Quotes About Narrative

My first two books, I was very close to my main character, stuck inside their head. And then with 'Arrogance,' I broke into many different voices. I introduce many different characters, and that helped me to develop a confidence to move between different characters, between different voices.

One of the more interesting challenges I face when doing research for my novels is to trace the lives of women who are vital to the narrative and try my best to give them back their voices.

Recognize that the great majority of us aren't trained actors and entertainers. Usually, it's not our faces, our bodies, our personas or our stage presence that sells our books. It's our stories, our visions and our voices.

I think the lesson is that when you give black voices a platform and the opportunity to tell our story, we will tell good stories just like anybody else.

I, for myself, have wanted to get more into producing because I want to be a part of the conversation and be one of the voices in the story we're trying to tell.

Media gatekeepers - editors, publishers, film studios and the like - need to begin investing in talent behind the scenes, developing and resourcing marginalized voices to tell their own stories. At the end of the day, it's about the story and what will enable the audience to truly see, understand, and know the life and times of the subject.

When I was a child, women spoke to me of how all they had was their memories, how their husbands went to war and never came back, so many tragedies. That chorus of voices filled my consciousness. It was part of life itself.

I see the world as voices, as colors, as it were. From book to book, I change, the subjects change, but the narrative thread remains the same.

My writing is not just all facts and voices. I strive to create a text that works as a sign, pointing out undercurrents that lie beneath the facts.

In 'Underground,' you have to write for everyone, even the bad guys. People need to laugh and love and have voices and do bad things. Even slave owners need to be people.

80-percent of 'Enter the Void' is a traditional narrative movie. I suppose it's more similar to 'Jacob's Ladder' or 'Videodrome' than it is to 'Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome' by Kenneth Anger, which is very experimental. It's the other 10% of 20% that reminds you of the language and glamour of dreams.

On American sets, you work 12-, 14-, 16-hour days sometimes. All that volume over a short course of time can actually be less conducive to telling a story accurately.

The journey and excursions in Mexico which have originated the narrative and remarks contained in this volume were made in the months of March, April, May, and June of 1856, for the most part on horseback.

When I approached Volume 1 of 'Lucid,' I realized I could tell something that only exists in four issues, or I could roll the dice a bit and approach this as Season 1 of a TV show.

There's no reason my films can't work as hard as VR does to hook an audience and never let them go, so I think that that it turns the volume up a little bit on storytelling. The same way when I was doing commercials and then I went and shot 'Go,' and 'Go' has a level of pace that is unlike any of my other movies.

Good romantic suspense can never underestimate the audience, and the best political leaders know how to shape a compelling narrative that respects voters and paints a picture of what is to come.

I'm not seeking for answers; I just want to tell stories and state my opinion.

I am interested in biographical stories. Seldom are good biopics like 'Maha Nati' being made.

Even if an episode is self-contained, the preceding episodes always affect how the audience takes it in.

I won't make games with senseless violence. There has to be a reason for it, such as war.

We have to be really sensitive to making sure were not creating any stories that don't feel like they're ready to be told... We have to make sure we're getting the right story and the right content from the talent we work with.

The perfect story is one you can retell in three minutes, and every single sentence is interesting.

Sometimes if you tell me what a story is about in just a few sentences, I can tell you if it's going to be a success.

It took me years to learn that sentences in fiction must do much more than stand around and look pretty.