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Character is that quality of mind which makes truth-telling instinctive rather than strange.

I think all characters are facets of the writer. In a way, they have to be if you're going to write them convincingly.

I try to trace the connection between the characters and that way a story or plot emerges.

Characters are often revealed by the ways they misapprehend others.

One of the ways that you reveal character is by getting a character into a situation and seeing what they do.

The characters I write about are very internal.

You and the character just become the same person in a way. There isn't really a character; it's just you creating this illusion.

If I'm not clear with the character, I can't do anything with it. But once I get that character, the possibilities are endless. When you have such a defined character, I feel like I can actually read the phone book and make it funny.

Whichever character I'm using and wherever I am in my mind dictates what kind of story I'm going to tell.

Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.