Quotes by Len Wein

• Art is always in the eyes of the beholder. Only posterity has the right to point out our mistakes.
• I try not to violate what came before me and to leave lots of wiggle room for those who will follow.
• A true friend is someone who is there for you when he'd rather be anywhere else.
• A writer writes. Period. No matter if someone is buying your work or not.
• I always wanted to fire rays out of my fingertips.
• I became an art major, took every art class my school had to offer. In college, I majored in Advertising Art and Design.
• I had never really thought of myself as a writer; any writing I had done was just to give myself something to draw.
• I think there's something inherently dishonest in trying to go back and mess with the past.
• I try to find what makes even the worst, most despicable character sympathetic at his or her core.
• I was a very sickly kid. While I was in the hospital at age 7, my Dad brought me a stack of comic books to keep me occupied. I was hooked.
• I would like immortality.
• I'm a neurotic New York Jew by birth. Creating characters is second nature to me.
• I've always thought of myself as an organic writer, rather than a cerebral one. I feel my way along as I go, hoping I'll get to the place I intend to reach.
• I've had editors over the years who couldn't find a clue if it was stapled to their butt.
• I've never sat down and thought about the difference between plot and theme. To me, that's never been important.
• The bottom line always remains the same: What is the basic humanity of the character? How do I make them resonate with the reader?
• I realized the only thing I owed my audience was my own judgment and my own best effort.
• If a story isn't working, I'm simply unable to finish it. That's what usually tells me something is wrong.
• These days, it seems that if you're not already in place, you can't get there from here.
• The most unrealistic thing I've ever read in comics is when some group of characters calls themselves the Brotherhood of Evil or the Masters of Evil. I don't believe any character believes their goals to be truly evil.
• Unfortunately, there are writers whose only concern is how good they could make themselves look on a title.
• Sometimes you're not even sure which of your stories were failures. There are things I've written that I thought were complete catastrophes when I finished with them that have gone on to generate some of my most positive feedback.
• Were there stories I wrote along the way that were terrible clinkers? God, yes. But they were all a product of their time, and I did the best I could.
• People who were more concerned with themselves and looking good to their readers then they were with the characters sacrificed a series for the sake of a story.
• Lord of the Rings, I think, is far and away the most brilliantly done stuff.
• It's all about who's where on the food chain. When I'm the story editor, I expect my writers to follow my vision. When I'm working for another editor, I'm obliged to follow their vision.
• It all depends on which side of the desk you're sitting on.
• In these litigious times, if you're a beginner, it's becoming harder and harder to get your work to the people who might actually be able to hire you.
• In general, shorter is better. If you can encapsulate your idea into a single captivating sentence, you're halfway home.
• There is an ancient legend which warns that, should we ever learn our true origin, our universe will instantly be destroyed.
• When someone writes to tell me something I've written made them laugh or cry, I've done my job and done it well. The rest is all semantics.
• You can read a dozen different textbooks or how-to manuals that will tell you the basic rules of what makes a story - a beginning, a middle, and an end.
• When I got my first glimpse of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, my breath caught. In that single instant, he was Wolverine.
• What makes a story is how well it manages to connect with the reader, the visceral effect it has.
• When I'm my own editor, there's very little difference between the first draft and the final. I write what feels right to begin with. I rarely make any major changes.