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.
Interpretation
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.
In practice
During a writing workshop, I shared this quote to highlight the connection between character development and understanding human behavior.
I know what I should love to do - to build a study; to write, and to think of nothing else. I want to bury myself in a den of books. I want to saturate myself with the elements of which they are made, and breathe their atmosphere until I am of it. Not a bookworm, being which is to give off no utterances; but a man in the world of writing - one with a pen that shall stop men to listen to it, whether they wish to or not.
If you care about being thought credible and intelligent, do not use complex language where simpler language will do.
History can come in handy. If you were born yesterday, with no knowledge of the past, you might easily accept whatever the government tells you. But knowing a bit of history--while it would not absolutely prove the government was lying in a given instance--might make you skeptical, lead you to ask questions, make it more likely that you would find out the truth.
Above all, those to whom the care of young minds has been entrusted should see to it that they respect both the smallest and largest animals as beings which, like people, have been summoned to the joy of life.
From a cognitive standpoint, I'm very aware that you have no room for error in a picture book. Every word counts.
The life of an uneducated man is as useless as the tail of a dog which neither covers its rear end, nor protects it from the bites of insects.
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