Patrick Rothfuss: Doing

Patrick Rothfuss is American fantasy writer. Explore interesting quotes on doing.
Patrick Rothfuss: 472   quotes 25   likes

“I just sat there thunderstruck. I realized that's exactly what I had been doing for over a decade with my story. I was writing heroic fantasy, while at the same time I was satirizing heroic fantasy.”

Patrick Rothfuss

Interview with Fantasy Book Critic (25 May 2007)
Context: Anyway, I was listening to Beagle answer a question on the panel, he said something along the lines of, "I'd never want to write The Last Unicorn again. It was excruciatingly hard, because I was writing a faerie tale while at the same time writing a spoof of a faerie tale."
I just sat there thunderstruck. I realized that's exactly what I had been doing for over a decade with my story. I was writing heroic fantasy, while at the same time I was satirizing heroic fantasy.
While telling his story, Kvothe makes it clear that he's not the storybook hero legends make him out to be. But at the same time, the reader sees that he's a hero nonetheless. He's just a hero of a different sort.

Time

“My point is that doing something like this takes more time that writing another shitty, predictable Lord of the Rings knockoff.”

Patrick Rothfuss

On the progress of The Wise Man's Fear in "Concerning the Release of Book Two" (26 February 2009) http://blog.patrickrothfuss.com/2009/02/concerning-the-release-of-book-two/
Official site
Context: My book is different.
In case you hadn't noticed, the story I'm telling is a little different. It's a little shy on the Aristotelian unities. It doesn't follow the classic Hollywood three-act structure. It's not like a five-act Shakespearean play. It's not like a Harlequin romance.
So what *is* the structure then? Fuck if I know. That's part of what's taking me so long to figure out. As far as I can tell, my story is part autobiography, part hero's journey, part epic fantasy, part travelogue, part faerie tale, part coming of age story, part romance, part mystery, part metafictional-nested-story-frame-tale-something-or-other.
I am, quite frankly, making this up as I go. If I get it right, I get something like The Name of the Wind. Something that makes all of us happy.
But if I fuck it up, I'll end up with a confusing tangled mess of a story.
Now I'm not trying to claim that I'm unique in this. That I'm some lone pioneer mapping the uncharted storylands. Other authors do it too. My point is that doing something like this takes more time that writing another shitty, predictable Lord of the Rings knockoff.
Sometimes I think it would be nice to write a that sort of book. It would be nice to be able to use those well-established structures like a sort of recipe. A map. A paint-by-numbers kit.
It would be so much easier, and quicker. But it wouldn't be a better book. And it's not really the sort of book I want to write.

Time

“You never do things the easy way, do you?" she said.
"There's an easy way?" I asked.”

Patrick Rothfuss book The Wise Man's Fear

Source: The Wise Man's Fear

Way

“Do you know what it's like to run spellcheck for six hours? It's like a party in purgatory. A party in purgatory where all they have to drink is sugar-free Kool-aid, and the only game to play is Monopoly, and none of your friends show up.”

Patrick Rothfuss
Game , Drink

“She taught me I should never do anything in private I did not want talked about in public, and cautioned me not to talk in my sleep.”

Patrick Rothfuss book The Name of the Wind

Source: The Name of the Wind

Sleep

“Do not mistake me for my mask. You see light dappling on the water and forget the deep, cold dark beneath.”

Patrick Rothfuss book The Name of the Wind

Source: The Name of the Wind

Light , Water , Forgetting

“I am no poet. I do not love words for the sake of words. I love words for what they can accomplish. Similarly, I am no arithmetician. Numbers that speak only of numbers are of little interest to me.”

Patrick Rothfuss book The Wise Man's Fear

Source: The Wise Man's Fear

Love

“Ah,' the innkeeper said. 'So you were getting ready to drink then?'
'Tiny Gods, yes,' Bast said. 'To great excess. What the hell else is there to do?”

Patrick Rothfuss book The Wise Man's Fear

Source: The Wise Man's Fear

God , Hell , Drink

“What do they do to students at the University who eavesdrop?” Bast asked curiously.
“I haven’t the slightest idea. I was never caught. I think making you sit and listen to the rest of my story should be punishment enough.”

Patrick Rothfuss book The Name of the Wind

Source: The Name of the Wind

Idea , Thinking , Universe

“Wilem tapped Simmon’s shoulder. “He’s telling the truth.”
Simmon glanced over at him. “Why do you say that?”
“He sounds more sincere than that when he lies.””

Patrick Rothfuss book The Name of the Wind

Source: The Name of the Wind (2007), Chapter 63, “Walking and Talking” (p. 468)

Truth , Sincerity

“Sometimes leaving is the only thing you can do.”

Patrick Rothfuss book The Wise Man's Fear

Source: The Wise Man's Fear

“Words cannot always do the work we need them to. Music is there for when words fail us.”

Patrick Rothfuss book The Wise Man's Fear

Source: The Wise Man's Fear

Music

“I do this so you cannot help but hear. A wise man views a moonless night with fear.”

Patrick Rothfuss book The Wise Man's Fear

Source: The Wise Man's Fear

Fear , Help , Night

“Why? Because pride is a strange thing, and because generosity deserves generosity in return. But mostly because it felt like the right thing to do, and that is reason enough.”

Patrick Rothfuss book The Name of the Wind

Source: The Name of the Wind

““Why do we stop for the greystones?”
“Tradition, my boy,” he said grandly, throwing his arms wide. “And superstition. They are one and the same, anyway.””

Patrick Rothfuss book The Name of the Wind

Source: The Name of the Wind (2007), Chapter 14, “The Name of the Wind” (p. 112)

Boy

“I mean seriously. If the book had a solid pub date, don't you think I'd mention it? Do you think I'd sit here at home, rubbing my hands together and chortling: "Yes! If I withhold this information another week, I'm sure to get another 100 e-mails asking me about the book!"
Yup. That's exactly what I'd do. Because obviously I am some sort of alien life form that lives on snarky fanmail and bitchy blog comments. Since I became stranded on your strange world years ago, they have been my only means of sustenance.”

Patrick Rothfuss

A sign of things to come… (18 February 2010) http://blog.patrickrothfuss.com/2010/02/signs-of-things-to-come/comment-page-3/
Official site

Life , Books , World , Home

“He picked the rock back up. “Do you believe that it floated?”
“No!” I sulked, rubbing my temples.
“Good. It didn’t. Never fool yourself into perceiving things that don’t exist.””

Patrick Rothfuss book The Name of the Wind

Source: The Name of the Wind (2007), Chapter 10, “Alar and Several Stones” (p. 78)

Fools