characters

Real people are made out of a whole lot of things__lesh, bone, blood, nerves, stuff like that. Literary people are made out of words.

The characters act for reasons that they can__ control and, as readers, we have to believe in their motivations, their sense of choice and in the reality of their suffering, even though, deep down, we know it__ all just puppetry on the part of the writer.

Like most modern people, we no longer bothered to make the distinction between events in real life and the dramas of fictional worlds, and so the cliff-hanger that inevitably, reliably ended the hour held just as much or more importance to us as the newspaper that usually went from doorstep to garbage bin unread, and we speculated about the future lives of the characters that populated decayed mansions or desert isles as if they weren't inventions of other human minds.

A mistake is the name we give to any action in which we perceive a difference between what we intended and what has occurred. Intention fuels every dramatic action, including the writing of dramatic stories, which involves a series of dramatic actions. In the course of writing, or finding, the story that wants to get itself told, it behooves the writer to liberate the characters by finding the faith and courage necessary for setting aside one__ own conscious needs and expectations. Not to do so promotes __istakes_ - i.e: confusion born of some incoherence in the emotional logic of the story). As the writer abandons his/her intentions - no matter how noble they may seem - only then does that most strange and ineffable quality we so casually refer to as __he magic_ have a chance of entering the story, and rendering even the __istakes_ stimulating, daring and provocative.

Good story' means something worth telling that the world wants to hear. Finding this is your lonely task...But the love of a good story, of terrific characters and a world driven by your passion, courage, and creative gifts is still not enough. Your goal must be a good story well told.

Dreams are the touchstones of our characters.

A novel must show how the world truly is, how characters genuinely think, how events actually occur. A novel should somehow reveal the true source of our actions.

Writers are in many ways like demi-gods. With one stroke of a pen they can give life to a character, or strike them from existence, with nary a twinge of grief at their passing.

Galloway pursed his lips and then gave a sly smirk. ____l admit I didn__ foresee this. You have become a prominent foe. I apologize for ridiculing you.___ accept your apology.___ood. Now it__ time to die._ __re you ready old man?__alloway sputtered out a laugh. __h yes.___hen let__ end this.

Now wasn__ the time for freaking out, I needed to know what the hell I__ dealing with. I took another breath and turned. Facing me was my former friend, their loyal sidekick, and the unwilling participant. ____ insulted._ Devin__ eyebrow arched. __xcuse me?_ __ou heard me. Since I__e been on this expedition, you__e treated me as less than. You__e insulted my intelligence, and not just mine but Mr. Chowdhry__ as well.__evin rose from their chair and approached the tube. __ apologize Vee, I didn__ mean-_____ talking Dr. Strucker._ Devin returned to their seat. __f I__ one of the best scientists as you__e claimed, then why haven__ you treat me that way? I want answers, real hardcore answers. Enough with the bullshit.__arahi burst into applause as Nurse Hughes stared in disapproval. __hat?_ He inquired. Devin shook their head. __ said what I said Devin. I__e been threatened, transformed into what I'm not sure, and you__e kept me in the dark this whole time. It ends now.__evin stood again and replied, __ou__e right Dr. Foy. I haven__ given you the respect you deserve. For that I__ sorry._ They then turned to Marahi. __ also apologize to you Mr. Chowdhry.__arahi grunted in acknowledgment. __ accept your apology. Now get to the facts.

You take people, you put them on a journey, you give them peril, you find out who they really are.

We live in a society where mutual respect and appreciation should be considered one of the pillars of modern life.

But some characters in books are really real--Jane Austen's are; and I know those five Bennets at the opening of Pride and Prejudice, simply waiting to raven the young men at Netherfield Park, are not giving one thought to the real facts of marriage.

Sometimes ignorance is a bliss. If you reach enlightenment (in one way or another), you may see the reality of human nature. You may like it, or you may reject it. But certainly you won't regret it. Rise again!

Great losses are great lessons.

Be a worthy worker and work will come.

You want to avoid at all costs drawing your characters on those that already exist in other works of fiction. You must learn about people from people, not from what you read. Your reading should confirm what you__e observed in the world.

Every book begins and ends with other people- the readers who suggest the book to us and encourage us to read it, the talented author who crafted each word, the fascinating individuals we meet inside the pages- and the readers we discuss and share the book with when we finish.