Jeff Lemire Quotes

The things that I'm interested in directing are fiction, because then you're not married to a particular reality.

I suppose I'm pulled towards fiction because I really like the freedom it gives me.

Well,the fun part of being a writer is that it's like making a wonderful film, with no limit on my budget. I can design the sets, the costume, the lightings, I write the script, and then I get to perform all the roles as I step into each character's skin, zip up, and adopt that point of view. So, to me, they are all compelling and fascinating.

The art of fiction is freedom of will for your characters.

I take little bits and pieces of ideas that I may or may not believe in but I give them to this character and he runs with them. I have fun with however he handles the situation.

My fictitious characters will take the bit between their teeth and gallop off and do something that I hadn't counted on. However, I always insist on dragging them back to the straight and narrow.

With the success of 'Spiderwick,' it's allowed me to be able to have the freedom to really be able to tell the stories that I really wanted to tell, that I've always wanted to tell.

When I am writing anything in general, I just want to tell the story that exists in my head; I don't try to write a parable or make a point.

I think films are bigger than structure.

With animation, because you can draw anything and do anything and have the characters do whatever you want, the tendency is to be very loose with the boundaries and the rules.

I love creating new characters that are whatever they are.

When you do fiction, it is your imagination you have put out there.

I write my books never thinking of an actor.

I don't like getting stuck into someone's definition of what you can or can't do with a story.

It's a very different thing when you're creating the world as opposed to when you're just part of the world. I love the detail of it, the problem-solving of it, and I love working with actors.

Acting gives you freedom to express your thoughts.

If I'm going to direct a horror movie, I'd have to be the one writing it, because I have to make it personal.

You can't tell someone how to write their own book.

I believe in giving actors the freedom to express themselves, and adding more to whatever is written.

The characters have their own lives and their own logic, and you have to act accordingly.

I always figure there are novels and short stories, and in those, I'm God. No one tells me what to do. I don't have to lose a page, or cut anything, it's just mine. Then there are other things where you're up against realities.

As a writer you're holding a dog. You let the dog run about. But you finally can pull him back. Finally, I'm in control. But the great excitement is to see what happens if you let the whole thing go. And the dog or the character really runs about, bites everyone in sight, jumps up trees, falls into lakes, gets wet, and you let that happen. That's the excitement of writing plays-to allow the thing to be free but still hold the final leash.

I like to think I put some of myself in every character.

I love the possibility that anything can happen in any moment with acting. That you have the opportunity to experience lives and adventures that you may not have otherwise.

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.