Quotes About Narrative

You don't want the men to be written in a three-dimensional way and the women, not.

You could fire a machine gun randomly through the pages of Lord of the Rings and never hit any women.

Women are wives and mothers and girlfriends, but not the center of our own stories. No one's the good guy; no one's the bad guy. We all do deplorable things and very honorable things.

Women don't question themselves when they enter into a story that has male characters, but men do question the validity of a female narrative.

We read about how Ajax and Achilles will die for each other, but very little about the friendship of women.

I don't mind a dirty girl. But what I find tragic is when we, as women, become not the subject of our own story but someone else's object.

I think women are sick and tired of being portrayed as victims, a lot of the time anyway, the bulk of their time on film.

Most films these days are men's stories. Women are for add-on romance. That's very hard.

I love telling good stories and I love playing powerful, strong women.

Books make dangerous devils out of women.

For her last gasp was a story in itself.

Sometimes I start off shows by explaining to people that it's just a bunch of stories - I always say 'It's like standup, just less funny.'

People will talk about character arcs, but you look at the character arc of C-3PO from 'Star Wars' to 'Return of the Jedi,' and it's a complete 180... he's not so much of a coward and a fussbudget.

It doesn't matter how big the film is - if the story is not good, it will not be accepted. Stardom can maybe pull audiences to theatres but beyond that it is all about content.

I don't stare at a sheet of paper and try to think of a good word to use. I try to see where the story should go.

Part of the reason I wanted to write a novel was that in fiction I could do something that's difficult to do in real life, which is to dwell on the stark details of the experience without really needing to create that narrative of redemption.

As soon as I started reading, I found myself drawn to fictional character's homes as much as I was to the characters themselves.

A sad truth I learned as a DP starting out was that it doesn't matter how beautiful I make it if the story and performance are not there. That should be number one.

It's rare that I actually have a story in my head. I have events or 'what's the next move?' Like, Maggie, 'where's she going to go in this story, where's she going to end up?' Then the story has to fill in the in-between, and that comes as I'm starting it.

My music is just about story telling. I don't have much to say, and I'm not trying to change anyone's mind. I'm just singing through conviction about what I love and what I care about, starting with the very small.

How you start the movie is critical. And how often you feel that there's no reason for how it's starting.

Writers are looking for a story. Using your own life as the basis for a story gives it an association with reality that's a wonderful starting point.

When anybody starts out with a memoir, you get the impulse to tell your own story with your own voice, and you get all that out in one fell swoop sometimes.

The main thing that I learned from editing is that most people, when they're making a film, they start too early into the story. They will try to set up the characters, they will try to establish things before the plot actually starts.