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

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I always start with characters rather than with a plot, which many critics would say is very obvious from the lack of plot in my films - although I think they do have plots - but the plot is not of primary importance to me, the characters are.
quote by Jim Jarmusch

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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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There Is Nothing Here to Keep You
There is nothing here to keep you.
Nothing I do to sustain your interest.
In the beginning it was new.
But now you are familiar.
And accustomed to it too.
There is nothing here to keep you.
There is nothing here to keep you.
And I know that's true!
Since now what is done,
Seems to agitate you before I am through.
And I remember impressing you,
With the little things I use to do.
But there is nothing here to keep you.
Have we spent too many yesterdays together?
Too many Sunsets and far too few dawns.
Have I slept through the process,
Of trying to do my best.
And all you wanted from me,
Was a shoulder to lean on.
And I was unaware...
Thinking of myself with you there but uncaring?
Is that the reason why you would sometimes stare?
There is nothing here to keep you.
Nothing I do to sustain your interest.
In the beginning it was new.
But now you are familiar.
And accustomed to it too.
There is nothing here to keep you.
There is nothing here to keep you.
And I know that's true!
Since now what is done,
Seems to agitate you before I am through.
And I remember impressing you,
With the little things I use to do.
But there is nothing here to keep you.
And even if I could...
You would still think I thought it was all about me!
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar

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My books are primarily plot driven but the best plot in the world is useless if you don't populate them with characters that readers can care about.
quote by Jeffery Deaver

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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.
Love Is A Crime
Oooh Yeah
Chicago
If love is a crime baby
I'd do my time
Whether it's wrong or right
You can sentence me to life
If love is a crime baby
I'd do my time
Whether it's wrong or right
You can sentence me
Sentence me to life
Some might say I'm guilty of loving the first degree
If the jury wants to lock me up and throw away the key
There's no greater punishment than what I face inside
Won't tamper with the evidence cause there's nothing to hide
(He lives inside my heart)
(I'm in the middle too)
I'm in the middle too
(You never had a clue)
Unless you felt it too
(If love is a crime) baby
I'd do my time
(Whether it's wrong or right)
(You can) sentence me
Sentence me to life
(If love is a crime) baby
I'd do my time
(Whether it's wrong or right)
You can sentence me
Sentence me to life
Better tell the truth, just let me plead my case
The thief who stole my heart from me I couldn't let escape
He's my only alibi, but I won't drop a dime
So how can I give up to you, my partner in crime
(He lives inside) my heart
(I'm in the middle too)
Ooh yeah yeah
(You never had a clue)
Unless you felt it too
(If love is a crime) baby
I'd do my time
Whether it's wrong or right
You can sentence me
Sentence me to life
(If love is a crime) baby
I'd do my time
Whether it's wrong or right
You can sentence me
(Sentence me to life)
You can take away my freedom
But you can't take my love from me
I won't die a lonely prisoner
'Cause my heart will set me free
Oooh ooh yeah
Whooh!
Chicago
-acapo
song performed by by Anastacia

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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

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Essentially and most simply put, plot is what the characters do to deal with the situation they are in. It is a logical sequence of events that grow from an initial incident that alters the status quo of the characters.
quote by Elizabeth George

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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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Define insanity, define me
'A spectrum of behaviours characterised by
certain abnormal mental or behavioural patterns
that may manifest as violation of societal norms
including becoming a danger to themselves and others or
nowadays denoting mental instability'
Hey! wiki define abnormal, because I don't understand
Tell me who decides societal norms, cause I didn't contribute to them
Let me be dangerous, let me be myself
The stability of whom should I look at?
Define love, define pain, define sufferance
define mercy, define justice, define tolerance
define passion, define sex, define complexity
define insanity, please define me
Take me out of this dream, I can't catch the reality
lead me through this wet fog, guide me home
all my senses are enhanced when
I'm abandoned to your memory
Borderline attitude of being nervous, occasionally anguished
a stormy spirit supposedly calm, a balance quite disturbed
people are arrogant with strange guys
people are scared about non-linear minds
are you among them?
Define love, define pain, define sufferance
define mercy, define justice, define tolerance
define passion, define sex, define complexity
define insanity, please define me
poem by Ilaria Boffa

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We Will All Die In The Middle
WE WILL ALL DIE IN THE MIDDLE
We will all die in the middle
Never knowing how it will continue-
And all of us will forever be
One small interval
In an expanding mystery
We do not know how to finally define.
poem by Shalom Freedman

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I try to trace the connection between the characters and that way a story or plot emerges.
quote by Anita Desai

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His genius he was quite content in one brief sentence to define; Of inspiration one percent, of perspiration, ninety nine.
quote by Thomas A. Edison

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So I work hard to present the human side of my characters while not neglecting the plot.
quote by Jeffery Deaver

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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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And I've been acting for 39 years, so I define characters differently than I did in say Miami Vice.
quote by Edward James Olmos

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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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No student of history can fail to see the moral interest of the Middle Ages, any more than an artist can fail to see their aesthetic interest.
quote by Goldwin Smith

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The history of all the great characters of the Bible is summed up in this one sentence: They acquainted themselves with God, and acquiesced His will in all things.
quote by Richard Cecil

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I plot the first 5 or 6 chapters quite minutely, and also the end. So I know where I am going but not how I'm going to get there, which gives characters the chance to develop organically, as happens in real life as you get to know a person.
quote by Joanna Trollope

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