Craft Quotes

“Acting is a question of absorbing other people's personalities and adding some of your own.”

“Acting is a question of absorbing other people's personalities and adding some of your own.”

“The first and most important rule of thumb for any storyteller is, 'Show, don't tell.'”

“You have to work at your craft, whatever it is.”

“The purpose of a sentence is to be a sentence.”

“The novelist, unlike the poet, doesn't have to be a master of the sentence; he only needs to be a master of the paragraph.”

“For me, the sentence is a sovereign state.”

“The first responsibility of a writer is to be a good writer. That's the first obligation.”

“A great lyric is a story packed in a nutshell.”

“I'm not a star, I'm an actor.”

“I think a good score is one that you don't notice. It's one that's so integrated with the film that it becomes part of the film.”

“The key to acting is to be entirely present in the moment.”

“I love theatre. I love the experience of having a beginning, a middle, and an end every night.”

“Comedy is a serious business. It's a science.”

“For me, the dialogue is the easiest part of the story to write.”

“'Poinciana' is one of the most difficult pieces I play.”

“A comedian does funny things. A good comedian does things funny.”

“A novel is a piece of architecture. It's not random wallowings or confessional diaries.”

“Good writing is supposed to evoke sensation in the reader—not the fact that it is raining, but the feeling of being rained upon.”

“The best acting is reacting. It's not about what you say, it's about what you hear and how you respond.”