Protagonists Quotes - Page 3

• With the crime novels, its delightful to have protagonists I can revisit in book after book. Its like having a fictitious family.

  John Banville

  Book, Crime Novels, Delightful

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• When one hears the argument that marriage should be indissoluble for the sake of children, one cannot help wondering whether the protagonist is really such a firm friend of childhood.

  Suzanne La Follette

  Children, Childhood, Sake

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• Most traditional ghost stories feature rather hapless protagonists, who have nasty things happen to them.

  Jonathan Stroud

  Ghost Stories, Nasty, Happens

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• It may sound very strange, but I love the freedom that writing a novel gives me. It is an unhindered experience. If I come after a bad day, I can decide that my protagonist will die on page 100 of my novel in a 350-page story.

  Ashwin Sanghi

  Writing, Bad Day, Giving

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• Make the audience wonder what's going on by putting them in the same position as the protagonist.

  David Mamet

  Wonder, Audience, Position

  David Mamet (1991). “On Directing Film”, Penguin Group USA

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• In prose, leaps of logic can be made while the protagonist thinks about things and arrives at conclusions. Even with voiceover, there's no real way of having an inner voice without it taking over the entire story.

  Denise Mina

  Real, Thinking, Voice

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• I had a list of things that science fiction, particularly American science fiction, to me seemed to do with tedious regularity. One was to not have strong female protagonists. One was to envision the future, whatever it was, as America.

  William Gibson

  Strong, America, Lists

  Interview with Zack Handlen, www.avclub.com. September 7, 2010.

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• Whether it's Mrs Dalloway's lost love or Thérèse Raquin's burgeoning horror, The Paying Guests reminds us of every great novel we've gasped or winced at, or loudly urged the protagonists through, and it does not relent. . . . The Paying Guests is the apotheosis of [Waters'] talent; at least for now. I have tried and failed to find a single negative thing to say about it. Her next will probably be even better. Until then, read it, Flaubert, Zola, and weep.

  Charlotte Mendelson

  Lost Love, Water, Next

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• A stage play is basically a form of uber-schizophrenia. You split yourself into two minds - one being the protagonist and the other being the antagonist. The playwright also splits himself into two other minds: the mind of the writer and the mind of the audience.

  David Mamet

  Play, Two, Uber

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• A lot of crime fiction writing is also lazy. Personality is supposed to be shown by the protagonists taste in music, or were told that the hero looks like the young Cary Grant. Film is the medium these writers are looking for.

  Peter Temple

  Hero, Writing, Personality

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• American and Vietnamese characters alike leap to life through the voice and eyes of a tenyearold girl-a protagonist so strong, loving, and vivid I longed to hand her a wedge of freshly cut papaya.

  Mitali Perkins

  Girl, Strong, Character

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• The great movie can be as free of being a record of the progress of the protagonist as is a dream.

  David Mamet

  Dream, Progress, Records

  David Mamet (1991). “On directing film”, Viking Pr

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• Wolf Boy is absolutely beguiling. Evan Kuhlman has boundless empathy for all his characters, and his wonderful protagonist Stephen is, in turn, boundlessly inventive. . . . This is an auspicious debut.

  Valerie Sayers

  Character, Boys, Empathy

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• I like when people question if the characters are really villains or protagonists. These types are very interesting to write about.

  Jack Higgins

  Writing, Character, People

  Source: www.blackfive.net

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• I'm not interested in making movies only with female protagonists. I think it's ridiculous to think that a female director can't direct men. That makes no sense to me.

  Elizabeth Banks

  Thinking, Men, Directors

  "Elizabeth Banks On Directing, Playing the Hero in ‘Love & Mercy’ and Concluding ‘The Hunger Games’". Interview with Melissa Silverstein, blogs.indiewire.com. September 24, 2015.

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• Nobody is ever just a straight up protagonist or antagonist - everybody's morally ambiguous.

  Cheyenne Jackson

  Straight Up, Ambiguous, Antagonist

  "'American Horror Story' Star Cheyenne Jackson Reveals The Bloody Secrets Of 'Hotel'". Interview with Shaunna Murphy, www.mtv.com. October 7, 2015.

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• How do you get the protagonists and antagonists together, in the same space, without somebody having to die? So, we ended up having to tell two distinct stories, which is never the ultimate way to create a great serialized drama. So then, of course, we had the tragedy with Andy [Whitfield], which made everything very difficult and pushed back.

  Chris Albrecht

  Drama, Space, Two

  Source: collider.com

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• Every novel deals with social problems. It can't help it because the protagonist must come in conflict with his group. So the author has to offer an analysis of how the group and the protagonist fit. Otherwise, the reader will just say, "This makes no sense," and will put it away.

  Jane Smiley

  Groups, Analysis, Helping

  Interview with Matthew Rothschild, www.sharedhost.progressive.org. December 4, 2007.

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• For me, a great story is one in which the protagonist faces unimaginable odds; where the stakes are high that failure constitutes a disaster.

  Michael Boatman

  Odds, Stories, Faces

  Source: www.sfsignal.com

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• You know, you're not aware of it, but you're following the action of the film through the body of the protagonist, you know? You feel what he feels when he jumps, when he leaps, when he wins, when he loses. And I think I just took it for granted that, you know, we can all do that, but it became obvious to me that men don't live through the female characters.

  Meryl Streep

  Character, Winning, Men

  "Fresh Air" with Terry Gross, www.npr.org. February 6, 2012.

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• My female protagonist will not be this promiscuous, beautiful, dark-haired, thin lady. It will be a plump, blond, healer and so forth.

  Isabel Allende

  Beautiful, Dark, Female

  "The Mystery Of Isabel Allende: Author Explores New Genre". "All Things Considered" with Kelly McEvers, nwpr.org. January 25, 2014.

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• I always think once you have the lead protagonist, you cast around that character.

  Nicolas Winding Refn

  Character, Thinking, Casts

  Source: www.hollywoodchicago.com

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• What helped me a lot was that I chose an American lead protagonist, because that liberated a lot from my own knowledge. If I had approached it from the perspective of an Indian main character, I think I would have assumed a lot of knowledge and I would have resented the presence of the author.

  Karan Bajaj

  Character, Thinking, Perspective

  Source: www.edgemagazine.net

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• I think boys don't always like to read books with female protagonist - I don't even know what to say about this.

  Jacqueline Woodson

  Book, Boys, Thinking

  Source: www.teachingbooks.net

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• I always find something in common with my protagonist, particularly when I write in the first person.

  Emily Giffin

  Writing, Firsts, Common

  "Emily Giffin Talks Life, Relationships, and Her New Novel, First Comes Love". Interview with Laura Marie Meyers, www.popsugar.com. July 19, 2016.

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