So much of what I write in fiction is based on true stories.
Sometimes you learn more from films that aren't terribly successful and, indeed, sometimes you learn more from real disasters than you do from the ones that succeed.
I think biography can be more personal than fiction, and certainly can be more expressive.
The number one thing I want my videos to be is relatable.
Heaven knows, I've exposed myself in my novels through the use of fantasy and imagination... now my new book is about what really happened to me... not my heroines.
Nothing makes me happier than working with real people in the real world.
You'll be fooled if you only get your hip-hop from the mainstream, you know. The things that move people are not just found in the mainstream cultures. And when we talk about hip-hop in general, hip-hop's basically preoccupied with life.
I always tell people, I never get writer's block because it's coming straight from my brain, like, real-life experiences. I'm like the news. I'm just reporting it for myself.
My films are the celebration of reality, of life, of my friends, of actual daily life that passes and is gone tomorrow. We don't pay attention to it when it happens.
The name of the album is 'Non-Fiction'. And, I'm calling it that because the name of every song on this album is derived from a true story. Now, some of the stories are mine. Some of the stories belong to some of my fans.
The experiences I go through... everything you hear in my lyrics is real. Good or bad, I take it all in and put it all on the mic.
At first, I did stories on people who were maybe just eccentric. Omar was a natural progression from that.
I have been tossing around the idea of writing some non-fiction. Maybe a collection of short stories about my experience being a mom and how not to be perfect.
There were time when I was into method acting that I did have moments of residual character emotions, because the method bases your emotional responses as a character on emotional experiences from your real life.
There's the typical books, Moby Dick and, I guess in my adult life I began to read biographies more than fiction. I started to want to relate to other people's lives, things that had really happened.
Playing a cop on TV and working closely with actual cops on set, I do think the media does a disservice to our first responders.
Sometimes, I get ideas from dreams. Often, my stories are based on adventures that I, or my friends, have actually lived.
We were taught instead of just reading about life we needed to go out and live it.
For me, influences really come from everywhere: literature, comics, movies, anime, Internet, science, real-life situations. In fact, I think that writing is just about living.
People want to see something authentic. If it's too polished and highly produced, people might not trust it as much. If it's grainy, if it's coming from a webcam, if it's someone standing there and talking their mind or sharing their thoughts, people trust it much more.
Life had stepped into the place of theory.
Because the kind of nonfiction I write has a plot, the events and transactions that make up a life, nonfiction offers me a break from plotting.
Yes, I get dry spells. Sometimes I can't turn out a thing for three months. When one of those spells comes on I quit trying to work and go out and see something of life. You can't write a story that's got any life in it by sitting at a writing table and thinking. You've got to get out into the streets, into the crowds, talk with people, and feel the rush and throb of real life-that's the stimulant for a story writer.
Maino is an artist that I feel walks what he talks - you can tell what he raps about and what he's been through is very similar. You've got a lot of rappers that rap about what they've heard or seen, but I think Maino is one of the rappers that has actually lived it.
There are moments that aren't great. And I think it's amazing for people to be able to have some insight, to be able to see the support system and what really happens.
