What does it feel like to be a parent? What does it feel like to be a child? And that's what stories do. They bring you there. They offer a dramatic explanation, which is always different from an expository explanation. Richard Russo bringchilddramatic share on social
You just kind of have faith. If that sounds kind of mystical, it's because I really don't know how it works, but I trust that it does. I try to write the way I read, in order to find out what happens next. Richard Russo faithfindkind share on social
At the risk of appearing disingenuous, I don't really think of myself as 'writing humor.' I'm simply reporting on the world I observe, which is frequently hilarious. Richard Russo appeardisingenuousfrequently Change image and share on social
When authors who write literary fiction begin to write screenplays, everybody assumes that's the end. Here's another who's never going to write well again. Richard Russo assumeauthorbegin Change image and share on social
The deepest failures any fiction writer is likely to have are failures of not quite comprehending the truth of the story that he or she is telling. Richard Russo comprehenddeepfailure Change image and share on social
I have to have a character worth caring about. I tend not to start writing books about people I don't have a lot of sympathy for because I'm just going to be with them too long. Richard Russo bookcarecharacter Change image and share on social
I was pretty dead set against ever writing an academic novel. It's always been my view that there are already more than enough academic novels and that most of them aren't any good. Most of them are self-conscious and bitter, the work of people who want to settle grudges. Richard Russo academicbitterconscious share on social
I think that if people are instructed about anything, it should be about the nature of cruelty. And about why people behave so cruelly to each other. And what kind of satisfactions they derive from it. And why there is always a cost, and a price to be paid. Richard Russo behavecostcruelly share on social
A lot of my characters in all of my books have a self-destructive urge. They'll do precisely the thing that they know is wrong, take a perverse delight in doing the wrong thing. Richard Russo bookcharacterdelight Change image and share on social
If my career continues along its current arc, people will probably look at me and see a writer who is obsessed with the relationship between rich and poor and with how the rich somehow or other always manage to betray the poor, even when they don't mean to. Richard Russo arcbetraycareer share on social
