I'm not doing anything, and yet I'm also doing the most important thing a man can do: I'm listening to what I needed to hear from myself.
Paulo CoelhoRead
What counts in a good story is the person inside. Keep it simple.
Interpretation
The essence of a good story lies in its characters rather than complex plotlines.
Paulo Coelho emphasizes that the true value of a story comes from the depth and authenticity of its characters rather than from intricate plots or elaborate storytelling techniques. By advocating for simplicity, he suggests that relatable and well-developed characters are essential in engaging the audience and conveying the story's message effectively.
In practice
During a writing workshop, I shared Coelho's quote to inspire writers to focus on character development.
I'm not doing anything, and yet I'm also doing the most important thing a man can do: I'm listening to what I needed to hear from myself.
Each stone, each bend cries welcome to him. He identifies with the mountains and the streams, he sees something of his own soul in the plants and the animals and the birds of the field.
We need to clear our minds of bad thoughts.
Having the courage to take the steps we always wanted to take is the only way of showing that we trust in God.
The fool who loves giving advice on our garden never tends his own plants
Sometimes the Warrior feels as if he were living two lives at once.
The impulse to write things down is a peculiarly compulsive one, inexplicable to those who do not share it, useful only accidentally, only secondarily, in the way that any compulsion tries to justify itself. I suppose that it begins or does not begin in the cradle.
In order to acquire a growing and lasting respect in society, it is a good thing, if you possess great talent, to give, early in your youth, a very hard kick to the right shin of the society that you love. After that, be a snob.
How many shows on TV do you see young black people, both women and men, really embody a full-fledged human being, flaws and all?
β¦I go through a story for lies. I might discover the lie of trying to show off. Sometimes theyβre lies of character. Sometimes they are lies of writing the most beautiful sentence in the world that has nothing to do with the story.
I'd say, if you want to be an artist, start with your art; start with making great music and it will, hopefully, eventually cut through all of the nonsense that is out there.
If the composer withholds more than we anticipate, we experience a delicious falling sensation; we feel we have been torn from a stable point on the musical ladder and thrust into the void.
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