Len Wein famous quotes

A true friend is someone who is there for you when he'd rather be anywhere else.
-- Len Wein

#Friendship #Best Friend #Patience

Art is always in the eyes of the beholder. Only posterity has the right to point out our mistakes.
-- Len Wein

#Art #Mistake #Eye

When I'm my own editor, there's very little difference between the first draft and the final. I write what feels right to begin with. I rarely make any major changes.
-- Len Wein

#Writing #Differences #Editors

It all depends on which side of the desk you're sitting on.
-- Len Wein

#Office #Lenses #Sitting

People who were more concerned with themselves and looking good to their readers then they were with the characters sacrificed a series for the sake of a story.
-- Len Wein

#Character #People #Sake

Never be embarrassed by the things you cannot do. Be embarrassed by the things you can do and don't do well.
-- Len Wein

#Embarrassed #Wells

What makes a story is how well it manages to connect with the reader, the visceral effect it has.
-- Len Wein

#Lenses #Stories #Visceral

Unfortunately, there are writers whose only concern is how good they could make themselves look on a title.
-- Len Wein

#Titles #Lenses #Looks

The bottom line always remains the same: What is the basic humanity of the character? How do I make them resonate with the reader?
-- Len Wein

#Character #Humanity #Lenses

Lord of the Rings, I think, is far and away the most brilliantly done stuff.
-- Len Wein

#Thinking #Lenses #Done

When someone writes to tell me something I've written made them laugh or cry, I've done my job and done it well. The rest is all semantics.
-- Len Wein

#Jobs #Writing #Laughing

In general, shorter is better. If you can encapsulate your idea into a single captivating sentence, you're halfway home.
-- Len Wein

#Home #Ideas #Lenses

If a story isn't working, I'm simply unable to finish it. That's what usually tells me something is wrong.
-- Len Wein

#Lenses #Stories

I try to find what makes even the worst, most despicable character sympathetic at his or her core.
-- Len Wein

#Character #Trying #Lenses

I was a very sickly kid. While I was in the hospital at age 7, my Dad brought me a stack of comic books to keep me occupied. I was hooked.
-- Len Wein

#Dad #Book #Kids

I'm a neurotic New York Jew by birth. Creating characters is second nature to me.
-- Len Wein

#Nature #New York #Character

I've had editors over the years who couldn't find a clue if it was stapled to their butt.
-- Len Wein

#Years #Editors #Clue

I've never sat down and thought about the difference between plot and theme. To me, that's never been important.
-- Len Wein

#Differences #Important #Lenses

You can read a dozen different textbooks or how-to manuals that will tell you the basic rules of what makes a story - a beginning, a middle, and an end.
-- Len Wein

#Different #Lenses #Textbooks

I realized the only thing I owed my audience was my own judgment and my own best effort.
-- Len Wein

#Effort #Lenses #Judgment

Were there stories I wrote along the way that were terrible clinkers? God, yes. But they were all a product of their time, and I did the best I could.
-- Len Wein

#Lenses #Stories #Way

These days, it seems that if you're not already in place, you can't get there from here.
-- Len Wein

#Lenses #These Days

When I got my first glimpse of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, my breath caught. In that single instant, he was Wolverine.
-- Len Wein

#Glimpse #Lenses #Firsts

In these litigious times, if you're a beginner, it's becoming harder and harder to get your work to the people who might actually be able to hire you.
-- Len Wein

#People #Beginners #Lenses

I would like immortality.
-- Len Wein

#Lenses #Immortality

I try not to violate what came before me and to leave lots of wiggle room for those who will follow.
-- Len Wein

#Trying #Lenses #Rooms

I always wanted to fire rays out of my fingertips.
-- Len Wein

#Fire #Rays #Lenses

I became an art major, took every art class my school had to offer. In college, I majored in Advertising Art and Design.
-- Len Wein

#Art #School #College

A writer writes. Period. No matter if someone is buying your work or not.
-- Len Wein

#Writing #Lenses #Matter

I think there's something inherently dishonest in trying to go back and mess with the past.
-- Len Wein

#Past #Thinking #Trying

I hate the crazy, neurotic characters beyond a certain point.
-- Len Wein

#Hate #Crazy #Character

It's all about who's where on the food chain. When I'm the story editor, I expect my writers to follow my vision. When I'm working for another editor, I'm obliged to follow their vision.
-- Len Wein

#Editors #Vision #Stories

Sometimes you're not even sure which of your stories were failures. There are things I've written that I thought were complete catastrophes when I finished with them that have gone on to generate some of my most positive feedback.
-- Len Wein

#Lenses #Gone #Stories

The most unrealistic thing I've ever read in comics is when some group of characters calls themselves the Brotherhood of Evil or the Masters of Evil. I don't believe any character believes their goals to be truly evil.
-- Len Wein

#Believe #Character #Evil

There is an ancient legend which warns that, should we ever learn our true origin, our universe will instantly be destroyed.
-- Len Wein

#Lenses #Legends #Ancient

I had never really thought of myself as a writer; any writing I had done was just to give myself something to draw.
-- Len Wein

#Giving Up #Writing #Done

I was a very sickly kid. While I was in the hospital at age seven, my Dad brought me a stack of comic books to keep me occupied. And I was hooked. When my eighth grade art teacher, Mr. Smedley, told me he thought I had actual art talent, I decided to devote all my efforts in that direction in the hope that I might someday get into the comics biz. I became an art major, took every art class my school had to offer. In college, I majored in Advertising Art and Design.
-- Len Wein

#Teacher #Art #Dad

I think every time you take a female character, a black character, a Hispanic character, a gay character, and make that the point of the character, you are minimalizing the character,
-- Len Wein

#Character #Gay #Thinking

I've always thought of myself as an organic writer, rather than a cerebral one. I feel my way along as I go, hoping I'll get to the place I intend to reach.
-- Len Wein

#Lenses #Way #My Way