Writers are actors with stage fright….

          Truman Capote was an American author, screenwriter and play writer. He was born on September 30, 1924 and passed away on August 25, 1984. As he chased his fame in later years, he struggled with a drug addiction. He is noted for his works, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, a novella or novelette that was published in 1958 and his book, In Cold Blood, which was published in 1966.

“You can't blame a writer for what the characters say.”
― Truman Capote 

          I have searched through countless quotes to find the one above.  I have saved countless quotes in hopes to discuss them at a later date. I have read countless quotes that shed light on forgotten truths.  Most importantly, I have related to countless quotes; that’s why it was so difficult to commit to just one. When it comes to writing, there are endless things I could relate to. In solving my problem, I decided to stop scavenging for something perfect and infinite that would capture the essence of all those topics. Rather, something that related to just one singular subject.  “You can't blame a writer for what the characters say.” As a writer, or someone who enjoys writing, I should say, if I am ever writing dialogue for a character or developing the characters morals and opinions through how he or she thinks, reacts to, and perceives things, I find myself struggling to find a line where something may be taken the wrong way, whether it be racially, spiritually, religiously, etc. As time went on with this struggle, I realized that a given character and I as the writer are two separate people. As crazy as that may sound, I do believe that there is a truth to that. Think about it like this; an actor is a separate person from the character he or she is playing, yet I always feel as if I’ll be accused wrongfully for writing something that’s actually coming from a character. Of course I write what the character says, but that doesn’t mean I think and believe as the character does, it means I want the character to sound realistic and authentic. Just as an actor has to get in the mindset of their character to look and sound the part, as does a writer.  In a way, a writer has to be an actor. You can't blame a writer for what a character says, because it's not the writer saying it.