American - Writer | September 11, 1957 -
You can't write just anything. Your story needs structure.
James McBride
StoryYouWriteStructureAnything
When you tell them you're a writer, they say, 'What have you written?' And then you've got to tell them what you've done. I don't ask a plumber what he does. Then I have to explain what I've done, and I haven't really, you know. I've just told some stories.
YouKnowDoneSayAskThey Say
I don't like a bunch of writers sitting around, puffing smoke, they like this book, he wrote this - tell me a dirty joke, you know. It's just not my style, I've never been that kind of person.
StyleMeBookYouSmokePerson
I can't be a creative person if I'm a celebrity.
CreativePersonCelebrity
I love the language of, you know, the old black country man with a blues guitar and... boots and the quick banter.
LoveManBlackGuitarLanguageYou
If you meet your heroes, you're always going to be disappointed. Frederick Douglass was a great man, but would I want my daughter to marry him? Probably not. That doesn't mean that I don't think he's a great man.
DaughterGreatManThinkGreat Man
James Brown was the Monday-to-Friday guy. He was the hardest man in show business. He was like your dad and your uncle: He showed up, and he hit hard.
BusinessManUncleHardUpGuy
James Brown's music still sounds as fresh and as good and as new as it did when he first created it.
GoodMusicNewFirstFreshBrown
A band is not a democracy: It's show business.
BusinessDemocracyBandShow Business
Writing teaches writing.
WritingTeaches
If you can whistle the melody, then the song will stick. But if you need a bunch of machines to make it sound good, you're probably not writing anything that's going to last a long time.
GoodTimeWritingSongLongYou
My main problem with fiction is that once my characters get moving, you just have to follow them along and get out of the way of the story, but sometimes they pull me in too many directions, and I need to focus.
FocusMeMovingStoryProblemYou
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