READING, n. The general body of what one reads. In our country it consists, as a rule, of Indiana novels, short stories… — Ambrose Bierce Copy Share Image
When I was in the Peace Corps I never made a phone call. I was in Central Africa; I didn't make a… — Paul Theroux Copy Share Image
“The occupying Russians, when they discovered that we were Americans, embraced us and congratulated us on the complete desolation our planes had… — Kurt Vonnegut Copy Share Image
When you send off a short story, it sits on the editor's desk in the same pile with stories by the most… — Daniel Quinn Copy Share Image
But I smiled, and smiling was easy, no matter how strange and disorienting the street seemed to be. I was a fugitive.… — Gregory David Roberts Copy Share Image
I wrote short stories for seven years and used to mail them out. You couldn't send them by e-mail. I called them… — Jess Walter Copy Share Image
I've always loved short stories. Even before I was a writer I was reading short stories - there were certain writers where… — Molly Antopol Copy Share Image
The London 'Academy' has seen fit recently to scoff at the critics who have been exercising themselves ove rthe so-called art of… — Henry Seidel Canby Copy Share Image
When I started writing short stories, I thought I was writing a novel. I had like 60 or 70 pages. And what… — Shane Carruth Copy Share Image
But it's hard for me to pinpoint where all my characters and dialogue come from - imagination or real life. My memoir,… — Said Sayrafiezadeh Copy Share Image
“That, too, was in the air itself -- a whisper of apology when the smell of the soil carried. There should be… — Christian Crews Copy Share Image
At the end of the day I see myself as a communicator. So any way that I can, any medium, any art… — Tedashii Copy Share Image
It's been suggested that most women fail to write significantly because the female mind is viscerotonic, and occupied almost exclusively with the… — Alfred Bester Copy Share Image
I guess the freedom - poetic freedom - because the poetic part of short story form is an attempt to say something… — Hampton Fancher Copy Share Image
Ideas come at any moment -- except when you demand them. Most ideas come while I'm physically active, at the gym, with… — Chuck Palahniuk Copy Share Image
It's an essay that Sigmund Freud wrote about E.T.A. Hoffman's short story called "The Sandman" where someone mistakes an inanimate object for… — DJ Spooky Copy Share Image
“The strikes continue ruthlessly. I brace for each blow, numbering it as the heat subsides, and enjoying her tender exploration of my… — Felicity Brandon Copy Share Image
Yes sir. You can be more careless, you can put more trash in [a novel] and be excused for it. In a… — William Faulkner Copy Share Image
I don't ever think about the utility of fiction. I don't believe in it or certainly don't require anybody to consider it.… — Francisco Goldman Copy Share Image
There's definitely a feeling with a short story that it's pure story telling. You're not really worried about theme. You're not going… — Neil Gaiman Copy Share Image
I've always believed that poetry must speak of realities as least as complicated as those spoken of in prose. I've read books… — Lawrence Joseph Copy Share Image
I was a Teletype operator in the army, so that's where I learned to type. One day, I went downstairs to see… — Carl Reiner Copy Share Image
“My hope is that you read these pages and know you aren’t alone when you submit your short work. You are part… — Windy Lynn Harris Copy Share Image
The short story that eventually grew into Constellation was the first fiction set in Russia that I'd ever written, and that was… — Anthony Marra Copy Share Image
Chekhov used to correspond with aspiring writers, and once he gave this advice to Maxim Gorky when he was encouraging him to… — Catherine Brady Copy Share Image
I want my stories to be something about life that causes people to say, not, oh, isn't that the truth, but to… — Alice Munro Copy Share Image
Don’t let people interfere with you. Boot ’em out, turn off the phone, hide away, get it done. If you carry a… — Ray Bradbury Copy Share Image
“Reluctantly, he put his hand up to the cold glass. That odd tingling sensation raced through his body again. His ears began… — Cassie McCown Copy Share Image
I wanted to avoid what some modern tellers have done, quite legitimately, to make fairy tales more like novels and short stories,… — Philip Pullman Copy Share Image
Although I'm very lazy when it comes to writing, I'm not that lazy when it comes to thinking. I like to develop… — Jorge Luis Borges Copy Share Image
I once wrote a short story called 'The Best Blues Singer in the World,' and it went like this: 'The streets that… — August Wilson Copy Share Image
I don't know what the definition of a short story is, and I don't even care to answer that question. That's something… — Sandra Cisneros Copy Share Image
I prefer reading novels. Short stories are too much like daggers. And now that I'm done with my collection I'm more interested… — Ottessa Moshfegh Copy Share Image
Jesus of Nazareth could have chosen simply to express Himself in moral precepts; but like a great poet He chose the form… — Dudley Nichols Copy Share Image
“A prickle of awareness made the hairs at the back of his neck stand. A deep chill sank into his flesh to… — Pamela K. Kinney, "Let Demon Dogs Lie," Southern Haunts: Devils in the Darkness Copy Share Image
I should say that, in addition to my tree - love (it was originally called The Tree), it arose from my own… — J. R. R. Tolkien Copy Share Image
“You will get exactly what you deserve Polly,” comes the firm reply, “you can trust me on that… But if you do… — Felicity Brandon Copy Share Image
“For the biographer, the final clue to character lies in the yet unread - the scribbled note, the diary page, a notation… — Laura Furman Copy Share Image
Great short stories and great jokes have a lot in common. Both depend on what communication-theorists sometimes called "exformation," which is a… — David Foster Wallace Copy Share Image
Composition is interesting because, in a sense, you always have to let it go. Unless you're a true composer/performer, you're always sending… — Nico Muhly Copy Share Image
![“Yes sir. You can be more careless, you can put more trash in [a novel] and be excused for it. In a short story that's next to the poem, almost every word has got to be almost exactly right. In the novel you can be careless but in the short story you can't. I mean by that the good short stories…” quote by William Faulkner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/ff6/william-faulkner-306_absolutes_yes-sir-you-can-be-more-careless-you-can_1716854.jpg)
