Different authors write different ways, and have different relationships with their audiences, and those are all legitimate. - John Green

It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without agreeing with it. - Aristotle

The first draft is for you, the writer; the second and subsequent drafts are for the reader. Trying to do both things at once - figuring out what we want to say, while also fashioning it for another human being to read - is the curse of writer’s block. - Karen Karbo

You fail only if you stop writing. - Ray Bradbury

Barbossa : You don't know what this is, do ye?Elizabeth : It's a pirate medallion...Barbossa : This is Aztec gold. One of 882 identical pieces they delivered in a stone chest to Cortez himself. Blood money paid to stem the slaughter he wreaked upon them with his armies. But the greed of Cortez was insatiable. So the heathen gods placed upon the gold a terrible curse. Any mortal that removes but a piece from that stone chest shall be punished for eternity.- Pirates of the Caribbean

Hannibal Lecter: What if I did it for you?Clarice Starling: Did what?Hannibal Lecter: Harmed them, Clarice. The ones who've harmed you. What if I made them scream apologies? No, I shouldn't even say it because you'll feel - with your perfect grasp on right and wrong - that you were somehow accompli- even though you wouldn't be.- Hannibal

Gollum: We wants it. We needs it. Must have the precious. They stole it from us. Sneaky little Hobbitses. Wicked. Tricksy. False!Smeagol: No. Not master.Gollum: Yes, precious. False. They will cheat you, hurt you, LIE.Smeagol: Master's my friend!Gollum: You don't have any friends. Nobody likes you!Smeagol: Not listening, I'm not listening.Gollum: You're a liar and a thief.Smeagol: No.Gollum: Mur-der-er.Smeagol: Go away!- The Lord of the Rings

ELLA: How’s your blog going?JOHN: Yeah, good. (He clears his throat awkwardly.) Very good.ELLA: You haven’t written a word, have you?JOHN (pointing to Ella’s notepad on her lap): You just wrote, “Still has trust issues.”ELLA: And you read my writing upside down. D’you see what I mean?(John smiles awkwardly.)ELLA: John, you’re a soldier, and it’s gonna take you a while to adjust to civilian life; and writing a blog about everything that happens to you will honestly help you.JOHN: Nothing happens to me.- Sherlock, BBC

BELLE: Who's there? Who are you?BEAST: The master of this castle.BELLE: I've come for my father. Please let him out! Can't you see he's sick?BEAST: Then he shouldn't have trespassed here.BELLE: But he could die. Please, I'll do anything!BEAST: There's nothing you can do. He's my prisoner.BELLE: Oh, there must be some way I can...wait! Take me, instead!BEAST: You! You would take his place?BELLE: If I did, would you let him go?BEAST: Yes, but you must promise to stay here forever.- Beauty and the Beast

KYRA: I'm feeling much better now.MRS. COLLINS: I'm glad, honey. (beat) Time for your food.KYRA: Can I go outside, if I eat this?MRS. COLLINS: We'll see. You know how you get sick in the afternoon. Don't say it tastes funny. You know I don't like to hear that.- The Sixth Sense

Steve Rogers: You know me.The Winter Soldier: No, I don’t!Steve Rogers: Bucky. you’ve known me your entire life. Your name is James Buchanan Barnes…The Winter Soldier: SHUT UP!Steve Rogers: I’m not gonna fight you. You’re my friend.The Winter Soldier: You’re my mission! YOU ARE MY MISSION!Steve Rogers: Then finish it. ‘Cause I’m with you ’til the end of the line.- Captain America: The Winter Soldier

People with happy families don't become spies. A bad childhood is the perfect background for covert ops. You don't trust anyone, you're used to getting smacked around, and you never get homesick. - Michael Westen, Burn Notice

Earl : What is that, Jenna? What is that?Jenna : Money.Earl : It's all over the [darned] house! In cabinets, in drawers, under chairs, in closets! Money hidden all over my house!Jenna : [whispering] I'm sorry.Earl : After everything I've done for you, you go and hide money from me? [falls to his knees, sobbing] You're the only thing I ever loved, Jenna. You're the only person that ever belonged to me. And you having a secret from me tears me up. - Waitress (2007)

Enough with the lights, Rapunzel! You are not leaving this tower! Ever! … Great. Now I’m the bad guy. - Mother Gothel, Tangled

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