Protagonists Quotes - Page 2

• Look at the Coen brothers. All their minor characters are as interesting as their protagonists. If the smaller characters are well-written, the whole world of the film becomes enriched. It's not the size of the thing, but the detail.

  Brendan Gleeson

  Brother, Character, Interesting

  "Brendan Gleeson: the character actor who steals the show". Interview with Ryan Gilbey, www.theguardian.com. March 18, 2010.

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• Tunisia's responsibility, and especially that of its political and intellectual elites, is enormous. All the protagonists of the nation's social, cultural, economic and political life must work to overcome useless and counterproductive polarisation, and to find solutions to domestic, regional and international problems.

  Tariq Ramadan

  Responsibility, Political, Intellectual

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• Henry Miller wrote novels, but he calls his protagonist Henry, often Henry Miller, and his books are in this gray area between memoir and novel.

  Leslie Fiedler

  Book, Gray Area, Novel

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• It is a commonplace that the League of Nations is not yet-what its most enthusiastic protagonists intended it to be

  Hjalmar Branting

  League, Corny, Enthusiastic

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• I couldn't imagine what Fox thought they were doing, contemplating such a jagged protagonist for a prime-time drama. I only knew that I wanted the role very much.

  Hugh Laurie

  Drama, Roles, Foxes

  FaceBook post by Hugh Laurie from Mar 29, 2012

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• People are drawn deeper into tragedy not by their defects but by their virtues.

  Haruki Murakami

  People, Tragedy, Virtue

  Haruki Murakami (2011). “Kafka On The Shore”, p.214, Random House

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• [But] we accept irony through a device called metaphor. And through that we grow and become deeper human beings.

  Haruki Murakami

  Irony, Metaphor, Accepting

  Haruki Murakami (2011). “Kafka On The Shore”, p.215, Random House

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• We've all seen lots of stories about a young protagonist having adventures, and usually they're all boys, [and] there is sometimes a token female, or two.

  Brian K. Vaughan

  Adventure, Boys, Two

  "Paper Girls: Brian K. Vaughan and Cliff Chiang talk Volume 2". Interview With Nivea Serrao, ew.com. November 29, 2016.

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• It's pretty easy to think of the idea of a story, and maybe even to write a scene or two, but understanding the ebb and flow of a narrative, where to leave the little clues your protagonist (and reader) need, while playing fair, takes a lot more skill and patience than you might think.

  Dennis Green

  Writing, Thinking, Ebb And Flow

  Source: lennoxrandon.com

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• The depth of any story is proportionate to the protagonist's commitment to their goal, the complexity of the problem, and the grace of the solution.

  Steve House

  Commitment, Goal, Grace

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• I never regard my characters, my protagonists, as personifications. It's not that I sit by my desk and I pick up a character who will be the spokesperson of the Israeli Left, another one will be the spokesperson of the Right, another one will be the spokesperson of Middle Eastern Jews, European Jews, religions Jews and so on.

  Amos Oz

  Character, Middle, Desks

  "'Everybody comes from somewhere.' An Interview with Writer Amos Oz". Interview with Prashanth Ramakrishna, logger.believermag.com. October 20, 2016.

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• The more complex and overwhelming the threat to a protagonist, the better the opportunity for the author to create a compelling conflict and a dramatic resolution.

  Terry Brooks

  Writing, Opportunity, Conflict

  Terry Brooks (2003). “Sometimes the Magic Works: Lessons from a Writing Life”, p.102, Del Rey

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• What led me to that was I have never - I mean, I watch movies and I don't care who is the protagonist. I feel what that guy is feeling. You know, if it's Tom Cruise leaping over a building - I want to make it, you know? And I'm going to - yes, I made it. And yeah, so I get that.

  Meryl Streep

  Mean, Guy, Feelings

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

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• Quite often my narrator or protagonist may be a man, but I'm not sure he's the more interesting character, or if the more complex character isn't the woman.

  Ann Beattie

  Character, Men, Interesting

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• It seems to me that most good protagonists are both clever and resourceful. They are intelligent and can fix things, both little and big. They can come up with inventive solutions others would never think of.

  Keren Woodward

  Clever, Character, Intelligent

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• The protagonist of Fourteen Stories, None of Them Are Yours doesn’t make it easy for us, channeling as he does Barry Hannah and Denis Johnson by way of Rick Bass and Dennis Hopper, and self-presenting as yet another damaged romantic who thinks it’s always time to play the cowboy, skating in and out of sense. He can’t see right, and he’s haunted by nearly everything. He’s trying to open up or shut himself down or at least get a hold of himself. He’s trying to make do with what he’s done, while he reminds us that we’re all, one way or another, in that position.

  Jim Shepard

  Cowboy, Thinking, Self

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• The protagonist of folktale is always, and intensely, a young person moving through ordeals into adult life. . . . and this is why there are no wicked stepchildren in the tales.

  Jill Paton Walsh

  Moving, Wicked, Adults

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• Most literary critics agree that fiction cannot be reduced to mere falsehood. Well-crafted protagonists come to life, pornography causes orgasms, and the pretense that life is what we want it to be may conceivably bring about the desired condition. Hence religious parables, socialist realism, Nazi propaganda. And if this story likewise crawls with reactionary supernaturalism, that might be because its author longs to see letters scuttling across ceilings, cautiously beginning to reify themselves into angels. For if they could only do that, then why not us?

  William T. Vollmann

  Religious, Angel, Letters

  William T Vollmann (2005). “Europe Central”, p.36, Penguin

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• In the modern era, it isn't enough to write, you must also be the Writer, with a capital 'W,' and play your part as the protagonist in the cautionary narrative in which you will fail or triumph, be in or out, hot or cold, ride the wheel of fortune.

  Tony Kushner

  Writing, Play, Triumph

  Source: www.guernicamag.com

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• Is it unprecedented for two goalkeepers employed in a match comprising seven goals to be the fixture's most competent protagonists?

  Pete Gill

  Soccer, Football, Two

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• Identify the moral dilemma driving the novel. the successful novel will haunt a reader because it deals with some ethical or moral dilemma that makes the reader wonder what he or she would do in the protagonist's place.

  Rick Riordan

  Successful, Moral, Driving

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• Since so many romantic comedies vary little in their storyline, the success or failure of such movies depends largely on whether we believe in the relationship of the protagonists.

  Mariella Frostrup

  Believe, Littles, Comedy

  "Why we're still seduced by the romcom' by Mariella Frostrup, www.theguardian.com. September 17, 2011.

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• Think 'Game of Thrones.' In the old days, this sort of show might be considered bad writing. It doesn't really seem to be moving toward a crisis or climax, it has no true protagonist, and it's structured less like a TV show or a movie than a soap opera.

  Douglas Rushkoff

  Moving, Writing, Thinking

  "Living In The Present Is A Disorder". Interview with R.U. Sirius, www.wired.com. April 8, 2013.

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• Because the writer must be a participant in the scene, while he's writing it — or at least taping it, or even sketching it. Or all three. Probably the closest analogy to the ideal would be a film director/producer who writes his own scripts, does his own camera work and somehow manages to film himself in action, as the protagonist or at least a main character.

  Hunter S. Thompson

  Writing, Character, Cameras

  "The Great Shark Hunt: Strange Tales from a Strange Time".

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• As long as the protagonist wants something, the audience will want something.

  David Mamet

  Want Something, Long, Audience

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

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