The world would be a better place if people stopped voting for folksy candidates they could have a beer with and started voting for people smarter than they are. Marcus Sakey More Quotes by Marcus Sakey More Quotes From Marcus Sakey He had been someone before. That person had been the result of a lifetime of choices, good and bad. And like it or not, he was drawing closer to that identity now. Not the freedom of infinite variety, but the tyranny of a decision made, a path walked, a life lived. What if he didn't like the view Marcus Sakey drawing choices views Trying to analyze a situation without enough data was like looking at a photograph of a ball in flight and trying to gauge its direction. Is it going up, down, sideways? Is it about to collide with a baseball bat? Is it moving at all, or is something on the blind side holding it in place? A single frame didn't mean a thing. Patterns were based on data. With enough datapoints, you could predict just about anything. Marcus Sakey baseball mean moving I didn't want to just write a series - I wanted to write an epic, on story that spans three books, where decisions made in the first impact the last. Marcus Sakey epic writing book No matter how long you spend at creation, you're always a student. Marcus Sakey students matter long Stephen King is open about the fact that he continues to learn the craft, and if King hasn't got it figured out yet, what the hell hope have the rest of us got? Marcus Sakey crafts kings facts Personally, one of the most helpful things I learned was three-act structure. For my first four or so novels, I built the structure intuitively. Marcus Sakey four three firsts Once I came to really understand the mechanics of three-act structure, my life got a great deal easier. It doesn't tell you how to write your book, but it helps you understand why things aren't working, or what kind of beat needs to come next. Marcus Sakey next writing book Hollywood is a deeply odd place. There are so many factors that have to go perfectly, so many schedules and visions that have to snap together for a film even to be made, much less be good. Marcus Sakey hollywood vision together I'm always geeking out about something. Marcus Sakey Nobody is accidentally in Alaska. The people who are in Alaska are there because they choose to be, so they've sort of got a real frontier ethic. The people are incredibly friendly, interesting, smart people - but they also stay out of each other's business. Marcus Sakey nobody smart business people I'm a Hemingway fan, so in a manner of speaking, I've been fishing with him already. But man, would I love to board Pilar in Key West and head south until we have a day-long battle with a tarpon, haul that bad boy up, then celebrate by telling lies over rum on a Cuban terrace. Marcus Sakey man celebrate bad-boy love I've always been fascinated by mythology or, in modern parlance, by X-Men or vampires. Marcus Sakey been always mythology modern I'm a card-carrying nerd, a gamer, and sci-fi geek. Marcus Sakey sci-fi geek gamer nerd For me, the best moments in storytelling are the ones where I feel I'm discovering something. Marcus Sakey feel best me moments The notion of a writer sitting in a library doing research isn't what I want. The research I love doing isn't found in a book. It's what it feels like to rappel down the side of a building; to train with a SWAT team; to hold a human brain in your hands; or to dive for pirate treasure. Those are things I've done to research my stories. Marcus Sakey library research brain love The first job of a storyteller is to make the reader feel the story, to get the reader to live in the skin of the character. Marcus Sakey skin feel job character I'm not at all upset to be considered a crime novelist. But for me, it's never really about the crime or the violence. I'm much more interested in exploring issues. Marcus Sakey never me upset violence One of the things that I love about crime novels is that you can turn the volume all the way up. If I can make somebody blow their subway stop, I win. Marcus Sakey win you love way In 1791, the right to bear arms to defend against an over-reaching government wasn't theoretical. Today, it's hard to imagine physical weapons serving the same purpose. But it's easy to see how hacktivists might - especially if you broaden the opponents to include hate groups and rapacious multinationals. Marcus Sakey you government hate today As the Occupy Movement demonstrated, it's tough to change anything when you're talking about everything. Marcus Sakey you tough change talking
