by Ray Bradbury remains perhaps my favorite book about the subject of creativity. Here is the master's view on finding the passion needed to write memorably and, in doing so, creating unforgettable characters ...
"Zest. Gusto. How rarely one hears these words used. How rarely do we see people living, or for that matter, creating by them. Yet if I were asked to name the most important items in a writer's make-up,
the things that shape his material and rush him along the road to where he wants to go, I could only warn him to look to his zest, see to his gusto."...
"Simply then, here is my formula. What do you want more than anything in the world? What do you love, or what do you hate?
"Find a character, like yourself, who will want something or not want something, with all his heart. Give him running orders. Shoot him off. Then follow as fast as you can go. The character, in his great love, will rush you through to the end of the story. The zest and gusto of his need ... will fire the landscape and raise the temperature of your typewriter 30 degrees."
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