Len Wein Quotes
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I was a very sickly kid. While I was in the hospital at age 7, my Dad brought me a stack of comic books to keep me occupied. I was hooked.
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When I submitted samples, I had only written stories to give myself something to draw. I was told, "The art is good, but not quite professional yet. But, I like the writing." I've been a writer for almost a half a century. It's very cool.
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I'm a neurotic New York Jew by birth. Creating characters is second nature to me.
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I try not to violate what came before me and to leave lots of wiggle room for those who will follow.
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I'm still a fanboy geek. I always will be. In many ways, if my work still resonates with the audience, it's because I'm still writing from the point of view of the fan, so I'm geeked out constantly.
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Unfortunately, there are writers whose only concern is how good they could make themselves look on a title.
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A true friend is someone who is there for you when he'd rather be anywhere else.
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When someone writes to tell me something I've written made them laugh or cry, I've done my job and done it well. The rest is all semantics.
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In these litigious times, if you're a beginner, it's becoming harder and harder to get your work to the people who might actually be able to hire you.
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The bottom line always remains the same: What is the basic humanity of the character? How do I make them resonate with the reader?
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The most unrealistic thing I've ever read in comics is when some group of characters calls themselves the Brotherhood of Evil or the Masters of Evil. I don't believe any character believes their goals to be truly evil.
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Were there stories I wrote along the way that were terrible clinkers? God, yes. But they were all a product of their time, and I did the best I could.
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When I'm my own editor, there's very little difference between the first draft and the final. I write what feels right to begin with. I rarely make any major changes.
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I try to find what makes even the worst, most despicable character sympathetic at his or her core.
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These days, it seems that if you're not already in place, you can't get there from here.
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People who were more concerned with themselves and looking good to their readers then they were with the characters sacrificed a series for the sake of a story.
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I've always been the audience that I wanted to reach, so I write for myself.
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In general, shorter is better. If you can encapsulate your idea into a single captivating sentence, you're halfway home.
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Never be embarrassed by the things you cannot do. Be embarrassed by the things you can do and don't do well.
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I consider myself the luckiest man in the world. I have spent a lifetime doing what I love.
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I think jazz and comic books are probably the two uniquely American art forms.
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Sometimes you're not even sure which of your stories were failures. There are things I've written that I thought were complete catastrophes when I finished with them that have gone on to generate some of my most positive feedback.
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Lord of the Rings, I think, is far and away the most brilliantly done stuff.
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I would like immortality.