Mary Steenburgen Quotes

I kind of miss that "becoming" stage, as most times you really don't know what's around the corner. Now, of course, I've kind of knocked on the door and heard a muffled answer. Nevertheless, I still don't know what the voice is saying, or even what language it's in.

The thing with film and theater is that you always know the story so you can play certain cues in each scene with the knowledge that you know where the story's going to end and how it's going to go. But on television nobody knows what's going to happen, even the writers.

Because there is that sort of feeling that people don't know what to do with gaps in their lives. It's a scary notion, but actually, if you can stand in space just for a little while, a new door will open, or you'll be able to see in the dark after a while. You'll adjust.

You don't just have a story - you're a story in the making, and you never know what the next chapter's going to be. That's what makes it exciting.

We know what we are, but know not what we may be.

It's amazing how far you can get into a plot before you figure out what you're doing.

Life is full of borders. Some of them, once crossed, can never be crossed again in the other direction. But there are new countries to discover across every one.

For film and theater, you know how the story starts; you know how the story ends. With TV, you don't. It's literally like living real life in character.

I'm still exploring in a lot of ways. I don't know myself completely.

I'm lost in a transition. The old is dead, and I don't know what the new is. The only way to find the new is to start different things and see if there's something that can come out of experimentation. It's somewhat unsettling, but it's a hopeful thing in a way. I've been here before, lots of times.

The thing that's important to know is that you never know. You're always sort of feeling your way.

To be lost is as legitimate a part of your process as being found.

With a novel, there is no hurrying it. You're constantly walking into the unknown.

I like to sit down every day and not know where the book is going. I have no idea where the book is going to go or how it's going to end as I'm writing it.

A film has a beginning, middle, and an end. There is a certain amount of time that you have to embody these people. You know the entire story arch. But on TV, you have to let your guard down. You don't know how long the show is going to last. There is this excitement that comes with developing a character long-term.

I never know how a novel is going to end, because you don't really know what's going to be at the bottom of a novel until you excavate it.

Getting to a place of comfort can be uncomfortable.

He comes to this other world and he has to reinvent himself. Again, it felt natural, even though I'd been working really hard trying to come up with something.

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

I really think that living is the process of going from complete certainty to complete ignorance.

I prefer to surprise myself as I'm writing. I'm not interested in it if I already know where it's going. So I have only the most general sense of what I'm doing when I start a story. I sometimes have a destination in mind, but how the story is going to go from Point A to Point Z is something I make up as I go along.

I like to be surprised. Fresh implications and plot twists erupt as a story unfolds. Characters develop backgrounds, adding depth and feeling. Writing feels like exploring.

I have a thing for doors. I always think of them as a threshold to something new.

Early youth is a baffling time.

I don't know what's on the other side.