Kodi Smit-McPhee Quotes

I try to begin with a strong grasp of my characters. Even if it's schematic, I need it clear in my head who these people are.

Don't set pen to paper until you know your main characters inside out. Create files detailing their appearances, likes, dislikes, and personal background. You may not use all the information, but it is a crucial step in planning your story.

I have a cheat-sheet for each one of my characters about their personality, the way they look, etc. So there is no possible way that I could have writer's block.

I'm about my characters.

Because characters are your creations, you are the one who ultimately gets to decide their fate.

Don't start writing your novel until you know your characters very, very well. What they'd do if they saw somebody shoplifting. What they were like at school. What shoes they wear. Spend days - weeks, months - being them until they thicken up and start to breathe.

Any author of fiction will tell you that characters don't need to be told what to do.

When I develop a character, I usually start by creating a backstory with whatever information I have access to.

Usually when I'm trying to establish character, I try and find out where they live.

I know the relationships, and I already know my characters and how I'm going to reveal my characters to my readers - how I'm going to feed them information about that character. That stuff doesn't have to be in my outline.

This may sound strange, but although I feel like I know everything about my characters, the brand of shampoo they use, how many cavities they have, their greatest fear, I don't actually see their faces.

For 'The Bestseller'... there was hardly any research, but I had to give each person a quirk and develop their stories so that it would relate to who they are.

I think you've got to understand your character and where they're coming from.

As actors, you don't actually need to know the future of the character. You just need to know the backgrounds.

What makes characters real are details, and if you're crafting a person from scratch, you're probably not going to pay as much attention to a question like, 'Does this person bite their nails?'

You can really help support a character if you understand the setting. So for that reason I generally write about Philadelphia.

I know all actors are different, but I've never sat down and asked the writers, 'Where are we headed? Am I good or bad?'

You've got to leave the reader with more than just a name and a costume - they need to know who the character is, what they're like, what kind of attitude they have, what sort of role they play.

I try to research or make up for myself what happened in any character's life. From when he was born until the first page of the script. I fill in the blanks.

Well, first of all, you read the script a million times. Because what the script gives you are given circumstances. Given circumstances are all the facts of your character.

I tend to come up with people more than situations - most of my books start with a character.

I seem to have to make my characters family before I can access their hearts in any way that matters.

I like to take a character and develop it.

I'm always writing about character first. Plot, such as it is, comes from the characters.

For me, plot always comes out of character, so I had to be sure of my characters.