Richard Price

“Never let the facts get in the way of the truth.”

“The world is a very complicated place, and the more you learn, the less you know.”

“The biggest lie is the notion that writers write what they know. Writers write what they're interested in.”

“You write to find out what you're talking about.”

“I'm interested in the moral compromise, in the shady gray area where the lesser of two evils is the only choice.”

“Everybody's got a story. It's just that some are more interesting than others.”

“Memory is a fascinating trickster. An unreliable narrator.”

“My job is to be a ventriloquist. I am a ventriloquist. I am not a puppeteer.”

“You want to be surprised by your own characters.”

“I try to get the soul of a place; I don't care if it's got a Starbucks or not.”

“I don't think in terms of themes. I think in terms of characters and situations.”

“I always feel like I'm writing a novel, even when I'm writing a screenplay.”

“Dialogue is the easiest thing to write, but it's the hardest thing to get right.”

“The first draft is for you, the second draft is for the editor, and the third draft is for the reader.”

“You can't write about stuff you don't know. You have to live it.”

“The worst thing you can do to a writer is to praise his first book.”

“If you're going to write about the dark side of life, you'd better have a sense of humor.”