All the writing elements are the same. You need to tell a good story... You've got good characters... People think there's some dramatic difference between writing 'Little Bear' and the 'Hunger Games,' and as a writer, for me, there isn't.
Interpretation
Storytelling relies on fundamental elements regardless of the genre or audience.
In this quote, Suzanne Collins emphasizes that the core components of storytelling—such as character development and plot structure—are consistent across different works, regardless of their commercial success or literary classification. She suggests that the art of writing remains fundamentally the same, whether crafting stories for children or writing a thrilling dystopian saga like 'The Hunger Games,' underscoring the universality of good storytelling.
In practice
During a workshop, a speaker could use this quote to illustrate the importance of universal storytelling elements.
But Mockingjays were never a weapon," said Madge. "They’re just songbirds. Right?" "Yeah, I guess so,” I said, But it’s not true. A mockingbird is just a songbird. A mockingjay is a creature the capitol never intended to exist. They hadn’t counted on the highly controlled jabberjay having the brains to adapt to the wild, to thrive in a new form. They hadn’t anticipated its will to live.
Okay, listen to me, you're stronger than they are. You are. They just want a good show, that's all they want. You know how to hunt. Show them how good you are.
You're still trying to protect me. Real or not real," he whispers. "Real," I answer. "Because that's what you and I do, protect each other.
The ones I loved fly as birds in the open sky above me. Soaring, weaving, calling to me to join them. I want so badly to follow them, but the seawater saturates my wings, making it impossible to lift them. The ones I hated have taken to the water, horrible scaled things that tear my salty flesh with needle teeth. Biting again and again. Dragging me beneath the surface.
My time in the arena made me realize how I needed to stop punishing [my mother] for something she couldn't help, specifically the crushing depression she fell into after my father's death. Because sometimes things happen to people and they're not equipped to deal with them.
Fire is catching! And if we burn, you burn with us!
Let your fiction grow out of the land beneath your feet.
I just want to go on making movies, and some of them will be completely meaningless, except, of course, to me.
It is not hard to compose, but what is fabulously hard is to leave the superfluous notes under the table.
If you write interesting roles, you get interesting people to play them. If you write roles that are full of nuance and contradiction and have interesting dialog, actors are drawn to that.
Real fashion change comes from real changes in real life. Everything else is just decoration.
I think jazz is actually quite unforgiving in its disdain for nostalgia. It demands creativity and change at its highest level.
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