Compelling characters are not cogs in the machine of your plot; they are human beings to whom the story happens.

Characterization requires a constant back-and-forth between the exterior events of the story and the inner life of the character.

Whether we know it or not, our minds and hearts are populated by all the characters we will ever need - though we may disassemble them and rearrange the parts into composites for variation.

An intuitive grasp of your character is formed by exploring scenes of profound emotional import-moments of overwhelming shame, joy, fear, pride, regret, forgiveness.

The problem lies not with genre but with formula, which consists of seeing genre conventions as restrictions rather than mere guidelines, ends in themselves rather than possibilities.

The boy I fell madly in love with – the boy made entirely of goodness and light – has been snuffed out by the bloodthirsty creature that glowers before me.

Consciousness provides the fertile ground where seeds of greatness are born.

The strictest judges are ignorant people.

In England, 'Doctor Who' has always been considered a children's show, at least by children.

President Clinton and President Obama played a round of golf over the weekend. President Clinton asked Obama what his handicap was, and Obama said, 'Joe Biden.'

I am determined to hold on as long as possible, but if I should disappear, I should not have had the time to familiarize my successors with the necessary information.

It's the independent movies. Most of these people never even got a wrap party on their movie.

Women should not need a permission slip from government to take care of their own reproductive health.

To shipbrokers, coal was black gold.