L. Sprague de Camp famous quotes

Last updated: Sep 5, 2024

In writing a series of stories about the same characters, plan the whole series in advance in some detail, to avoid contradictions and inconsistencies.
-- L. Sprague de Camp

#Character #Writing #Details
The story of civilization is, in a sense, the story of engineering-that long and arduous struggle to make the forces of nature work for man's good.
-- L. Sprague de Camp

#Struggle #Men #Engineering
There is no mistaking the dismay on the face of a writer who has just heard that his brain child is a deformed idiot.
-- L. Sprague de Camp

#Children #Writing #Brain
It does not pay a prophet to be too specific.
-- L. Sprague de Camp

#Doe #Pay #Prophet
Speech sounds can be analyzed into fundamental units called phonemes; these move around like protozoa in a drop of water, and, like protozoa, join together and split up.
-- L. Sprague de Camp

#Moving #Water #Together
Therefore, no matter how the world makes out in the next few centuries, a large class of readers at least will not be too surprised at anything. They will have been through it all before in fictional form, and will not be too paralyzed with astonishment to try to cope with contingencies as they arise.
-- L. Sprague de Camp

#Class #Trying #World

Is it a particularly British trait to so utterly adore truly appalling men, from Tony Hancock through to Steptoe and Alf Garnett, Captain Mainwaring, Rigsby, Del Boy, Victor Meldrew and on to David Brent from The Office. The most deeply adored characters are all simply vile.
The fighter (like the writer) must stand alone. If he loses he cannot call an executive conference and throw off on a vice president or the assistant sales manager. He is consequently resented by fractional characters who cannot live outside an organization.
A good character today is shaped by greatness, greatness in vision, greatness in courage, greatness in insight, greatness in purpose and devotion.
Mammootty sir is an idol for me.. His uniqueness in developing characters is quite amazing
What is the subject matter of this apparently very personal world? It has been suggested that these shapes and images are underworld characters, the inhabitants of the vast common realm of memories that have gone down below the level of conscious control. It may be they are. The degree of emotional involvement and the amount of free association with the material being photographed would point in that direction.
Back in the days when American billboard advertising was in flower [said Hemingway], there were two slogans that I always rated above all others: the old Cremo Cigar ad that proclaimed, Spit Is a Horrid Word-but Worse on the end of Your Cigar, and Drink Schlitz in Brown Bottles and Avoid that Skunk Taste. You don't get creative writing like that any more.
It came about as follows: over the years when I was involved in dianetics, I wrote the beginnings of many stories. I would get an idea, and then write the beginning, and then never touch it again.
The only way to write is well and how you do it is your own damn business.
Once you get the right image the details aren't that important.
We see what we see because we miss all the finer details.

L. Sprague de Camp famous quotes

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