Philip Gerard Quotes

Storytelling is the art of unfolding knowledge in a way that makes each piece contribute to a larger truth.

Voice really depends on the answer to the question, Who is telling this story? . . . That will color your diction-and determine your metaphors, your sensibility.

You have to roll up your sleeves and be a stonecutter before you can become a sculptor - command of craft always precedes art: apprentice, journeyman, master.

The simplest tool of the writer is repetition. . . . The simplest tool of the writer is repetition.

You will not read voice on the page; you will hear it in your head.

It's not enough simply to record the way people actually talk. The dialogue must be concentrated, shaped, dramatically moving, in a way that real-life conversation seldom is.

We create an interior 'movie' in the reader's head through words on the page.

For the big stuff to work credibly, you've got to get the little stuff absolutely right.

The only way to write a novel is to proceed as if you had all the time in the world.

It takes some strength to fight. It takes greater strength to choose not to fight.