--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In the end you should probably know your…" description: "\"“In the end you should probably know your characters as well as you know yourself. Not only what they had for breakfast this morning, but what they wan..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f0/colum-mccann-902_character_in-the-end-you-should-probably-know-your_1866123.png" --- # In the end you should probably know your characters as… ![“In the end you should probably know your characters as well as you know yourself. Not only what they had for breakfast this morning, but what they wanted to have for breakfast.” quote by Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f0/colum-mccann-902_character_in-the-end-you-should-probably-know-your_1866123.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f0/colum-mccann-902_character_in-the-end-you-should-probably-know-your_1866123.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f0/colum-mccann-902_character_in-the-end-you-should-probably-know-your_1866123.png) > ““In the end you should probably know your characters as well as you know yourself. Not only what they had for breakfast this morning, but what they wanted to have for breakfast.”” [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Knowing characters deeply, down to mundane details, enriches storytelling. **In simple terms:** Know characters fully. Key Takeaway Study characters thoroughly. Themes writing character development empathy Mood thoughtful analytical Type creative instructional When to use this quote - novel writing - screenwriting - character workshops Key Concepts literature psychology detail orientation Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance detail and plot? - What details reveal core traits? A Different Perspective Too much focus on minutiae can stall plot. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Breakfast Morning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/breakfast-morning-511267/) [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Characters Know](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/characters-know-456146/) [Know Breakfast](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/know-breakfast-408698/) [Know Characters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/know-characters/) [Wanted Breakfast](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wanted-breakfast-2544688/) ## Related quotes > [Characters are so important to a story that they actually decide where the story is going. When I write, I know my characters. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-konigsburg/characters-are-so-important-to-a-story-that-they-actually-decide/) [E. L. Konigsburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-konigsburg/) > [It's funny what \[producer Richard Zanuck said about even though you can't quite place when the book or the story came into your life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johnny-depp/it-s-funny-what-producer-richard-zanuck-said-about-even-though-you/) [Johnny Depp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johnny-depp/) > [I make extensive outlines before I write a book. I usually know what will happen. I know the characters, and I know what they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amor-towles/i-make-extensive-outlines-before-i-write-a-book-i-usually-know-what/) [Amor Towles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amor-towles/) > [The secret at the heart of 'The Memory Keeper's Daughter' is something everybody, except for some of the characters, knows in Chapter 1. Some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-edwards/the-secret-at-the-heart-of-the-memory-keeper-s-daughter-is-something/) [Kim Edwards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-edwards/) > [“she started asking me all kinds of personal questions – how many girls had I slept with? Where I was from? Which university did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/she-started-asking-me-all-kinds-of-personal-questions-how-many-girls/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [Do you know what breakfast cereal is made of? It's made of all those little curly wooden shavings you find in pencil sharpeners!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roald-dahl/do-you-know-what-breakfast-cereal-is-made-of-it-s-made-of-all-those/) [Roald Dahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roald-dahl/) > [“Oh, my sainted aunt! Don't mention that disgusting stuff in front of me! Do you know what breakfast cereal is made of? It's made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roald-dahl/oh-my-sainted-aunt-don-t-mention-that-disgusting-stuff-in-front-of-me/) [Roald Dahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roald-dahl/) > [“    Breakfast was ready. He could hear his father asking for coffee. Why did his father have to yell all the time? Couldn't he talk…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fante/breakfast-was-ready-he-could-hear-his-father-asking-for-coffee-why/) [John Fante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fante/) > [This may sound strange, but although I feel like I know everything about my characters, the brand of shampoo they use, how many cavities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-honeyman/this-may-sound-strange-but-although-i-feel-like-i-know-everything/) [Gail Honeyman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-honeyman/) > [“I then recollected you gave a breakfast this morning, and here I am. I am hungry, feed me; I am bored, amuse me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandre-dumas/i-then-recollected-you-gave-a-breakfast-this-morning-and-here-i-am-i/) [Alexandre Dumas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandre-dumas/) > [“And as he spoke, like the flush creeping along the underside of a cloud at sunrise, the colour came back to her white face…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/and-as-he-spoke-like-the-flush-creeping-along-the-underside-of-a/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [My penis should make me breakfast on morning. It is always up before I am.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/my-penis-should-make-me-breakfast-on-morning-it-is-always-up-before-i/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Before you finish eating breakfast in the morning, you've depended on more than half of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/before-you-finish-eating-breakfast-in-the-morning-you-ve-depended-on-2/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [Before you finish eating breakfast in the morning, you've depended on more than half the world. This is the way our universe is structured,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/before-you-finish-eating-breakfast-in-the-morning-you-ve-depended-on/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [I wrote 'Show Me the Way' in the morning and wrote 'Baby, I Love Your Way' in the afternoon of the same day. I've…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-frampton/i-wrote-show-me-the-way-in-the-morning-and-wrote-baby-i-love-your-way/) [Peter Frampton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-frampton/) ## More by Colum McCann > [Give life long enough and it will solve all your problems, including the one of being alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/give-life-long-enough-and-it-will-solve-all-your-problems-including/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [“There is something that happens to the mind in moments of terror. Perhaps we figure it's the last we'll ever have and we record…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/there-is-something-that-happens-to-the-mind-in-moments-of-terror/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [“The short sharp shock of three thousand mother two hundred mothers. The ones who picked through the supermarket debris for pieces of their dead…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/the-short-sharp-shock-of-three-thousand-mother-two-hundred-mothers/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [I'm not so sure that I can teach people how to, you know, write dialogue or create plot or anything like that. But if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/i-m-not-so-sure-that-i-can-teach-people-how-to-you-know-write/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [“Once we had filled each other with desire, not remembrance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/once-we-had-filled-each-other-with-desire-not-remembrance/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [“How long ago it was and how strange, but all dead friends come to life again sometimes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/how-long-ago-it-was-and-how-strange-but-all-dead-friends-come-to-life/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [“She would want, instead, to recall him in the air, between layers of cloud. To give him back that ancient dignity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/she-would-want-instead-to-recall-him-in-the-air-between-layers-of/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [Novels are more difficult simply because they are longer and require more juggling, but short stories are closer to perfection, if you can get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/novels-are-more-difficult-simply-because-they-are-longer-and-require/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [It was a silence that heard itself, awful and beautiful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/it-was-a-silence-that-heard-itself-awful-and-beautiful/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [I think one of the biggest political failures, and the biggest social failures, over the past few years has been the failure of empathy;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/i-think-one-of-the-biggest-political-failures-and-the-biggest-social/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [“Bits of it floating in the air, he said. "It's like dust. You walk about and don't see it, don't notice it, but it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/bits-of-it-floating-in-the-air-he-said-it-s-like-dust-you-walk-about/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [“He has read whole volumes on the philosophy of nonviolence. How peace had to be understood in all its moral dimensions. The proper coexistence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/he-has-read-whole-volumes-on-the-philosophy-of-nonviolence-how-peace/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [“She’s always thought that one of the beauties of New York is that you can be from anywhere and within moments of landing it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/she-s-always-thought-that-one-of-the-beauties-of-new-york-is-that-you/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [I'm of the opinion that the real is imagined and the imagined is quite real. The real is imagined, in the sense that we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/i-m-of-the-opinion-that-the-real-is-imagined-and-the-imagined-is/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [“She had that emigrant’s sadness—she would never go back to her old country—it was gone in more senses than one—but she was forever gazing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/she-had-that-emigrant-s-sadness-she-would-never-go-back-to-her-old/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) [Explore all 333 Colum McCann quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) ## More Character quotes > [This may sound strange, but although I feel like I know everything about my characters, the brand of shampoo they use, how many cavities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-honeyman/this-may-sound-strange-but-although-i-feel-like-i-know-everything/) [Gail Honeyman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-honeyman/) > [I always like a character who makes me laugh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachael-stirling/i-always-like-a-character-who-makes-me-laugh/) [Rachael Stirling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachael-stirling/) > [Social responsibility above the level of family, or at most of tribe, requires imagination-- devotion, loyalty, all the higher virtues -- which a man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/social-responsibility-above-the-level-of-family-or-at-most-of-tribe/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [I'm often moved by the circumstances around some of my characters, but I don't think I've actually cried watching myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-winslet/i-m-often-moved-by-the-circumstances-around-some-of-my-characters-but/) [Kate Winslet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-winslet/) > [When you're on a daytime drama you get one page, you better damn well know your character. You better know what she would do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hudgins/when-you-re-on-a-daytime-drama-you-get-one-page-you-better-damn-well/) [David Hudgins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hudgins/) > [It can sometimes make people fold into themselves and kind of run away, but I think in this case these characters are being forced…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-deschanel/it-can-sometimes-make-people-fold-into-themselves-and-kind-of-run/) [Emily Deschanel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-deschanel/) > [If you are well-mannered towards those whose views are similar to yours, you may be said to exhibit a fairly good character. But, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-you-are-well-mannered-towards-those-whose-views-are-similar-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Democracy is based on the conviction that man has the moral and intellectual capacity, as well as the inalienable right, to govern himself with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-s-truman/democracy-is-based-on-the-conviction-that-man-has-the-moral-and/) [Harry S. 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