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You have to be a bit of a liar to tell a story the right way.

Patrick Rothfuss

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Patrick Rothfuss
Age: 51
Born: 1973
Born: June 6
Novelist
Teacher
Writer
Madison
Wisconsin
Patrick James Rothfuss
Right
Way
Liar
Liars
Bits
Story
Tell
Stories

More quotes by Patrick Rothfuss

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Don't get me wrong, magic is cool. But a nervous mother singing to her child at night while something moves quietly through the dark outside her house? That's a story. Handled properly, it's more dramatic than any apocalypse or goblin army could ever be.
Patrick Rothfuss
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The desire for knowledge shapes a man.
Patrick Rothfuss
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It's easier to write about heartbreak after you've had your heart broken. You have more material to draw from, you can extrapolate from your own experiences and make reasonable assumptions about how your characters would feel and act.
Patrick Rothfuss
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That is how heavy a secret can become. It can make blood flow easier than ink.
Patrick Rothfuss
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When you love something, you have to make sure it loves you back, or you'll bring about no end of trouble chasing it.
Patrick Rothfuss
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Auri, I asked slowly, are you joking with me? She looked up and grinned. Yes I am, she said proudly. Isn't it wonderful?
Patrick Rothfuss
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I think one of the biggest mistakes you can make as a writer is to follow your initial [writing] plan too stringently. A story needs room to grow and evolve.
Patrick Rothfuss
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If you are going to impose your will on the world, you must have control over what you believe.
Patrick Rothfuss
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She taught me I should never do anything in private I did not want talked about in public, and cautioned me not to talk in my sleep.
Patrick Rothfuss
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When you read a fantasy novel part of the fun is getting to explore a new world. Everyone knows that. But I believe the same is true about characters. You can explore interesting people in the same way that you explore a town or a culture.
Patrick Rothfuss
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It's my belief that you should never show your work to anyone in the publishing world until it shines like a diamond. Rough drafts don't shine, as a rule. Mine certainly didn't. That's why I was rejected for years and years.
Patrick Rothfuss
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Joss [Whedon] is an excellent storyteller. It really doesn't matter what medium he's working in.
Patrick Rothfuss
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Did I ever mention I used to be a delivery driver too? I was. I can read a map. What’s more, using a brilliant mixture of zen navigation, Aristotelian logic, and pure rage I can get you your package and/or delicious sandwich relatively close to on-time.
Patrick Rothfuss
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There are times when the mind is dealt such a blow it hides itself in insanity. While this may not seem beneficial, it is. There are times when reality is nothing but pain, and to escape that pain the mind must leave reality behind.
Patrick Rothfuss
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I have no balance. My life is a hot mess.
Patrick Rothfuss
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Perhaps the greatest faculty our minds possess is the ability to cope with pain.
Patrick Rothfuss
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But sometimes the best help a person can find is helping someone else.
Patrick Rothfuss
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A lot of new writers assume you have to know the where the story is going and that it flows out as molten gold. But really, sometimes you think you are going to one place, but then you decide that is dumb idea. Then you go somewhere else and it is a worse idea. But then you switch again and you might have a beautiful accident.
Patrick Rothfuss
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The boy grows upward, but the girl grows up.
Patrick Rothfuss
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The good thing about working on the books for 14 years before they hit the shelves is that I worked out most of the kinks long before they were published.
Patrick Rothfuss