--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Good writing is made up of characters who…" description: "\"“Good writing is made up of characters who are bigger than their circumstances.”\" — Michael Knight" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/358/michael-knight-55732_writing_good-writing-is-made-up-of-characters-wh_1949681.jpg" --- # Good writing is made up of characters who are bigger than… ![“Good writing is made up of characters who are bigger than their circumstances.” quote by Michael Knight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/358/michael-knight-55732_writing_good-writing-is-made-up-of-characters-wh_1949681.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/358/michael-knight-55732_writing_good-writing-is-made-up-of-characters-wh_1949681.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/358/michael-knight-55732_writing_good-writing-is-made-up-of-characters-wh_1949681.jpg) > ““Good writing is made up of characters who are bigger than their circumstances.”” [Michael Knight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-knight/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Characters should transcend their situations, showing resilience and depth beyond external constraints. **In simple terms:** Characters outgrow their situations. Key Takeaway Create characters with inner strength. Themes character development resilience storytelling Mood inspirational thoughtful Type literary motivational When to use this quote - novel writing - screenwriting - character design Key Concepts Narrative agency human spirit Questions to Reflect On - How can you give a character agency? - What constraints can you subvert? A Different Perspective Characters may still be limited by plot demands. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Characters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/characters/) [Good writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-writing/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [I used to say I wasn't interested in writing about characters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-healey/i-used-to-say-i-wasn-t-interested-in-writing-about-characters/) [Emma Healey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-healey/) > [I'm no longer going to play thugs or debauched cops that I can't possibly make complex characters. I'm bigger than that. I owe too…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-washington/i-m-no-longer-going-to-play-thugs-or-debauched-cops-that-i-can-t/) [Isaiah Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-washington/) > [I love playing characters that are bigger than life and maybe have a darker side that they present to the world. Those are good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randy-quaid/i-love-playing-characters-that-are-bigger-than-life-and-maybe-have-a/) [Randy Quaid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randy-quaid/) > [“The more characters you have, the bigger the book, the more flaming chain saws.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-percy/the-more-characters-you-have-the-bigger-the-book-the-more-flaming/) [Benjamin Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-percy/) > ['The Grace of Kings' was meant to read like a set of legends about characters who were bigger than life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-liu/the-grace-of-kings-was-meant-to-read-like-a-set-of-legends-about/) [Ken Liu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-liu/) > [I love when I get to play these characters that are bigger than life. There are roles in animation that I never get to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-madsen/i-love-when-i-get-to-play-these-characters-that-are-bigger-than-life/) [Virginia Madsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-madsen/) > [I don't think that writing, real writing, has much to do with affirming belief--if anything it causes rifts and gaps in belief which make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-evenson/i-don-t-think-that-writing-real-writing-has-much-to-do-with-affirming/) [Brian Evenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-evenson/) > [There is no royal path to good writing; and such paths as exist do not lead through neat critical gardens, various as they are,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessamyn-west/there-is-no-royal-path-to-good-writing-and-such-paths-as-exist-do-not/) [Jessamyn West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessamyn-west/) > [“But the secret of good writing is to strip every sentence to its cleanest components. Every words that serves no function, every long word…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-zinsser/but-the-secret-of-good-writing-is-to-strip-every-sentence-to-its/) [William Zinsser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-zinsser/) > [When it comes to writing characters, whether men or women, I think a good writer writes good characters. I know many men who, for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zoya-akhtar/when-it-comes-to-writing-characters-whether-men-or-women-i-think-a/) [Zoya Akhtar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zoya-akhtar/) > [“There's a certain magic about writing even when the characters refuse to act the way I want them to.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-bevan/there-s-a-certain-magic-about-writing-even-when-the-characters-refuse/) Gloria Bevan > [In my early writing, all of my characters were exactly the same person. 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Success is a lovely thing, but your desire to say something,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/veronica-roth/one-piece-of-advice-i-have-is-want-something-else-more-than-success/) [Veronica Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/veronica-roth/) ## More by Michael Knight > [“He could not have explained the intensity of his attraction to {her}, that blissful ache that welled up in his chest at the sight…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-knight/he-could-not-have-explained-the-intensity-of-his-attraction-to-her/) [Michael Knight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-knight/) > [“I can tell you this: there will be other girls, other disasters. And there will be nights to come, his life mostly behind him,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-knight/i-can-tell-you-this-there-will-be-other-girls-other-disasters-and/) [Michael Knight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-knight/) > [“Like the long gone captains of the Confederacy, he stood watch at the edge of Dauphin Island, his old life just out of sight…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-knight/like-the-long-gone-captains-of-the-confederacy-he-stood-watch-at-the/) [Michael Knight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-knight/) > [“{She} considered mentioning...how she, to, was all alone. But it didn't matter. So many stupid ways to live and die. She felt a shift…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-knight/she-considered-mentioning-how-she-to-was-all-alone-but-it-didn-t/) [Michael Knight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-knight/) > [“It was always with her now, that sadness, like one of those rare orchids you saw clinging to jungle branches on TV, always blooming…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-knight/it-was-always-with-her-now-that-sadness-like-one-of-those-rare/) [Michael Knight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-knight/) [Explore all 6 Michael Knight quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-knight/) ## More Characters 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'm not a huge social media kind of guy, so I don't really know, I don't really ever get... at least in real life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freddie-stroma/i-m-not-a-huge-social-media-kind-of-guy-so-i-don-t-really-know-i-don/) [Freddie Stroma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freddie-stroma/) > [I am tired of our characters being so incomplete. 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If one of the characters suddenly decided to do something very different, I'd just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lori-foster/i-m-truly-100-guided-by-the-characters-and-my-muse-if-one-of-the/) [Lori Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lori-foster/) > [I have played several characters that are crabby and cranky. I don't know if I'm just not a very well-developed human being or if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judy-greer/i-have-played-several-characters-that-are-crabby-and-cranky-i-don-t/) [Judy Greer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judy-greer/) > [You do get fond of your characters. Handing them on is like giving a child to a nanny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-fellowes/you-do-get-fond-of-your-characters-handing-them-on-is-like-giving-a/) [Julian Fellowes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-fellowes/) > [Your job as a writer is to find storylines, narrative structures, and characters to show the things that you believe rather than saying them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philipp-meyer/your-job-as-a-writer-is-to-find-storylines-narrative-structures-and/) [Philipp Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philipp-meyer/) > [Being of Indian heritage is a challenge - and it's a blessing as well sometimes - because being good isn't good enough. You have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sacha-dhawan/being-of-indian-heritage-is-a-challenge-and-it-s-a-blessing-as-well/) [Sacha Dhawan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sacha-dhawan/) > [On the stage, the characters express themselves more through words than images. 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I always wanted to be all these things,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/morgan-freeman/i-always-wanted-to-be-a-fireman-a-cop-an-indian-chief-a-doctor-a/) [Morgan Freeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/morgan-freeman/) [Browse all 3,066 Characters quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/characters/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Good writing is made up of characters who are bigger than their circumstances.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Michael Knight" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-knight/good-writing-is-made-up-of-characters-who-are-bigger-than-their/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Characters" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-knight/good-writing-is-made-up-of-characters-who-are-bigger-than-their/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/358/michael-knight-55732_writing_good-writing-is-made-up-of-characters-wh_1949681.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/358/michael-knight-55732_writing_good-writing-is-made-up-of-characters-wh_1949681.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/358/michael-knight-55732_writing_good-writing-is-made-up-of-characters-wh_1949681.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Good writing is made up of characters who are bigger than their circumstances.” — Michael Knight", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Michael Knight", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-knight/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Good writing is made up of...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-knight/good-writing-is-made-up-of-characters-who-are-bigger-than-their/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-knight/good-writing-is-made-up-of-characters-who-are-bigger-than-their/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```