Characters make their own plot. The dimensions of the characters determine the action of the novel.

I was born good but had grown progressively worse every year. Scout

...in other words, all I want to be is the Jane Austen of south Alabama Interview - March 1964

I have said what I wanted to say and I will not say it again.

As a reader I loathe introductions...Introductions inhibit pleasure, they kill the joy of anticipation, they frustrate curiosity.

Finders were keepers unless title was proven.

I had never thought about it, but summer was Dill by the fishpool smoking string, Dill's eyes alive with complicated plans to make Boo Radley emerge; summer was the swiftness with which Dill would reach up and kiss me when Jem was not looking, the longings we sometimes felt each other feel. With him, life was routine; without him, life was unbearable..." - Scout Finch