QuoteProject
You have to know human behaviour … And the quality of your writing is absolutely capped at your understanding of human behaviour. You’ll never write above what you know about people.
Tony Gilroy
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Understanding human behavior is crucial for effective writing.

This quote emphasizes the importance of a writer's knowledge and understanding of human behavior as a fundamental aspect of crafting compelling narratives. Tony Gilroy suggests that the depth and quality of one's writing are inherently limited by the writer's grasp of the complexities of human nature, implying that great storytelling is rooted in genuine insight into people and their motivations.

Themes

WritingHuman BehaviorUnderstandingStorytellingCharacters

In practice

Example use cases

During a writing workshop, I shared this quote to highlight the connection between character development and understanding human behavior.

Similar quotes

Oh! I am delighted with the book! I should like to spend my whole life in reading it.
Jane AustenRead
Digressions incontestably are the sunshine; they are the life, the soul of reading.
Laurence SterneRead
Semi-colons only prove that the author has been to college.
E. B. WhiteRead
Coaching is the great passion of my life, and the job to me has always been an opportunity to work with our student athletes and help them discover what they want.
Pat SummittRead
I listened more than I studied... therefore little by little my knowledge and ability were developed.
Joseph HaydnRead
Let the reader find that he cannot afford to omit any line of your writing because you you have omitted every word that he can spare.
Ralph Waldo EmersonRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.