"I know when a story is finished when……" — Amy Hempel
"I know when a story is finished when there is not a single thing more I can think to do to it. And since I know at the start what the last line will be, I know when I've reached that point as logically as I can that it's finished. As for the rewriting-it's not foolproof, of course, but if you're honest about having thought of every possibility and you still come back to what you have, what more can you do?"
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Amy Hempel
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59 Quotes by Amy Hempel
Amy Hempel has 59 quotes on this site.
A few more worth reading:
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Sometimes I can better describe a person by another person's reaction. In a story in my first book, I couldn't…
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Sometimes a flat-footed sentence is what serves, so you don't get all writerly: 'He opened the door.' There, it's open.
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I probably have less revision than those who have that wonderful rush of story to tell - you know, I…
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Then the children went to bed, or at least went upstairs, and the men joined the women for a cigarette…
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Wear your heart on the page, and people will read to find out how you solved being alive.
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An idea might spark an essay, but never a story.
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I think of the chimp, the one with the talking hands.
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I sleep with a glass of water on the nightstand so I can see by its level if the coastal…
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I leave a lot out when I tell the truth
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I could claim any number of high-flown reasons for writing, just as you can explain certain dogs behavior... But maybe,…
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The year I began to say vahz instead of vase, a man I barely knew nearly accidentally killed me.
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Good leaders being scarce, following yourself is allowed.
See all 59 quotes by Amy Hempel »
More Come Back Quotes
This quote is filed under Come Back Quotes,
one of 1,792 quotes in that category. Here are a few more:
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I guess I wanted to leave America for awhile. It wasn't that I wanted to become an expatriate, or just…
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There's no rule, no law, no regulation that says you can't come back. So I have every right to come…
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If you love someone, set them free. If they come back they're yours; if they don't they never were.
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I'm amazed every time I come back to Vancouver at how much it's changed. You go away for a month…
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I much prefer working with kids whose life could be completely upended by a reading of a book over a…
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I do a job and am lucky enough to do a job that I love, but it is a hard…
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And the whole Oscar thing, that is just surreal: you spend months and months doing promotion, and then come back…
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If you're going to go through hell... I suggest you come back learning something.
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I hesitate to deposit money in a bank. I am afraid I shall never dare to take it out again.…
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Hollywood... a city I was to come back to time and again, in sickness and in health, in success and…
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When it comes down to it, it's giving people a good night out in a basic way and I think…
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Sometimes it's necessary to go a long distance out of the way in order to come back a short distance…
— Edward Albee
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