The thing should have plot and character, beginning, middle and end. Arouse pity and then have a catharsis. Those were the best principles I was ever taught.
Related quotes
That is what I define as a novel: something that has a beginning, a middle and an end, with characters and a plot that sustain interest from the first sentence to the last. But that is not what I do at all.
quote by Guillermo Cabrera Infante

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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I began to be impressed by what made a good book-how you needed to have a sensible story, a plot that developed, with a beginning, a middle, and an end that would tie everything together.
quote by Dorothy Fields

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Plot and character are virtually the same thing.
quote by Daniel Keys Moran

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Women Are Redundant
Amorous songs arouse.
Erotic scenes arouse.
Woman at sight arouse.
They are the substitutes
To the denial of sex.
Having been used to it,
Men dispense with women.
poem by Rm. Shanmugam Chettiar

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I really love the process, with stage, of rehearsal, you get to create a character, and you have a beginning, a middle, and an end of story. And in television, you don't.
quote by Sasha Alexander

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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You Alone Are The Beginning
You alone are the beginning, the middle, and the end!
You alone, you alone, Sri Hari!
You are the indivisiblebr ahman,
Who even the likes of Brahma cannot fathom
And the misled men search elsewhere!
Millions of suns and moons dwell in your moonlike face,
Where the seeking eyes of men never reach
And just like the darkness,
which loses against the effulgent blaze of the sun
'Neti! Neti! ' the Scriptures vainly preach!
You alone are the beginning, the middle, and the end!
You alone, you alone, Sri Hari!
The Lord of the Earth is the Lord of million million universes
The million million universes are like pores of his skin!
Saguna is a mere guise of Nirguna!
You can shatter the veil of Illusion, once you grasp this Mystery!
You alone are the beginning, the middle, and the end!
You alone, you alone, Sri Hari!
Yet he is not alone, he is not distinct from his creation,
Which is his all-encompassing energy!
Sri Krishna is without the beginning,
Total bliss is his nature and Radha his ravishing beloved!
You alone are the beginning, the middle, and the end!
You alone, you alone, Sri Hari!
None knows the secret of the Vedas,
And hardly few know their essence,
Like Suka, Sanak and the divine minstrel Narada
Who meditate on the Absolutebr ahman!
You alone are the beginning, the middle, and the end!
You alone, you alone, Sri Hari!
The AbsolutePur us hott ama passionately plays as his lovers plead!
And by being his girlfriend, Narsinh relishes the very nectar
The women of Vraj so delightfully revel in!
You alone are the beginning, the middle, and the end!
You alone, you alone, Sri Hari!
poem by Narsinh Mehta

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In my books, women often solve the problem. Even if the woman is not the hero, she's a strong character. She does change the plot. She'll often rescue the male character from some situation.
quote by Ken Follett

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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You asked what is the secret of a really good sketch. And it is a sketch is a small play. It's got a beginning, and a middle and an end. It should have a plot; it should have the characters, conflict. It is a little play. And in it, will be funny stuff.
quote by Harvey Korman

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Now of first principles we see some by induction, some by perception, some by a certain habituation, and others too in other ways. But each set of principles we must try to investigate in the natural way, and we must take pains to state them definitely, since they have a great influence on what follows. For the beginning is thought to be more than half of the whole, and many of the questions we ask are cleared up by it.
Aristotle in Nicomachean Ethics, translated by William David Ross

Submitted by Dan Costinaş
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My key interest in choosing scripts is character-driven stories, because there are so many stories that sacrifice character for plot.
quote by Lasse Hallstrom

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Its easy to have principles when you're rich. The important thing is to have principles when you're poor.
Pity, pity, pity
Look at to the unwanted child
Look at to the divorced wife
Look at to the homeless man
What people do other than saying
“Pity, pity, pity”
Look at to the tragic hero
Look at to the sympathized villain
Look at to the clueless victim
What witnesses do other than staring
“Pity, pity, pity”
Look at to the crazy dreamer
Look at to the unlucky gambler
Look at to the stubborn fighter
What friends do other than whispering
“Pity, pity, pity”
Look at to the withering flower
Look at to the starving animal
Look at to the extinct nature
What human do other than howling
“Pity, pity, pity”
Look at to the empty spaces
Look at to the blank faces
Look at to the lost traces
What devils do other than laughing
“Pity, pity, pity”
poem by Maria Sudibyo

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I better make the plot good. I wanted to make it grip people on the first page and have a big turning point in the middle, as there is, and construct the whole thing like a roller coaster ride.
quote by Mark Haddon

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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That Pity B-Gone!
Let that pity b-gone!
No more from me you get pity.
That pity b-gone!
You indulged and had to rid of it.
That pity b-gone.
And also going are those benefits.
If you carry on...
Like you can't handle it!
Let that pity b-gone!
No more from me you get pity.
That pity b-gone!
You indulged and had to rid of it.
That pity b-gone.
And also going are those benefits.
If you carry on...
Like you can't handle it!
We knew that pity had to split!
B-gone.
We knew that our hearts would split, and soon...
B-gone.
If we let that pity sit,
Between us....
Both of us would have a fit.
If we let that pity sit,
Both of us would have a fit.
If we let that pity sit...
Between us!
And...
You'd believe,
That I could never love you.
To leave me feeling sorry,
And blue.
But...
I would know,
How deep inside my love goes.
And protecting what I love,
Before it overflows.
Let that pity b-gone!
No more from me you get pity.
That pity b-gone!
You indulged and had to rid of it.
That pity b-gone.
And also going are those benefits.
If you carry on...
Like you can't handle it!
So...
No more from me you get pity.
That pity b-gone!
You indulged and had to rid of it.
That pity b-gone.
And maybe not so much the benefits.
Since I would miss too much your many moods.
That pity b-gone.
No more from me you get pity.
That pity b-gone!
You indulged and had to rid of it.
That pity b-gone.
No more from me you get pity.
That pity b-gone!
You indulged and had to rid of it.
That pity b-gone.
No more from me you get pity.
That pity b-gone!
You indulged and had to rid of it.
That pity b-gone.
No more from me you get pity.
That pity b-gone!
You indulged and had to rid of it.
That pity b-gone!
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar

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While the broad principles of democracy are universal, the fact remains that their application varies considerably … We are at the beginning of the road, at the very beginning. We still have a long way to go.
quote by Boutros Boutros-Ghali

Submitted by Veronica Serbanoiu
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Boss
(Nickolas Ashford/Valerie Simpson)
Fancy me
Thought I had my degree
In life and how love
Ought to be a run
I had a one step plan to prove it
Guide in my pocket for fools
Folly and fun
Love had to show me one thing
I was so right
So right
Thought I could turn emotion
On and off
I was so sure
So sure (I was so sure)
But love taught me
Who was who was who was the boss
(Taught me who was who was the boss)
I'd defy
Anyone who claimed that I
Didn't control whatever moved in my soul
I could tempt
Touch delight
Just because you fell for me
Why should I feel uptight
Love had to show me one thing:
I was so right
So right
Thought I could turn emotion
On and off
I was so sure
So sure (I was so sure)
But love taught me
Who was who was who was the boss
(Taught me who was who was the boss)
Love taught me
Taught me
Taught me
Taught me
I was so right
So right
Thought I could turn emotion
On and off
I was so sure
So sure (I was so sure)
But love taught me
Who was who was who was the boss
(Taught me who was who was the boss)
song performed by by Diana Ross

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Boss
(nickolas ashford/valerie simpson)
Fancy me
Thought I had my degree
In life and how love
Ought to be a run
I had a one step plan to prove it
Guide in my pocket for fools
Folly and fun
Love had to show me one thing
I was so right
So right
Thought I could turn emotion
On and off
I was so sure
So sure (I was so sure)
But love taught me
Who was who was who was the boss
(taught me who was who was the boss)
Id defy
Anyone who claimed that i
Didnt control whatever moved in my soul
I could tempt
Touch delight
Just because you fell for me
Why should I feel uptight
Love had to show me one thing:
I was so right
So right
Thought I could turn emotion
On and off
I was so sure
So sure (I was so sure)
But love taught me
Who was who was who was the boss
(taught me who was who was the boss)
Love taught me
Taught me
Taught me
Taught me
I was so right
So right
Thought I could turn emotion
On and off
I was so sure
So sure (I was so sure)
But love taught me
Who was who was who was the boss
(taught me who was who was the boss)
song performed by by Diana Ross

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Beginning and The End
The beginning and the end
Every moment the beginning and the end
Every breath the beginning and the end
Every thought the beginning end the end
Every feeling the beginning and the end
Every choice the beginning and the end
Every action he beginning and the end
Every breath the beginning and the end
The beginning and the end
Always together the beginning and the end
Nothing separates the beginning and the end
It is all one the beginning and the end
poem by Maria Manias

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Specifically, we talked about making the character of the prince not so charming, at least in the beginning, and I'm playing around with the preconceptions attached to a character. That's really what intrigued me as well because I thought it would be fun to do it.
quote by Hugh Dancy

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Beginning, Middle And An End
Every story has
a beginning, middle and an end,
but don't ask me where I am
because I won't know until I die.
Some live poor, begging food everyday,
others live rich, as rich as Rockefeller.
Others live as gangsters just like Al Capone.
While others live as lawmen, Sherlock is the name
I live my life with stories
that flow from my pen
and everyone I write has
a beginning, middle and an end.
21 February 2012
poem by David Harris

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