--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: You will see at precisely what moment the…" description: "\"“You will see at precisely what moment the writer ceases to think of his character as an instrument to be manipulated and think of him as someone with ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6bd/richard-selzer-27753_love_you-will-see-at-precisely-what-moment-th_960851.jpg" --- # You will see at precisely what moment the writer ceases to… ![“You will see at precisely what moment the writer ceases to think of his character as an instrument to be manipulated and think of him as someone with whom he has fallen in love. For it is always, must always be, a matter of love.” quote by Richard Selzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6bd/richard-selzer-27753_love_you-will-see-at-precisely-what-moment-th_960851.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6bd/richard-selzer-27753_love_you-will-see-at-precisely-what-moment-th_960851.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6bd/richard-selzer-27753_love_you-will-see-at-precisely-what-moment-th_960851.jpg) > ““You will see at precisely what moment the writer ceases to think of his character as an instrument to be manipulated and think of him as someone with whom he has fallen in love. For it is always, must always be, a matter of love.”” [Richard Selzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-selzer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. When a writer loves a character, the character becomes a person, not a plot device, shaping authentic storytelling. **In simple terms:** Loving a character makes them real. Key Takeaway Write with empathy for your characters. Themes love character development authenticity Mood reflective intimate Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - novel writing - screenwriting - character workshops Key Concepts empathy personhood narrative depth Questions to Reflect On - How does love change your portrayal of a character? - Can affection hinder plot tension? A Different Perspective Love may cloud objectivity, leading to biased narratives. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ceases Think](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ceases-think-1777954/) [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Manipulated Think](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/manipulated-think-701377/) [Think Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/think-character/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Writer Ceases](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer-ceases-1777953/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [It's a political and manipulative industry. Actors vie for the same roles, movies are snatched away. Have I ever been manipulated? Yes. 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Only if I like it do I go ahead with it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/regina-cassandra/i-think-about-the-character-in-any-new-offer-that-comes-to-me-only-if/) [Regina Cassandra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/regina-cassandra/) > [I try not to think about any of the production side of things. If you do, you tend to get unfocused and distracted. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shanley-caswell/i-try-not-to-think-about-any-of-the-production-side-of-things-if-you/) [Shanley Caswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shanley-caswell/) > [Do you remember A Wrinkle in Time? It's a good one example. I think the character's name is Meg. I just remember she was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-fine-frenzy/do-you-remember-a-wrinkle-in-time-it-s-a-good-one-example-i-think-the/) [A Fine Frenzy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-fine-frenzy/) > [People have a very proprietary relationship with Superman. 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Goyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-s-goyer/) > [Perhaps the greatest definition I think of character and quality is people who when they're truly great rather than making you feel that tall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-fry/perhaps-the-greatest-definition-i-think-of-character-and-quality-is/) [Stephen Fry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-fry/) > [I find it an easy way into writing pieces is to think what the character's voice is like, and start from there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/armando-iannucci/i-find-it-an-easy-way-into-writing-pieces-is-to-think-what-the/) [Armando Iannucci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/armando-iannucci/) > [Most people seem to think I am something of a character and the things that have befallen me are par for my course.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-eubank-sr/most-people-seem-to-think-i-am-something-of-a-character-and-the/) [Chris Eubank Sr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-eubank-sr/) > [There should always be that leeway because if you think of your character as sort of absolutely fixed, then you just try and find…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lenny-abrahamson/there-should-always-be-that-leeway-because-if-you-think-of-your/) [Lenny Abrahamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lenny-abrahamson/) > [You should think about your character. Know where you are changing, how you will be changed, what cannot be changed back again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-tan/you-should-think-about-your-character-know-where-you-are-changing-how/) [Amy Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-tan/) > [I never ask my wife about my flaws. Instead I try to get her to ignore them and concentrate on my sense of humor.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-newman/i-never-ask-my-wife-about-my-flaws-instead-i-try-to-get-her-to-ignore/) [Paul Newman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-newman/) > [I don't think of an actor. I think in the character, and then I search for the actor. Usually I'm thinking without names, because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-jodorowsky/i-don-t-think-of-an-actor-i-think-in-the-character-and-then-i-search/) [Alejandro Jodorowsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-jodorowsky/) ## More by Richard Selzer > [You cannot separate passion from pathology any more than you can separate a person's spirit from his body.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-selzer/you-cannot-separate-passion-from-pathology-any-more-than-you-can/) [Richard Selzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-selzer/) > [And If the surgeon is like a poet, then the scars you have made on countless bodies are like verses into the fashioning of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-selzer/and-if-the-surgeon-is-like-a-poet-then-the-scars-you-have-made-on/) [Richard Selzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-selzer/) > [If I quit surgery, I'd be afraid I'd dry up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-selzer/if-i-quit-surgery-i-d-be-afraid-i-d-dry-up/) [Richard Selzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-selzer/) > [Thus is the fruit of the Earth taken, its flesh torn. Thus is it given over standing, toward rot. It is the principle of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-selzer/thus-is-the-fruit-of-the-earth-taken-its-flesh-torn-thus-is-it-given/) [Richard Selzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-selzer/) > [A minor operation is one that is done on someone else](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-selzer/a-minor-operation-is-one-that-is-done-on-someone-else/) [Richard Selzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-selzer/) > [You do not die all at once. Some tissues live on for minutes, even hours, giving still their little cellular shrieks, molecular echoes of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-selzer/you-do-not-die-all-at-once-some-tissues-live-on-for-minutes-even/) [Richard Selzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-selzer/) > [Autopsies give us the facts but not the truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-selzer/autopsies-give-us-the-facts-but-not-the-truth/) [Richard Selzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-selzer/) > [I never intended to become a writer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-selzer/i-never-intended-to-become-a-writer/) [Richard Selzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-selzer/) > [The liver, that great maroon snail: No wave of emotion sweeps it. Neither music nor mathematics gives it pause in its appointed tasks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-selzer/the-liver-that-great-maroon-snail-no-wave-of-emotion-sweeps-it/) [Richard Selzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-selzer/) > [Surgery is the red flower that blooms among the leaves and thorns that are the rest of medicine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-selzer/surgery-is-the-red-flower-that-blooms-among-the-leaves-and-thorns/) [Richard Selzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-selzer/) > [If people understood that doctors weren't divine, perhaps the odor of malpractice might diminish.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-selzer/if-people-understood-that-doctors-weren-t-divine-perhaps-the-odor-of/) [Richard Selzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-selzer/) > [I contemplate the body, dead and diseased as well as alive and healthy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-selzer/i-contemplate-the-body-dead-and-diseased-as-well-as-alive-and-healthy/) [Richard Selzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-selzer/) > [The surgeon knows all the parts of the brain but he does not know his patient's dreams.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-selzer/the-surgeon-knows-all-the-parts-of-the-brain-but-he-does-not-know-his/) [Richard Selzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-selzer/) > [“There are no "great" subjects for the creative writer; there are only the singular details of a single human life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-selzer/there-are-no-great-subjects-for-the-creative-writer-there-are-only/) [Richard Selzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-selzer/) > [The grist for my mill is the human body and the art of healing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-selzer/the-grist-for-my-mill-is-the-human-body-and-the-art-of-healing/) [Richard Selzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-selzer/) [Explore all 20 Richard Selzer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-selzer/) ## 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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And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warwick-davis/if-you-stood-me-in-a-costume-next-to-a-computer-graphic-of-the-same/) [Warwick Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warwick-davis/) > [Courage: the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can't practice any other virtue consistently](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/courage-the-most-important-of-all-the-virtues-because-without-courage/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [I'm a character actor - always have been, always will be - and historically, character actors don't come into their own until later in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-potts/i-m-a-character-actor-always-have-been-always-will-be-and/) [Annie Potts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-potts/) [Browse all 32,707 Character quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“You will see at precisely what moment the writer ceases to think of his character as an instrument to be manipulated and think of him as someone with whom he has fallen in love. 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