Advice Quotes

Quitting is difficult. Quitting requires you to acknowledge that you’re never going to be #1 in the world. At least not at this. So it’s easier just to put it off, not admit it, settle for mediocre. What a waste.

Not enough gets said about the importance of abandoning crap.

What was it Nietzsche said? That which does not kill us makes us... well, depressed.

I’m not very comfortable giving advice to other writers. Writing just doesn’t come easy for me. Actually, it’s pretty much constant FAILURE.

You may have a set, a setting, world, or a physical comedy opportunity that will open up and enliven your movie. Annie Hall takes place in a fairly mundane urban world, but it’s packed with sight gags, from the cocaine sneeze to the errant lobsters, and inventive visual ideas, from split screen to animation. Make sure your script makes use of all the cinematic storytelling techniques a good movie-movie uses.

So much of good comedy comes out of strong, vivid character ideas. Creating two unique characters an audience will fall in love with and need to see united is the most important key to your screenplay’s success. All great characters have purpose and credibility, are empathic and complex.

Never despise small beginnings, and don’t belittle your own accomplishments. Remember them and use them as inspiration as you go on to the next thing. When you venture outside your comfort zone, wherever the starting point may be, it’s kind of a big deal.

Addiction is a tunnel that wakes you up in the middle of the night.
Everything else happens out here in the light.

This is a highly recommended practice: invite the dead to your home from time to time, offer them a coffee and a cake, engage yourself in a good conversation with the dead, and then tell them to go away - don't let them stay in my house. Drop by from time to time. That's the proper relationship between the living and the dead.

When you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.

The world isn't interested in the storms you encountered, but whether or not you brought in the ship.

Change is the only Constant.

Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you.

Usually, if you do your own books you lose money. You need to build up your reputation first.

You can do it from anywhere, because all you're doing is writing a book and hitting a button. Geography is history now, it doesn't matter where you stay.

If you're good, you will be sought out by publishers. You only need to take a look around to see that the best stuff is being picked up.

Does digital media save us any costs? The costs are the same as a paper costs, but the money is going to different distributors. At the moment, it's not the yellow brick road, but I think a couple of years down the line it'll be a great way of bringing in casual readers to comics. At the moment, I'm cautiously optimistic about it.

All it takes is one idea - the right idea - to change everything.

If you're self-publishing, keep it as cheap as you can. Pricepoint: cheap. That's the best advice I can give.

To offer a man unsolicited advice is to presume that he doesn't know what to do or that he can't do it on his own.