---
title: "2 Dark room Quotes By Dan Chaon"
description: "2 Dark room quotes by Dan Chaon. Plus more from Dan Chaon and more Dark room sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e78/dan-chaon-2729_character_i-think-that-the-way-that-i-write-storie_661046.png"
---

> [I think that the way that I write stories is by instinct. You have some basic ideas - a character, or an image, or a situation that sounds compelling - and then you just feel your way around until you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-chaon/i-think-that-the-way-that-i-write-stories-is-by-instinct-you-have/)

[Dan Chaon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-chaon/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e78/dan-chaon-2729_character_i-think-that-the-way-that-i-write-storie_661046.png)

> [Writing a short story is a little like walking into a dark room, finding a light and turning it on. The light is the end of the story.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-chaon/writing-a-short-story-is-a-little-like-walking-into-a-dark-room/)

[Dan Chaon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-chaon/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f7/dan-chaon-2729_dark_writing-a-short-story-is-a-little-like-w_3048130.png)

## More by Dan Chaon

> [“Maybe love, like suffering, is relative. ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-chaon/maybe-love-like-suffering-is-relative/)

[Dan Chaon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-chaon/)

> [Even when our death is imminent, we carry the image of ourselves moving forward, alive, into the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-chaon/even-when-our-death-is-imminent-we-carry-the-image-of-ourselves/)

[Dan Chaon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-chaon/)

> [For the last few years I've tried to force myself to write at least one page every day, which doesn't sound like much but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-chaon/for-the-last-few-years-i-ve-tried-to-force-myself-to-write-at-least/)

[Dan Chaon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-chaon/)

> [“It's hard to believe that this is how it's done. That this is how we get here into the world, by accident or design,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-chaon/it-s-hard-to-believe-that-this-is-how-it-s-done-that-this-is-how-we/)

[Dan Chaon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-chaon/)

> [I also have just my own limits about stuff. I'm not interested in writing graphically about sexual assault for example. I feel like the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-chaon/i-also-have-just-my-own-limits-about-stuff-i-m-not-interested-in/)

[Dan Chaon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-chaon/)

> [“I have to admit that most of the time I read in the same way that I smoke and chew gum and jiggle my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-chaon/i-have-to-admit-that-most-of-the-time-i-read-in-the-same-way-that-i/)

[Dan Chaon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-chaon/)

> [“Outside, the sleet had gotten thicker. You could hear it pebbling against the large glass windows, you could see it swirling wildly through the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-chaon/outside-the-sleet-had-gotten-thicker-you-could-hear-it-pebbling/)

[Dan Chaon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-chaon/)

> [I was worried that, as a college teacher, if I wrote too much about intergenerational sex my students would be creeped out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-chaon/i-was-worried-that-as-a-college-teacher-if-i-wrote-too-much-about/)

[Dan Chaon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-chaon/)

> [Plot and scene are still the hardest things for me, though I think they're the building blocks of what makes a story work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-chaon/plot-and-scene-are-still-the-hardest-things-for-me-though-i-think/)

[Dan Chaon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-chaon/)

> [“I've been talking to myself a lot lately. I don't know what that's about, but my mother was the same way. She hated to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-chaon/i-ve-been-talking-to-myself-a-lot-lately-i-don-t-know-what-that-s/)

[Dan Chaon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-chaon/)

> [“Your Mom's Car. Think about that. Try to wrap your brain around the supernatural and spiritual implications that the name bears down you. Your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-chaon/your-mom-s-car-think-about-that-try-to-wrap-your-brain-around-the/)

[Dan Chaon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-chaon/)

> [“He pictures amputated human arms flopping like fish down the center of the road; syringes floating on beds of liposuctioned fat; gelatinous human eyeballs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-chaon/he-pictures-amputated-human-arms-flopping-like-fish-down-the-center/)

[Dan Chaon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-chaon/)

> [“In the basement of Sydney's new house is a little room that is about the size and shape of a coffin.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-chaon/in-the-basement-of-sydney-s-new-house-is-a-little-room-that-is-about/)

[Dan Chaon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-chaon/)

> [“It’s called apophenia. It’s the tendency we humans have to find meaning in disconnected information. For example, some people believe in what’s called the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-chaon/it-s-called-apophenia-it-s-the-tendency-we-humans-have-to-find/)

[Dan Chaon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-chaon/)

> [I would say that all short stories have mystery naturally built into them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-chaon/i-would-say-that-all-short-stories-have-mystery-naturally-built-into/)

[Dan Chaon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-chaon/)

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