“But often it's the inexact, the awful, the mistaken linguistic turn that manages to say the right thing because it unmoors us from our perceived relationship to the subject about which we're trying to write. Often, poetry is enriched by… — Tin House Books Copy Share Image
“One member of Paley's preschool class is 'The Boy Who Would Be a Helicopter.' He is probably vaguely autistic, high-functioning, yet solitary to a degree considered irregular. His playmates invite him into their games (which are ongoing, morphing narratives), but he stubbornly resists. He loves his helicopter. He would like to be a helicopter himself so that he could fly… — Tin House Books Copy Share
“One danger zone is dialogue ... At the moment of ultimate showing, we writers get nervous. ... We allow characters to tell us about the story, to soliloquize, to have insights into their lives that no real person could manage. We also work very hard to control the part of dialogue that is not in the character's voice - the… — Tin House Books Copy Share
“Shakespeare doesn't use flashbacks, and his characters are more likely to philosophize than to remember. (Margot Livesey)” — Tin House Books Copy Share Image
“Now I ask you to consider writing from the inside, to convince yourself of your characters' dimensions before you attempt to narrate around them… — Tin House Books Copy Share Image
“Friend, let me tell you this: telling in stories often attempts to simplify, to clarify, but when it's really working, telling complicates and adds… — Tin House Books Copy Share Image
“*The story,* I like to say and remember, *is always smarter than you* - there will be patterns of theme, image,e and idea that… — Tin House Books Copy Share Image
“But often it's the inexact, the awful, the mistaken linguistic turn that manages to say the right thing because it unmoors us from our… — Tin House Books Copy Share Image
“In her childhood, [Sylvia] Wright had heard a tune in which some lines seemed to be 'They have slain the Earl Amurray / and… — Tin House Books Copy Share Image