Storytelling Authority Quotes

Tom Kizzia hasn't just observed and written about Alaska for three-plus decades, he's lived it. 'Pilgrim's Wilderness' is a story that needed to be told by the only man who could tell it.

How [stories] are told, who tells them, when they’re told, how many stories are told — are really dependent on power.

Those who tell the stories rule society.

Trust me, I'm telling you stories. ... I can change the story. I am the story.

Never name a show after a character if you want to be the guy running the show.

The one who tells the stories rules.

Don't let your characters tell you what to do. They can be pushy. Some writers say that they create characters and then just sort of follow them around through the narrative. I think that these writers are out of their minds.

Death is the sanction of everything the story-teller can tell. He has borrowed his authority from death.

I know that it's axiomatic in the film industry that you're not supposed to let the novelist develop their own story. Well, first of all, that's kind of up to the novelist - because they don't have to sell it. But also, I don't believe it. It's about trust.

A lot of times I don't know if I trust the director to tell that film's story. Or I think it's inappropriate for a male director to tell a female story, or a white director to tell a black story. Everyone walks away from a movie differently, because you're relating it to your own life.

With 'Crucible,' any big changes I wanted to make I only had to run by Lucasfilm, not other authors whose stories I might affect.

I did have a feeling then that the culture of factuality was so dominating that storytelling had lost all its authority.