Quotes About Storytelling

There's no right way to tell all stories, only the right way to tell a particular story.

I think that 'Hangover II' is as funny as 'The Hangover I ' honest to God, but I think that it's a little bit darker, and the stakes are a little bit higher.

So far, at least, I haven't found a way to tell my kind of stories without making them both sad and funny.

The story you are about to read is a work of fiction. Nothing - and everything - about it is real.

Sometimes, life is like mountain climbing. After you've achieved your biggest goals, you must return to the starting point to complete the journey and share your story with others to encourage them for their climb.

I am a hopeless pantser, so I don't do much outlining. A thought will occur to me, and I'll just throw it into the story. I tell myself I'll worry about untangling it later. I'm glad no one sees my first drafts except for my poor editor and agent.

Most of the things in 'The Things They Carried' didn't happen to me. Ninety-five percent of it's invented. It's not what occurred.

You can make a really good film for under a million dollars, like 'October Baby,' or under a half million, like 'Hardflip.'

Believe me, when I do a story - if you read 'Batman: Odyssey,' I never do something without there being a reason. There's always a reason, and you will find out in the story. I'm looking to entertain you.

People need a narrative, and if there isn't one on offer, they make one up.

What I have to offer as a writer/director is the stuff with the feeling in it.

I wanted to become a director before I wanted to become a writer. When I was 10, people would ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up, and I said, 'Walt Disney.' I wanted to make films. But I wasn't offered a camera. I was offered language. So I started telling stories in the theatre and then in my novels.

In America, I am brown; I'm 'of colour', so I would be offered Latin roles, and I've fought against that. I don't want to be put in a category, to be just offered the same sort of thing. For me, it's all about different roles, telling the stories of the great writers.

Theater is great because you're able to tell a narrative arc without a break. I think it's more about the material and whether what we get offered is good.

I think that when we look at something that's well acted and a story that's well told, it allows us to be a mirror of who we are as human beings and as a culture, and offers a glimpse of where we're headed.

When I go to a cinema, I don't care if the film is made by a man or a woman as long as it tells me a story, as long as it offers pictures that shed light on my existence, characters I can identify with, jokes I can laugh at.

Oh! blame not the bard.

Oh you know, I've been writing a novel.

Oh my God, I love UCLA so much. Their film school is great because it's unstructured, so there's a freedom to fail in there and just tell your story, and everybody makes a film. It's so important to have that freedom in film school because that's what you're there for: to learn and make a film.

There was a time when people were like, 'Oh my God, Sheamus' character is boring.' Well, when you're just in wrestling matches all the time, and you're not doing character stuff, then it can be a bit monotonous.

Oh yeah, I grew up with comics. You know, I always like to describe myself as a 'narrative junkie.' I love novels, I love comics, movies, TV. If it's a good story, I'm hooked.

When I sit down to write, I don't think, 'OK, what is the next David O. Russell film I can write, or what is Harvey Weinstein going to want to buy?' Or even, 'What are filmgoers going to want.' I try to think, tell a good story. Just do what you do.

Sometimes when you have a song, you listen to it and say, 'It's OK. It's music to drive to.' But then there are songs where you can actually hear it as a movie.

One of the problems with episodic television of any color is that everything has got to be okay at the end of the episode so it can start again next week.