“He keeps going, going, going on; his people groan and fall one after the other, but he keeps on going, going and… — Anton Chekhov Copy Share Image
Every day, a piece of music, a short story, or a poem dies because its existence is no longer justified in our… — Elfriede Jelinek Copy Share Image
“As a rule, however fine and deep a phrase may be, it only affects the indifferent, and cannot fully satisfy those who… — Anton Chekhov Copy Share Image
I love short stories - reading and writing them. The best short stories distill all the potency of a novel into a… — Ian Rankin Copy Share Image
“If I could do all of that on February 14th, it would be a personal best for me. Something to share with… — Zack Love Copy Share Image
Once you have learned to trust your own voice and allowed that creative force inside you to come out, you can direct… — Natalie Goldberg Copy Share Image
I started writing the book without realizing I was writing a book. That sounds stupid, but it's true. I'd been trying and… — Ayana Mathis Copy Share Image
I love short stories. They're like small imploding universes. They are very tightly bound and controlled. I'd been wanting to write one… — Colum McCann Copy Share Image
Kilgore Trout once wrote a short story which was a dialogue between two pieces of yeast. They were discussing the possible purposes… — Kurt Vonnegut Copy Share Image
I pretty much drink a cup of coffee, write in my journal for a while, and then sit at a computer in… — Jess Walter 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
The words you can't find, you borrow. We read to know we're not alone. We read because we are alone. We read… — Gabrielle Zevin 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
“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
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
“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 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
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 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
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'm one of those writers who started off writing novels and came to writing short stories later, partly because I didn't have… — Julian Barnes 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
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
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
Even when there's not a joke or a hook, the first line has to be good and snapem to attention. Songs ain't… — Dan Bern Copy Share Image
The writing process for a short story feels more like field geology, where you keep turning the thing over and over, noting… — Rivka Galchen 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
“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
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'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
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 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
“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
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
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
![“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/i/ff6/william-faulkner-306_absolutes_yes-sir-you-can-be-more-careless-you-can_1716854.png)
