“There is a part of me in every character, naturally. That's why novelists rarely write good autobiographies. You start one and it becomes another novel - bound to.”

— John Dos Passos

"An Interview with Mr. John Dos Passos," New York Times, Nov 23 1941

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John Dos Passos 25

novelist, playwright, poet, journalist, painter 1896–1970

Rosamunde Pilcher book The Shell Seekers

Source: The Shell Seekers

“Most first novels are disguised autobiographies. This autobiography is a disguised novel.”

Clive James (1939–2019) Australian author, critic, broadcaster, poet, translator and memoirist

Opening lines to the preface, p. 9
Memoirs, Unreliable Memoirs (1980)

“A good novelist does not lead his characters, he follows them. A good novelist does not create events, he watches them happen and then writes down what he sees.”

Stephen King book Finders Keepers

Source: Finders Keepers

“You don't start out writing good stuff. You start out writing crap and thinking it's good stuff, and then gradually you get better at it.
That's why I say one of the most valuable traits is persistence.”

Octavia E. Butler (1947–2006) American science fiction writer

“A good novel is one that shows the complexity of individuals, and creates enough space for all these characters to have a voice; in this way a novel is called democratic — not that it advocates democracy but that by nature it is so.”

Azar Nafisi book Reading Lolita in Tehran

Reading Lolita in Tehran (2003)

“Every artist writes his own autobiography.”

H. Havelock Ellis (1859–1939) British physician, writer, and social reformer

The New Spirit

“In literature you don't just read one poem or novel after another, but enter into a complete world of which every work of literature forms part.”

Northrop Frye (1912–1991) Canadian literary critic and literary theorist

"Quotes", The Educated Imagination (1963), Talk 3: Giants in Time
Context: In literature you don't just read one poem or novel after another, but enter into a complete world of which every work of literature forms part. This affects the writer as much as it does the reader.

“I was heavily influenced by my first attempt at a novel. I started a fantasy novel back in high school, and…. well… it really sucked. It was a plotless, clichéd mess. When I sat down to write this book, I wanted to make something much, much better. I wanted to write something that was pretty much the opposite of that first novel.
Also, I read Cyrano De Bergerac, right before I started writing the book. Cyrano's character reminded me of some important things, namely, what it really means to be a tragic hero. You don't need a lot of the cliché fantasy trappings to have that cool character.
I also read Giacomo Casanova's memoirs soon after starting this project. That opened my eyes to how interesting an autobiography could be, provided the person telling it has a way with words and has lived a sufficiently adventurous life….”

Patrick Rothfuss (1973) American fantasy writer

Interview with Fantasy Book Critic (25 May 2007) http://fantasybookcritic.blogspot.com/2007/03/interview-with-patrick-rothfuss.html

“Except for the people who were there that one day they discovered the polio vaccine, being part of history is rarely a good idea. History is one war after another with a bunch of murders and natural disasters in between.”

Sarah Vowell book Assassination Vacation

Source: Assassination Vacation (2005), p. 208

“When you’re playing someone, I feel the character taking over me, but I am also influencing the character. Becoming embodied in the character on set is, what I think, makes a really powerful actor. If the character is good enough in a script, it really affects you. This is why I try and become the character for one or two weeks.”

Solomon B Taiwo (1990) English actor and author

Impact interview (2020)

“There is a part of me in every character, naturally. That's why novelists rarely write good autobiographies. You start one and it becomes another novel - bound to.”

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