important thing is a good story, though I know how cliche that sounds.

My goal is to write books that are quality books with very real characters and a gripping plot.

The way I express ideas is through the plot, Suspense is an important part of expressing an idea.

The thing should have plot and character, beginning, middle and end. Arouse pity and then have a catharsis. Those were the best principles I was ever taught.

The goal, first and foremost, is to tell a satisfying - entertaining - story.

Considerations of plot do a great deal of heavy lifting when it comes to long-form narrative - readers will overlook the most ham-fisted prose if only a writer can make them long to know what happens next.

The only thing I knew about novels from a technical point of view was that they should have conflict.

Plays are the marathon of scriptwriting. You fix on a point somewhere in the middle distance, and you start running, and you don't stop until you get to the end. The theory is that you have something you cannot not say: this is the engine that propels you through to the last page.

When you write fiction, you have an ideal reader in your mind who's sort of you but smarter.

Sometimes, I have themes that interest me or that touch on larger issues but, really, I'm just trying to figure out the plot, or how the characters work. I'm trying to make the best story I possibly can.

Judgments and secrets are what make a good novel.

My job as an author is to tell the story in the best way possible, to make it flow seamlessly and get the reader to keep turning the page.

When writing fiction, you only have to know enough to be convincing on the page. I mean really convincing, of course - but you don't need academic depth.

I've tried to tell a story. For me, it is the best one.

I am trying to write novels for properly clever people, but I also want them to be proper novels that also stick in a person's mind and have an atmosphere about them.

As a writer, I try to appeal to the 'elusive boy audience' the same way I try to appeal to everyone: I do the very best I can to create interesting characters, addictive plots, tons of conflict, believable settings, unexpected plot twists, intriguing beginnings, and satisfying endings.

What I do is put my characters into situations that are so precarious there is no way to get out. And then I figure how to get them out.

Short stories consume you faster. They're connected to brevity. With the short story, you are up against mortality. I know how tough they are as a form, but they're also a total joy.

I love a really good storyline.

Good storytelling appeals to me - good writing.

I better make the plot good. I wanted to make it grip people on the first page and have a big turning point in the middle, as there is, and construct the whole thing like a roller coaster ride.