Deborah Moggach Quotes

I like it when I can hear directly from the writer: what they're seeing, what they're envisioning, and what their intention is.

I am not an analytical writer. Once I flesh out my characters and decide on the elements of my plot, the story unfolds in my head almost as though it was a movie reel.

At first, I see pictures of a story in my mind. Then creating the story comes from asking questions of myself. I guess you might call it the 'what if - what then' approach to writing and illustration.

What's funny about that is when I was writing Twilight just for myself and not thinking of it as a book, I was not thinking about publishing, and yet at the same time I was casting it in my head. Because when I read books, I see them very visually.

People sometimes ask who I would cast in my books and I never have any idea. I don't think I could ever write a book thinking of it as a movie the whole time. This would be like building a house and filling it with furniture just so you could have blueprints.

I write the story as it comes to me - YA is my natural voice, not a conscious choice.

I quickly realised that it is difficult to get started when writing a novel. You have this dream of what you want to create, but it is like walking around a swimming pool and hesitating to jump in because the water is too cold.

I just try to write the best story I can, a story I would love to read, and hope that readers feel the same.

As a writer, I always think about who my prototype actors are, in my brain. It's helpful, as a writer, to think about that.

When I'm writing, I'm creating the story and its character with words. I'm thinking about what the pictures will be like, but I never begin to sketch. The pictures are all in my head.

I don't really set out to explore grand themes. I set out to tell a story. And one I have to be able to imagine right through.

In my free time, I'd written 'Sammy's Hill' - it had started out as a play. I just did it for myself.

I love to tell stories and this is my way of getting them down on paper.

I very seldom, very seldom, even know what my characters look like.

I have seen too many screenwriters of promise become formula addicts and slaves to stop watch structure. Spend that time watching movies, reading screenplays, reading plays, and most importantly - write from your gut.

Every so often when I'm writing, a character might actually be a distinct person in my head - often not an actor or a face, literally a person who just seems to exist in my imagination. Then the challenge is finding somebody who is close enough to that to make me feel like I've ended up where I wanted to be.

When I started writing fiction, I knew how good it was immediately.

I find that it's really important for me to imagine characters and situations. That allows me a lot of freedom.

Before I write a novel, images float around in my head that work like icons - they are meaningless in themselves, but serve as reminders.

I work out the other bits, too, but I need to know what I look like, very early on. And then it's like a template; I'll fill that person out. If I get that out of the way, then I'm all right.

I wrote a lot of fiction, but it was just college stuff. It seems to me you have to be so confident in yourself to become a writer.

That's the thing about fiction writers: what seems alarming or particular or perverse about them is simply the shape of their brain - they cannot be otherwise.

For me, the whole process involves envisioning this book in my head as I'm working.

When I set out to write, I see it very visually. I almost feel like a reporter. I'm relating what I'm seeing and hearing, so it's kind of watching a play for me.

What I like to write about is stuff I know. I don't think I could write a novel. I don't think I have it in me to come up with those kinds of characters.