Matthew Bourne Quotes

I think kids want the same thing from a book that adults want - a fast-paced story, characters worth caring about, humor, surprises, and mystery. A good book always keeps you asking questions, and makes you keep turning pages so you can find out the answers.

I read little nonfiction, but I have no boundaries about the fiction I relish. The only unfailing criterion is that I can hitch my heart to the imagined world and read on.

A novel should be a book of questions, not a book of answers.

That's the thing with 'Lost': you can put a spin on so many things.

My first duty to write a gripping yarn. Second is to convey credible characters who make you feel what they feel. Only third comes the idea.

I try and create for the audience something that relates to real-life experience.

I like stories that leave you wanting more, leave you wondering, but don't tell you everything.

We are all like Scheherazade's husband, in that we want to know what happens next.

Maybe 'Doonby' will haunt people for awhile and make them wonder, 'What was that really about?' And that excites me as an artist.

I loved the idea of dramatic art of storytelling as a way to make sense of things. It's really what I love and what I care about.

I know what it's like to be genuinely intrigued and compelled by a story and to have a sense that there's an adventure to be had and a film to be conjured.

Intrigue is so much more effective. I don't like to be over-prescriptive of an audience. The same with a book or with art - people shouldn't read too much before they explore.

I remember when I was watching 'Lost,' which I loved. I didn't know what was going on, but I still loved it.

In 'Lost,' they really believed in the mystery box and not looking too much inside the mystery box. It was some kind of idea generator that you didn't need to dissect and open up. And that's absolutely fascinating and an engaging way to tell a story.

If you're a fan of anything I do, I'm always telling a story. I'm into that - I like it when you don't know if it was true or not.

What I always do is go with the stories that put up the hair on the back of my neck or make me cry or make me laugh.

I think, as long as you tell real stories, I think people will respond to it no matter whether or not it's in the context of super heroes.

We're moved by emotions and characters and stories. We love that.

I completely hold on to the idea that people are eager if not desperate to be told a good story.

Growing up, for years and years I had no idea what the plots of operas were, and that's part of what fascinated me - I could make them up and learn bits and pieces of what was going on over time. There's something about it being always a step away that makes it more fun to chase.

It's good when someone comes to a book or a movie and interacts with it. It's the difference between an illustration and a painting. An illustration serves a specific purpose, and a painting is something you can immerse yourself in.

The first thing we see about a short story is its mystery. And in the best short stories, we return at the last to see mystery again

I see things, that's all. Write enough stories and every shadow on the floor looks like a footprint; every line in the dirt like a secret message.

You can be moved by an animated film and not by a live action film. There could be great inspiration in and humanity in that animated story.

What's gratifying for me and interesting is that people are picking up on exactly what I want them to, which is that this is energizing people, and making them want to make stories.