--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: So, short stories have an even harder…" description: "\"So, short stories have an even harder time, because they tend to get read during the day, between other things. They're interstitial. And yet the conte..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/87f/lorin-stein-22569_happiness_so-short-stories-have-an-even-harder-tim_2342710.png" --- # So, short stories have an even harder time, because they… ![“So, short stories have an even harder time, because they tend to get read during the day, between other things. They're interstitial. And yet the content of short stories tends to be very much "nighttime" content.” quote by Lorin Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/87f/lorin-stein-22569_happiness_so-short-stories-have-an-even-harder-tim_2342710.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/87f/lorin-stein-22569_happiness_so-short-stories-have-an-even-harder-tim_2342710.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/87f/lorin-stein-22569_happiness_so-short-stories-have-an-even-harder-tim_2342710.png) > “So, short stories have an even harder time, because they tend to get read during the day, between other things. They're interstitial. And yet the content of short stories tends to be very much "nighttime" content.” [Lorin Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorin-stein/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Short stories are often read in brief, interstitial moments, yet their themes tend to be suited for night, creating a contrast between format and content. **In simple terms:** Short stories are read in short bursts but feel like night content. Key Takeaway Embrace reading short stories at appropriate times. Themes literature format timing Mood contemplative introspective Type literary observational When to use this quote - commuting - breaks - late night reading Key Concepts Narrative structure reader engagement Questions to Reflect On - When do you prefer reading short stories? - How does timing affect your immersion? A Different Perspective Short stories may not fit daytime attention spans. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Nighttime](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nighttime/) [Short stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/short-stories/) [Short story](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/short-story/) [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [The real challenge in doing a TV show is in what I would call the maintenance energy. You take that creative energy and you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-carter/the-real-challenge-in-doing-a-tv-show-is-in-what-i-would-call-the/) [Chris Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-carter/) > [I like fiction that deals with matters that are of burning importance to us in our private lives. And not all short stories are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorin-stein/i-like-fiction-that-deals-with-matters-that-are-of-burning-importance/) [Lorin Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorin-stein/) > [I regret that there aren't more short stories in other magazines. But in a certain way, I think the disappearance of the short-story template…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorin-stein/i-regret-that-there-aren-t-more-short-stories-in-other-magazines-but/) [Lorin Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorin-stein/) > [I began by doing book reviews on the typewriter and then went over to short stories on the machine, meanwhile sticking to pencil for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-aiken/i-began-by-doing-book-reviews-on-the-typewriter-and-then-went-over-to/) [Conrad Aiken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-aiken/) > [ \[Jorge Luis Borges\] had short stories, and I was trying to learn how to write short stories, and then he had these things in… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-cisneros/jorge-luis-borges-had-short-stories-and-i-was-trying-to-learn-how-to/) [Sandra Cisneros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-cisneros/) > [I am also working on a couple of short stories for anthologies. This is new to me and Im enjoying it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-guest/i-am-also-working-on-a-couple-of-short-stories-for-anthologies-this/) [Judith Guest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-guest/) > [Write a short story every week. It's not possible to write 52 bad short stories in a row.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/write-a-short-story-every-week-it-s-not-possible-to-write-52-bad/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [I never wanted to be an editor. I never wanted to be a boss. 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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/) > [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/) ## More by Lorin Stein > [I regret that there aren't more short stories in other magazines. But in a certain way, I think the disappearance of the short-story template…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorin-stein/i-regret-that-there-aren-t-more-short-stories-in-other-magazines-but/) [Lorin Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorin-stein/) > [You can go back and try to generalize, but then you end up saying things that all editors say about everything that ever gets…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorin-stein/you-can-go-back-and-try-to-generalize-but-then-you-end-up-saying/) [Lorin Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorin-stein/) > [I tend to think that the onus is on the writer to engage the reader, that the reader should not be expected to need…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorin-stein/i-tend-to-think-that-the-onus-is-on-the-writer-to-engage-the-reader/) [Lorin Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorin-stein/) > [For me the question that you have to ask, about any magazine, is whether it's needed, whether it's publishing things that no one else…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorin-stein/for-me-the-question-that-you-have-to-ask-about-any-magazine-is/) [Lorin Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorin-stein/) > [We've never had a giant circulation. 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It sounds like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorin-stein/pretty-much-every-issue-that-we-ve-put-out-there-have-been-at-least/) [Lorin Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorin-stein/) > [I hadn't thought about the balance in mood. You see that we did it in alphabetical order, so if there's any kind of shape,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorin-stein/i-hadn-t-thought-about-the-balance-in-mood-you-see-that-we-did-it-in/) [Lorin Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorin-stein/) > [A lot of people who want to see the short story have a renaissance of readership - they tend to think of short stories,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorin-stein/a-lot-of-people-who-want-to-see-the-short-story-have-a-renaissance-of/) [Lorin Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorin-stein/) > [The real threat to reading isn’t the time we spend hanging out, it’s the time we spend online.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorin-stein/the-real-threat-to-reading-isn-t-the-time-we-spend-hanging-out-it-s/) [Lorin Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorin-stein/) > [When I was a book editor, I got used to being told that my tastes were dark or edgy. These are not words that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorin-stein/when-i-was-a-book-editor-i-got-used-to-being-told-that-my-tastes-were/) [Lorin Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorin-stein/) [Explore all 27 Lorin Stein quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorin-stein/) ## More Happiness quotes > [Life is full of change. That's how we learn and grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-full-of-change-that-s-how-we-learn-and-grow/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Remember that your natural state is joy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-dyer/remember-that-your-natural-state-is-joy/) [Wayne Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-dyer/) > [Balance suggests a perfect equilibrium. There is no such thing. 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Being artistic is very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evgeni-plushenko/i-can-skate-beautifully-while-performing-on-ice-i-always-try-to/) [Evgeni Plushenko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evgeni-plushenko/) > [Sometimes we wish for the feel but we never understand that we have to give a lot to get the feel !](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-reynolds/sometimes-we-wish-for-the-feel-but-we-never-understand-that-we-have/) [Robert Reynolds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-reynolds/) > [Sing like no one's listening, love like you've never been hurt, dance like nobody's watching, and live like its heaven on earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/sing-like-no-one-s-listening-love-like-you-ve-never-been-hurt-dance/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“It was beautiful. He thought he had never seen anything so beautiful in all his life; that, having seen it, he could die content,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mira-grant/it-was-beautiful-he-thought-he-had-never-seen-anything-so-beautiful/) [Mira Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mira-grant/) > [The happy have whole days,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colley-cibber/the-happy-have-whole-days/) [Colley Cibber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colley-cibber/) > [I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-have-observed-this-in-my-experience-of-slavery-that-whenever-my/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [I've got nothing to do today but smile.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-ve-got-nothing-to-do-today-but-smile/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Her dignity consists in being unknown to the world; her glory is in the esteem of her husband; her pleasures in the happiness of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/her-dignity-consists-in-being-unknown-to-the-world-her-glory-is-in/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [The size of a man's understanding might always be justly measured by his mirth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-size-of-a-man-s-understanding-might-always-be-justly-measured-by/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Positive thinking evokes more energy, more initiative, more happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/positive-thinking-evokes-more-energy-more-initiative-more-happiness/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When you have a choice, choose happy!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pancho-barnes/when-you-have-a-choice-choose-happy/) Pancho Barnes [Browse all 40,288 Happiness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "So, short stories have an even harder time, because they tend to get read during the day, between other things. 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