Charles McCarry Quotes

I write in a very peculiar way. I think about a book for 25 or 30 years in a kind of inchoate way, and at one point or another, I realize the book is ready to be written. I usually have a character, a first line, and general idea of what the book is going to be about.

Charles McCarry

• Character
• Book

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Quotes to Explore

• Yes, there is a terrible moral in 'Dorian Gray' - a moral which the prurient will not be able to find in it, but it will be revealed to all whose minds are healthy. Is this an artistic error? I fear it is. It is the only error in the book.

  

  Oscar Wilde
  • Book
  • Moral
  • Healthy

• I was devastated when I got the review for my first book. The book came out a couple years before the women's movement broke through, and people were putting it down, asking, 'Why does the woman in this book need to get a divorce? Why can't she just shut up and be happy?'

  

  Gail Sheehy
  • People
  • Up
  • Women

• What we've seen of Rey, she looks like she can handle her stuff. So most of the comments I get are from parents who say how wonderful it is that their little girls can see this character.

  

  Daisy Ridley
  • Character
  • Parents
  • Stuff

• Once I was chased by the king of all scorpions. I have the most notorious animal stories.

  

  Rachel Hunter
  • Animal
  • King
  • Once

• I haven't found it to be particularly enjoyable... ninety percent of the time when I go on dates, I'm thinking, 'I could be reading my book instead.'

  

  Zosia Mamet
  • Time
  • Thinking
  • Book

• The problem with writing a monthly book is that you're going through your work like a man running for a bus, red-faced and out of breath. There isn't time for reflection or critical self-examination.

  

  J. Michael Straczynski
  • Time
  • Work
  • Writing

• I'd like to do something where there's a strong female character and some action. I've done a few stunts in the past.

  

  Vicky McClure
  • Done
  • Character
  • Past

• When you choose your friends, don't be short-changed by choosing personality over character.

  

  W. Somerset Maugham
  • Character
  • Friends
  • Personality

• In the biographical novel, there's only one person involved. I, the author, spend two to five years becoming the main character. I do that so by the time you get to the bottom of Page 2 or 3, you forget your name, where you live, your profession and the year it is. You become the main character of the book. You live the book.

  

  Irving Stone
  • Time
  • Live
  • Character

• When we were subjected to a vicious character assassination campaign orchestrated by senior White House officials and championed by their allies in the right-wing echo chamber, Hillary reached out to us. Her counsel during that tumultuous period was as timely as it was wise.

  

  Valerie Plame
  • Character
  • House
  • Period

• I like to believe, as a writer, that anybody who isn't a reader yet has just not found the right book.

  

  Gabrielle Zevin
  • Believe
  • Book
  • Right

• You have to understand that while I pre-plot the meta story of a given book, I often have no idea of what will happen on the next page, let alone the next chapter. That's what makes it fun for me; I write the books the same way many people read them.

  

  R. A. Salvatore
  • People
  • Book
  • Fun

• I started in theatre, and for me, it was all about transformation. You transform into the character that you're playing.

  

  Rainn Wilson
  • Character
  • Theatre
  • Transformation

• It's easier to release an ebook than a print book.

  

  J. A. Konrath
  • Book
  • Easier
  • Print

• Let us remember: One book, one pen, one child, and one teacher can change the world.

  

  Malala Yousafzai
  • World
  • Book
  • Remember

• I have two daughters: One an open book, one a locked box. So the question of privacy is a challenging one. How much do kids need? How much should we give? How do we prepare them to live in a world where the very notion of privacy opens a generational chasm?

  

  Nancy Gibbs
  • World
  • Live
  • Book

• Butler's novel 'Kindred' may be the book most widely read by readers outside science fiction; it has been assigned as a text in classrooms and has sold steadily since its publication in 1979.

  

  Karen Joy Fowler
  • May
  • Book
  • Science

• Character is always known. Thefts never enrich; alms never impoverish; murder will speak out of stone walls.

  

  Ralph Waldo Emerson
  • Character
  • Speak
  • Walls

• It's a character that I always found really likable. I'm fond of Zorro because he was a popular figure who worked for the people.

  

  Antonio Banderas
  • People
  • Character
  • Popular

• Historically the buffalo had more influence on man than all other Plains animals combined. It was life, food, raiment, and shelter to the Indians. The buffalo and the Plains Indians lived together, and together passed away. The year 1876 marks practically the end of both.

  

  Walter Prescott Webb
  • Men
  • Together
  • Animal

• I had left teaching, which I enjoyed, because I realized I couldn't get tenure at a research university.

  

  Nancy Roman
  • Teaching
  • Research
  • Tenure

• I'll get to the oval three hours beforehand and warm up for about 45 minutes off the ice. Then I'll stretch and get on the ice for 20 minutes. I'll cool down, then relax, close my eyes and think about what I need to do.

  

  Brittany Bowe
  • Up
  • Eyes
  • Cool

• I write in a very peculiar way. I think about a book for 25 or 30 years in a kind of inchoate way, and at one point or another, I realize the book is ready to be written. I usually have a character, a first line, and general idea of what the book is going to be about.

  

  Charles McCarry
  • Character
  • Book