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Writing Quotes by Joss Whedon

57 Writing quotes by Joss Whedon

All Writing quotes Joss Whedon’s page

In the quiet of four‑a‑morning, Joss Whedon talks about writing as the best thing for a person. He says writers spend their lives in an endless English class and often end up turning stories into superhero teams. He also notes that limits and the clash between helplessness and empowerment shape his work.

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Casting is storytelling.

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I write to be the characters that I am not.

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I write to give myself strength.

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A writer is supposed to have anonymity.

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Half of writing history is hiding the truth.

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Those of us who write spend our entire lives in an endless English class.

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Ultimately what I end up writing about is helplessness and the flipside of that, empowerment.

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I write to explore all the things I am afraid of.

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Write it. Shoot it. Publish it. Crochet it, sauté it, whatever. MAKE.

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I didn't study writing. I didn't write anything substantial until I got to California.

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Don’t give people what they want, give them what they need.

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You either have to write or you shouldn't be writing. That's all.

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You can't be a storyteller and a speechwriter at the same time.

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My mom is a teacher, my dad was a writer for television, his dad was a writer for television, and combining those…

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I never write anything without humor, just because I like humor, but at the same time, it is a way for anything…

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I usually write things in my head before I ever write them down. When I write it out, usually I've already figured…

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Every writer loves the idea of being able to go in and fix a problem and then leave without obligation. It's fun!

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All of the most important lessons about writing I learned from my father. He never set out to teach me anything, it…

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I used to write chronologically when I started, from beginning to end. Eventually I went, 'That's absurd; my heart is in this…

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I do have screenplays I've written that never saw the light of day, but I don't usually go back to them. When…

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It's very important that we start creating new content again. We can only build on nostalgia so much before we have nothing…

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People always say I write a lot of pop culture references. Can somebody please count the pop culture references in 'Firefly?' Because…

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I write for fanboy moments. I write to give myself strength. I write to be the characters that I am not. I…

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I don't write just to be clever. But sometimes I do. And if you don't have an understanding of the language, then…

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I've been in this business for a long while, but it's not like I've been waiting tables. Since I started writing, I've…

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I always was an early-morning or late-night writer. Early morning was my favorite; late night was because you had a deadline. And…

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There was a time before I felt I was a real writer, when I was a yarn spinner and I just wanted…

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If something isn't working, if you have a story that you've built and it's blocked and you can't figure it out, take…

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Everything I write tends to turn into a superhero team, even if I didn't mean for it to. I always start off…

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Equality is not a concept. It's not something we should be striving for. It's a necessity. Equality is like gravity, we need…

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All I ask is this: Do something. Try something. Speaking out, showing up, writing a letter, a check, a strongly worded e-mail.…

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At the end of the day I have many answers for it. It has to do with my mom, who was an…

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Everything has been for the [President] election for the last couple of months. Since the Democratic National Convention, it's been a dead…

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When people say to me, 'Why are you so good at writing at women?' I say, 'Why isn't everybody?' Obviously there are…

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When people say to me, 'Why are you so good at writing at women?' I say, 'Why isn't everybody?'

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Writers are completely out of touch with reality.

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Writing is the greatest thing that can happen to a human being. It's the best.

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Oddly enough, I never studied writing. I studied almost everything except writing.

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Make it dark, make it grim, make it tough, but then, for the love of God, tell a joke.

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My dad would go to work every day and write in a room full of funny people. He enjoyed it. I know…

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More by Joss Whedon

I do remember what I said. The promise. To protect her. If I'd done that ... even if I didn't make it, you wouldn't've…

Every vampire fiction reinvents vampires to its own needs. You take what you want.

When you're making a film, you have an obligation to fill the frame with life.

Everything we do really is just a little marker on the long road to death. And sometimes that’s overwhelmingly depressing to me, and sometimes…

At the end of the day I have many answers for it. It has to do with my mom, who was an extraordinary woman,…

“Why aren’t you asking a hundred other guys why they don’t write strong women characters? I believe that what I’m doing should not be…

People feel removed from sexism. 'I'm not a sexist, but I'm not a feminist.' They think there's this fuzzy middle ground. There's no fuzzy…

Even in the darkness, every color can be found. And every day of rain brings water flowing to things growing in the ground.

I never tire of the heroes that I knew growing up. The fun is not that much different from doing a television show: You're…

Don't just be yourself. Be all of your selves.

I always watch what I say. I am what I say.

Remember to always be yourself. Unless you suck.

I've become less cynical, which is appalling but kind of cool.

“Xander: It could be witches, some evil witches, which is ridiculous cause witched they were persecuted, women power, love the eatrh, and I'll be…

There's a lot of anger in the Twitter-verse, as I've discovered. But there's a lot of love.