Bonus Quote by George Saunders

A lot of readers want characters to behave in a responsible way, or they want to understand the characters' dilemma and act, in a…

— Susan Minot

We discover our character through decisions under pressure.

— Dan Millman

I always let the characters guide the stories. They really let me know what they want to say and what action they want to…

— Ellen Schreiber

We want a sense that an important character, like a narrator, is reliable. We want to believe that a character is not playing ages…

— Anne Lamott

In real life, people are constantly saying one thing and doing another, but if you write your characters that way, the story becomes too…

— Jessica Cutler

Sometimes it's a character you want to play or a story you want to tell. Sometimes it's just to pay the bills.

— Daryl Hannah

Writers do not want to think they are less rational than other people, and at the mercy of compulsions, but in their hearts they…

— Hilary Mantel

It's actually easier to truly become a person of good character than to persuade others we are what we are not.

— Michael Josephson

A part of my job, when I'm playing a character and approaching a role, is to rationalize and to not judge whatsoever.

— Melissa Benoist

We all have these tendencies in us that could go this way or that. I think that's the real key in writing. To look…

— Paul Haggis

It's really nice when you can sit down with somebody and just talk to them, and talk about your ideas and what you think…

— Aaron Ashmore

When I was younger, I wanted to guard myself against criticism, so I did so much more work than was needed. Now, though, it's…

— Mackenzie Davis