--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Writing a short story is a little like…" description: "\"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.\" — Dan Chaon" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f7/dan-chaon-2729_dark_writing-a-short-story-is-a-little-like-w_3048130.png" --- # Writing a short story is a little like walking into a dark… ![“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.” quote by Dan Chaon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f7/dan-chaon-2729_dark_writing-a-short-story-is-a-little-like-w_3048130.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f7/dan-chaon-2729_dark_writing-a-short-story-is-a-little-like-w_3048130.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f7/dan-chaon-2729_dark_writing-a-short-story-is-a-little-like-w_3048130.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.” [Dan Chaon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-chaon/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writing a story is like entering darkness, discovering a guiding light that becomes the narrative’s resolution **In simple terms:** Finding a story’s core idea illuminates the whole piece Key Takeaway Identify the central insight early in the writing process Themes creativity discovery structure Mood inspired reflective Type instructional philosophical When to use this quote - novel writing - screenwriting - creative workshops Key Concepts narrative arc illumination Questions to Reflect On - What “light” guides your writing? - How do you handle stories without a clear ending? A Different Perspective The metaphor may oversimplify complex plots that lack a single clear resolution ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Dark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dark/) [Dark room](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dark-room/) [Ends](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ends/) [Findings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/findings/) [Light](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/light/) [Littles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/littles/) [Rooms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rooms/) [Short story](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/short-story/) [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) [Story Little](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/story-little-2101392/) [Walking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/walking/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Writing short](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-short/) ## Related quotes > [If writing novels is like planting a forest, then writing short stories is more like planting a garden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/if-writing-novels-is-like-planting-a-forest-then-writing-short/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [Writing the short story is essentially an act of grace. It's not a matter of will so much as trust. I try to let…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulette-alden/writing-the-short-story-is-essentially-an-act-of-grace-it-s-not-a/) [Paulette Alden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulette-alden/) > [I think the few writers who influenced me most in writing short stories are Alice Munro and Grace Paley. They're very different, and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nell-freudenberger/i-think-the-few-writers-who-influenced-me-most-in-writing-short/) [Nell Freudenberger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nell-freudenberger/) > [All my writing-life people kept telling me that I should stop writing short stories and start writing novels: my agent, my Israeli publisher, my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etgar-keret/all-my-writing-life-people-kept-telling-me-that-i-should-stop-writing/) [Etgar Keret](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etgar-keret/) > [Don't wait for success, but for the respect and interest of those who read you. 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I didn't know anything about it, I didn't even know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wes-anderson/i-chose-philosophy-because-it-sounded-like-something-i-ought-to-be/) [Wes Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wes-anderson/) > [I kept writing short stories and sending out my manuscript, and it kept coming back like a bad penny. It was rejected all over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debra-dean/i-kept-writing-short-stories-and-sending-out-my-manuscript-and-it/) [Debra Dean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debra-dean/) > [I think I got spoiled and that writing a short story and getting it published, or writing a novel and getting it published, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-sayles/i-think-i-got-spoiled-and-that-writing-a-short-story-and-getting-it/) [John Sayles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-sayles/) > [I began writing early - very, very early... I was already writing short stories for the radio and selling poems to poetry and art…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/i-began-writing-early-very-very-early-i-was-already-writing-short/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [You learn by writing short stories. Keep writing short stories. The money's in novels, but writing short stories keeps your writing lean and pointed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-niven/you-learn-by-writing-short-stories-keep-writing-short-stories-the/) [Larry Niven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-niven/) ## 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. 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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/) [Explore all 152 Dan Chaon quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-chaon/) ## More Dark quotes > [Crony capitalism is essentially a condition in which... public officials are giving favours to people in the private sector in payment of political favours.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-greenspan/crony-capitalism-is-essentially-a-condition-in-which-public-officials/) [Alan Greenspan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-greenspan/) > [“I could see her will leaving and death seeping through her skin to skewer her soul.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-stroube/i-could-see-her-will-leaving-and-death-seeping-through-her-skin-to/) [J.D. Stroube](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-stroube/) > [The soul wanders in the dark, until it finds love. And so, wherever our love goes, there we find our soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-zimmerman/the-soul-wanders-in-the-dark-until-it-finds-love-and-so-wherever-our/) [Mary Zimmerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-zimmerman/) > [“Men circle like bees around honey, buzzing to communicate their sexual despair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carla-h-krueger/men-circle-like-bees-around-honey-buzzing-to-communicate-their-sexual/) [Carla H Krueger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carla-h-krueger/) > [All comedy comes from a dark place.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katt-williams/all-comedy-comes-from-a-dark-place/) [Katt Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katt-williams/) > [It's a really dark, emotionally wrenching world that we've created on 'The Walking Dead.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-holden/it-s-a-really-dark-emotionally-wrenching-world-that-we-ve-created-on/) [Laurie Holden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-holden/) > [I get afraid of the dark if I'm in a great deal of dark, and I have to move around inside of that fear...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-ferris/i-get-afraid-of-the-dark-if-i-m-in-a-great-deal-of-dark-and-i-have-to/) [Emil Ferris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-ferris/) > [I guess he'll have to figure out someday that he is supposed to have this dark side, that it is part of what it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/i-guess-he-ll-have-to-figure-out-someday-that-he-is-supposed-to-have/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [“Once upon a time, there was a naïve and innocent girl who thought she could tame the beast and live happily ever after. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nenia-campbell/once-upon-a-time-there-was-a-na-ve-and-innocent-girl-who-thought-she/) [Nenia Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nenia-campbell/) > [Memory revises me. Even now a letter comes from a place I don’t know, from someone with my name and postmarked years ago, while…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/li-young-lee/memory-revises-me-even-now-a-letter-comes-from-a-place-i-don-t-know/) [Li-Young Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/li-young-lee/) > [Like the water of a deep stream, love is always too much. We did not make it. Though we drink till we burst, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/like-the-water-of-a-deep-stream-love-is-always-too-much-we-did-not/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [Let death bless me with you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/let-death-bless-me-with-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“what do you call/that space between the dark geographies of sex?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natasha-trethaway/what-do-you-call-that-space-between-the-dark-geographies-of-sex/) [Natasha Trethaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natasha-trethaway/) > [Twinking tears in a sea of black. Soft light in a world of darkness. Tiny wishes in a place of dreams. 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