Quotes About Storytelling

De schrijvers is natuurlijk de valsspeler bij uitstek. Hij maakt gebruik van middelen die anderen niet hebben. Zijn leven is een laboratorium waarin experimenten worden uitgevoerd ten behoeve van het vertellen van verhalen. Wat hem ook overkomt, hij kan altijd afstand nemen van zijn rampen, zijn tragedies, zijn mislukkingen, door erover te vertellen. Dat kunnen anderen niet altijd, niet op die manier, en dat maakt hem een valsspeler.

De schrijver is natuurlijk de valsspeler bij uitstek. Hij maakt gebruik van middelen die anderen niet hebben. Zijn leven is een laboratorium waarin experimenten worden uitgevoerd ten behoeve van het vertellen van verhalen. Wat hem ook overkomt, hij kan altijd afstand nemen van zijn rampen, zijn tragedies, zijn mislukkingen, door erover te vertellen. Dat kunnen anderen niet altijd, niet op die manier, en dat maakt hem een valsspeler.

Of all the machines in this great cavern, it was the only one which had shown any cognizance of man, and its greeting seemed a little contemptuous. For on the screen appeared the words: STATE YOUR PROBLEM PLEASE THINK CLEARLY Ignoring the implied insult, Alvin began his story.

for in days when books were few and readers scarce, a long memory and a ready tongue were of the more value;

I really think I shall commence chapter forty-four, he said, patting his hands together. I shall commence, I think, with a slight exaggeration and go on from there into an outright lie. Constance, my dear? Yes, Uncle Julian? I am going to say that my wife was a beautiful woman.

In the country of the story the writer is king.

I shall commence, I think, with a slight exaggeration and go on from there into an outright lie.

I never yet knew anyone who could not fall asleep with Richardson being read aloud to him.

Detesto scrivere pezzi autobiografici: se il materiale è noioso non bisognerebbe infliggerlo a nessuno, e se è interessante dovrei usarlo per un racconto.

By changing the emphasis and angle on this little plot we can make it say almost anything we like. There is certainly no need to worry about whether any of this is true, or actually happened; it is as true as you make it. The important thing is that it be true in the story, and actually happen there.

It is almost silly to say that no one will read a story which does not interest him. Yet many writers forget it. They write a story which interests them, forgetting that the particular emotional investment they brought to the incident had never been communicated to the reader because, writing the story, they wrote down only what happened and not what was felt.

No soporto escribir temas autobiográficos porque si son aburridos, nadie debería leerlos, y si son interesnates, debería usarlos en una historia.

When I tell a story, I tell it when I want to tell it, not when you want to hear it.

Look, do me a favor! When I'm telling a story, don't read! It's a disgusting habit! You better listen to what I'm saying, for there's a new story beginning.

When do people ever like it when you write about them? But I had to do something. As I said, from the minute I heard what had happened I could not stop thinking about it. So I did what you do if you're a writer and you're obsessed about something: you turn it into a story that you hope will lay it to rest, or at least help you figure it out what it means. Even if we know from experience that this pretty much never works.

A friend of mine who is working on a memoir says, I hate the idea of writing as some kind of catharsis, because it seems like that can't possibly produce a good book. You cannot hope to console yourself for your grief by writing, warns Natalia Ginzburg. Turn then to Isak Dinesen, who believed that you could make any sorrow bearable by putting it into a story or telling a story about it.

Yes, of course, there are also nice people... But we all know niceness is never as interesting to write, or read, about.

Only those who are writers, it seems, get to say what happened

Paul told him everything about quilting, things he would never remember, but he savored each word as if they were lost verses of Scripture.

Je sais qu'on ne peut jamais se connaître, mais seulement se raconter.

one can never know oneself but only narrate oneself

La bella storia che era la mia vita diventava falsa a mano a mano che me la raccontavo

Every fairy-tale needs a good old-fashioned villain?

Make the matter even more terrible than the truth