I can’t separate the process of writing from the visual process. I’m speaking only for myself here, but I’m a highly visual writer. In my imagination, when I’m thinking of a scene, I think of every last detail of it: the space, the color palette, the blocking of the actors, the placement of the camera. - Stephen Gaghan

My fear now is of cliche, of complacency, of not being able to feel authenticity in myself and those around me. - John Hawkes

Read good books. Read bad books - and figure out why you don’t like them. Then don’t do it when you write. - Patricia Briggs

I don’t get far enough into a boring book to hate it. - Gary Wills

Think of your main characters as dinner guests. Would your friends want to spend ten hours with the characters you’ve created? Your characters can be loveable, or they can be evil, but they’d better be compelling. ― Po Bronson

Be a sadist. No matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them ― in order that the reader may see what they are made of. ― Kurt Vonnegut

In older science fiction stories, they had to rely on storytelling as opposed to spectacle. The old run of the Twilight Zone, the star was the writing and the storytelling, and the characters and the twists and the cleverness in the setup and payoff and execution. - Josh Trank

When telling a story, you should have three primary phases in order: the setup, the buildup, and the payoff. - Tynan

The opening lines of a book are so important. You really need to somehow charm your reader. If you can’t get her attention in the first pages, you may have lost her. There has to be an ambiance. - Tatiana de Rosnay

Even if your readers don’t know what head-hopping is, by removing it from your novel you’ll give them a more immersive, suspenseful and authentic journey through the world you’ve built. Plus, you’ll ensure they’re reading your story, not trying to work out who’s telling it. - Louise Harnby