If we get caught up in a story, it's because we've started to care about the characters, and that can only happen if we've moved beneath the surface.
The type of stories I write are about young people grappling with the biggest problems in their lives, often problems that are bigger than they're actually capable of solving.
I can't think of a major story that we have broken that was incorrect. But we have had to correct some things that were false; we have had to retract things.
I believe there is a hero in each of us. The best books are the ones that remind us of who we already are and empower us to embrace our own story.
You have only so many chances to tell stories. I didn't want to be forever wedded to one form of storytelling when there are so many out there.
Now, what tends to happen is that the stories get hyped. And the medicines are not quite as revolutionary and as dramatic as they seem to be. But, certainly, various phases of this problem are being attacked by the pharmaceutical companies.
Stop beating yourself up over all the days you didn’t work on your story. Focus on what you can do today. Sit down, and write.
Writing is an extremely rewarding and humbling process, and I've learned to go with it, that even if it feels absolutely impossible, I will find a way to tell the next story.
We shouldn't hide behind anger or anonymity when reliving the past because all that’s happened and all those who belong in our past are part of our story.
I wanted to portray very, very dark subject matter and a deceptively complex story in the brightest colours and simplest lines possible to leave the readers reeling.
Actually, that's one of the things I was thinking about writing a story about me, loosely based or autobiographical. I just don't want to be like some people that are in their twenties and writing autobiographies.
Every now and then, people will recognize me at restaurants or Universal Studios or something. I'll always take a picture with them if they want. I mean, that's what telling stories and acting for a living are for - for the people.
Read a lot - poems, prose, stories, newspapers, anything. Read books and poems that you think you will like and some that you think might not be for you. You might be surprised.
A notion for a story is for me a confluence of real events, historical perhaps, or from my own memory to create an exciting fusion.
Reading is very creative - it's not just a passive thing. I write a story; it goes out into the world; somebody reads it and, by reading it, completes it.
Curiosity is the intellectual need to answer questions and close open patterns. Story plays to this universal desire by doing the opposite, posing questions and opening situations.
I think songwriters are more related to fiction writers. The Odyssey was a story in song. To me, that's so beautiful, all those painted characters, all those travels and adventures.
One of the hardest things to believe is that anyone will abandon the effort to escape a charge of murder. It is extremely important to suspend disbelief on that. If you don't, the story is spoiled.
Every role is challenging in its own way, but the most challenging roles are the ones that are badly written - then it's completely up to you to come up with something that is interesting to the story and myself as an actor.
Now on the other hand, if someone is selling a product, opening a dance studio, or has some other aim to help themselves, then I tend to look askance at some of these strange stories from outer space.
I've always believed in working hard, and I'm grateful that people seem to connect with the kinds of stories I'm passionate about telling.
