Actor Quote by Nilo Cruz
“I find it's very confusing when one critic tells you one thing and one tells you something completely different. Unless all the critics agree on parts of the play that just didn't work. I have stopped reading reviews, because I find writing is all about courage. You must have courage when you start writing a play and you cannot have the voice - you must write things out. You cannot have the voice of a critic telling you, "That didn't work in that play, you cannot make it work in another play." Every time you do a production, it's an experimentation.”
About This Quote
Source Interview: Nilo Cruz on playwriting, 2015
The speaker expresses frustration with contradictory criticism, emphasizing that writing requires courage and personal experimentation rather than reliance on reviewers.
In simple terms: Writing needs courage, not critics' approval.
Key Takeaway
Trust your own creative process.
Themes
courage
criticism
creativity
Mood
reflective
determined
Type
creative
motivational
When to use this quote
- writing a play
- developing a script
- revising performances
Key Concepts
artistic integrity
self-reliance
Questions to Reflect On
- How do you separate constructive feedback from noise?
- What fuels your creative bravery?
A Different Perspective
Critics can offer useful insight if balanced.
![“Writing a play is like smashing that [glass] ashtray, filming it in slow motion, and then running the film in reverse, so that the fragments of rubble appear to fly together. You start - or at least I start - with the rubble.” quote by Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/271/tom-stoppard-437_ashtrays_writing-a-play-is-like-smashing-that-gla_733373.jpg)
![“I was taught to lie at a young age. . . . I think that [A PARK IN OUR HOUSE] describes what people make out of their reality in a totalitarian system like Castro's. They take flight and move into the imagination in order to transcend their immediate reality. I had to write this play. It helped me…” quote by Nilo Cruz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/a26/nilo-cruz-36320_age_i-was-taught-to-lie-at-a-young-age-i-thi_3050601.jpg)
