QuoteProject
When I'm writing a book, sentence by sentence, I'm not thinking theoretically. I'm just trying to work out the story from inside the characters I've got.
Salman Rushdie
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote emphasizes the immersive and organic process of writing, where the author focuses on character-driven storytelling rather than theoretical constructs.

Salman Rushdie expresses the idea that during the writing process, he is deeply engaged with the characters he has created, allowing their internal motivations and stories to guide his narrative. This suggests that effective writing emerges from a genuine understanding of characters rather than relying on external theories or frameworks.

Themes

WritingCharactersStorytellingProcessCreativity

In practice

Example use cases

This quote could be used in a writing workshop to inspire participants to connect with their characters.

More from Salman Rushdie

I've been fascinated by Machiavelli since I was very young. I've always felt that he had a bad rap from history, and that he was actually a person quite unlike what we now think of as Machiavellian. He was a republican. He disliked totalitarian government.
Salman RushdieRead
Killing people because you don't like their ideas - it's a bad thing.
Salman RushdieRead
faith without doubt is addiction
Salman RushdieRead
I am clearly vulnerable to these more passionate and volatile unstable relationships. I am trying to not be so vulnerable.
Salman RushdieRead
In India, as elsewhere in our darkening world, religion is the poison in the blood. Where religion intervenes, mere innocence is no excuse. Yet we go on skating around this issue, speaking of religion in the fashionable language of 'respect.' What is there to respect in any of this, or in any of the crimes now being committed almost daily around the world in religion's dreaded name?
Salman RushdieRead
Reality is a question of perspective; the further you get from the past, the more concrete and plausible it seems - but as you approach the present, it inevitably seems more and more incredible.
Salman RushdieRead

Similar quotes

Anybody that creates anything is just creating new compositions of things that have existed before. We're all creating something, we're all creating our own personal works of art in ourselves.
Rick OwensRead
I've never made any picture, good or bad, without paying for it in emotional turmoil.
W. Eugene SmithRead
If I'm going to be anything more than average, if anyone is going to remember me, then I need to go further, in art, in life, in everything!
Salvador DaliRead
I've made it my goal to revolutionise pop music.
Lady GagaRead
To draw you must close your eyes and sing.
Pablo PicassoRead
The glory of a good tale is that it is limitless and fluid; a good tale belongs to each reader in its own particular way.
Stephen KingRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.

Quote by Salman Rushdie | QuoteProject