--- title: "6 Collections Quotes By Roy Kesey" description: "6 Collections quotes by Roy Kesey. Plus more from Roy Kesey and more Collections sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/96a/roy-kesey-30889_camps_some-writers-keep-a-tighter-rein-on-that_189136.jpg" --- > [Some writers keep a tighter rein on that than others. For short story collections I'm definitely in the loose-rein camp.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roy-kesey/some-writers-keep-a-tighter-rein-on-that-than-others-for-short-story/) [Roy Kesey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roy-kesey/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/96a/roy-kesey-30889_camps_some-writers-keep-a-tighter-rein-on-that_189136.jpg) > [What I like about organizing things that way is that each story gets nearly full reign over its own space, but all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roy-kesey/what-i-like-about-organizing-things-that-way-is-that-each-story-gets/) [Roy Kesey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roy-kesey/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d89/roy-kesey-30889_alliances_what-i-like-about-organizing-things-that_334042.jpg) > [Very often, or perhaps more often, and even in very good collections - even in some of the best collections ever written,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roy-kesey/very-often-or-perhaps-more-often-and-even-in-very-good-collections/) [Roy Kesey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roy-kesey/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/881/roy-kesey-30889_arguing_very-often-or-perhaps-more-often-and-eve_1067715.jpg) > [For whatever reason, thus far it's been important to me not to write that kind of collection. Which means that I've spent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roy-kesey/for-whatever-reason-thus-far-it-s-been-important-to-me-not-to-write/) [Roy Kesey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roy-kesey/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f2/roy-kesey-30889_collections_for-whatever-reason-thus-far-it-s-been-i_1221767.jpg) > [I start every first draft with voice rather than theme or image or even character as such, so it isn't like I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roy-kesey/i-start-every-first-draft-with-voice-rather-than-theme-or-image-or/) [Roy Kesey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roy-kesey/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d63/roy-kesey-30889_character_i-start-every-first-draft-with-voice-rat_1954781.jpg) > [You know how some people say that they can only read one story a day from this or that collection? If that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roy-kesey/you-know-how-some-people-say-that-they-can-only-read-one-story-a-day/) [Roy Kesey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roy-kesey/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/194/roy-kesey-30889_books_you-know-how-some-people-say-that-they-c_2425051.jpg) ## Other authors on Collections ## More by Roy Kesey > [Some writers keep a tighter rein on that than others. For short story collections I'm definitely in the loose-rein camp.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roy-kesey/some-writers-keep-a-tighter-rein-on-that-than-others-for-short-story/) [Roy Kesey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roy-kesey/) > [What I like about organizing things that way is that each story gets nearly full reign over its own space, but all of them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roy-kesey/what-i-like-about-organizing-things-that-way-is-that-each-story-gets/) [Roy Kesey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roy-kesey/) > [“Reynaldo says that the pacazo is nothing but an uncommonly large iguana. I prefer to believe that it is some imp of history, coincidence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roy-kesey/reynaldo-says-that-the-pacazo-is-nothing-but-an-uncommonly-large/) [Roy Kesey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roy-kesey/) > [The biggest experiment there - and I was convinced for a really long time that it was going to fail horribly - had to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roy-kesey/the-biggest-experiment-there-and-i-was-convinced-for-a-really-long/) [Roy Kesey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roy-kesey/) > [Very often, or perhaps more often, and even in very good collections - even in some of the best collections ever written, I would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roy-kesey/very-often-or-perhaps-more-often-and-even-in-very-good-collections/) [Roy Kesey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roy-kesey/) > [For whatever reason, thus far it's been important to me not to write that kind of collection. Which means that I've spent months playing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roy-kesey/for-whatever-reason-thus-far-it-s-been-important-to-me-not-to-write/) [Roy Kesey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roy-kesey/) > [“The birds are catching fire again. I keep shouting up to them, Fly lower, fly lower! They never listen. They’re dropping all around us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roy-kesey/the-birds-are-catching-fire-again-i-keep-shouting-up-to-them-fly/) [Roy Kesey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roy-kesey/) > [If you're paying attention to human interactions - to the gap between who we are and who we think we are, or the gap…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roy-kesey/if-you-re-paying-attention-to-human-interactions-to-the-gap-between/) [Roy Kesey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roy-kesey/) > [The most basic organizing principle was pretty straightforward, and is frankly pretty common: the shorter of what are by my lights the two most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roy-kesey/the-most-basic-organizing-principle-was-pretty-straightforward-and-is/) [Roy Kesey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roy-kesey/) > [I start every first draft with voice rather than theme or image or even character as such, so it isn't like I'm ever rubbing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roy-kesey/i-start-every-first-draft-with-voice-rather-than-theme-or-image-or/) [Roy Kesey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roy-kesey/) > [We should absolutely be concerned with ethical questions - to exactly the same degree as everyone else. It's never my intention to sneak any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roy-kesey/we-should-absolutely-be-concerned-with-ethical-questions-to-exactly/) [Roy Kesey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roy-kesey/) > [You know how some people say that they can only read one story a day from this or that collection? If that's simply the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roy-kesey/you-know-how-some-people-say-that-they-can-only-read-one-story-a-day/) [Roy Kesey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roy-kesey/) > [Realism's anxieties are not my anxieties, but I think I've had its tools close at hand all along. It may be that I'm reaching…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roy-kesey/realism-s-anxieties-are-not-my-anxieties-but-i-think-i-ve-had-its/) [Roy Kesey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roy-kesey/) > [When you spend so much time trying to father well, and failing, and trying again, and hopefully failing better, it's going to seep into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roy-kesey/when-you-spend-so-much-time-trying-to-father-well-and-failing-and/) [Roy Kesey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roy-kesey/) > [I didn't intentionally emplace the raw material needed for political/allegorical readings into any of the first drafts, but sooner or later I saw it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roy-kesey/i-didn-t-intentionally-emplace-the-raw-material-needed-for-political/) [Roy Kesey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roy-kesey/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/collections/roy-kesey/#itemlist", "name": "6 Collections Quotes By Roy Kesey", "numberOfItems": 6, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Some writers keep a tighter rein on that than others. 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Which means that I've spent months playing tic-tac-notecard, trying to get the stories in an order whereby stories that are similar in any given way (diction, narrative stance, setting, plot) are separated by others that aren't.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Roy Kesey" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roy-kesey/for-whatever-reason-thus-far-it-s-been-important-to-me-not-to-write/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f2/roy-kesey-30889_collections_for-whatever-reason-thus-far-it-s-been-i_1221767.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f2/roy-kesey-30889_collections_for-whatever-reason-thus-far-it-s-been-i_1221767.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f2/roy-kesey-30889_collections_for-whatever-reason-thus-far-it-s-been-i_1221767.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“For whatever reason, thus far it's been important to me not to write that kind of collection. 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