"I don't much believe in the idea of characters. I write with words, that is all. Whether those words are put in the mouth of this or that character does not matter to me"
- Guillermo Cabrera Infante
About this Quote
In this quote, Guillermo Cabrera Infante is revealing his view on the concept of personalities in creating. He is mentioning that he does not place much relevance on the idea of creating distinct as well as intricate personalities in his writing. Rather, he focuses on using words to communicate his message and also tell his tale.
Infante believes that it is the words themselves that are one of the most vital component of composing, rather than the characters that talk them. He suggests that the individualities as well as identifications of the characters are second to words they claim.
This point of view on creating may show Infante's desire to emphasize the power of language fit our understandings and experiences. It additionally suggests that he values the craft of writing more than the characters as well as emotions of its fictional personalities.
"So if you want to have a great video game-based movie you have to keep the mood of the game, use the normal character setup - but you have to flesh out the story and provide more background for the characters"
"The way I write is that I'll actually have a conversation out loud with myself. In a weird way, I just kind of get schizophrenic and play two characters"
"From beginning to end it's about keeping the energy and the intensity of the story and not doing too much and not doing too little, but just enough so people stay interested and stay involved in the characters"
"They weren't impatient for the boys to turn into cartoons again. They awarded sympathy, gave compassion. Because deep down they had found parts of themselves in the characters. You said it George"
"And I have to credit David Jacobs with the opportunities he gave me. He was totally into sharing the creation of characters. David put together a show that told the story of people over many years' time and that was greatly enjoyable. Though nowadays that is frowned upon"
"I plot the first 5 or 6 chapters quite minutely, and also the end. So I know where I am going but not how I'm going to get there, which gives characters the chance to develop organically, as happens in real life as you get to know a person"
"I think for anybody reading the book they're going to get an idea in their heads of all those characters, and I think that once that gets fixed, it's quite hard to shake"