--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There's a real art to telling a story in…" description: "\"There's a real art to telling a story in two hours, and that will always be something that people are very, very interested in.\" — Paul Sparks" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec2/paul-sparks-26224_art_there-s-a-real-art-to-telling-a-story-in_2748691.jpg" --- # There's a real art to telling a story in two hours, and… ![“There's a real art to telling a story in two hours, and that will always be something that people are very, very interested in.” quote by Paul Sparks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec2/paul-sparks-26224_art_there-s-a-real-art-to-telling-a-story-in_2748691.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec2/paul-sparks-26224_art_there-s-a-real-art-to-telling-a-story-in_2748691.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec2/paul-sparks-26224_art_there-s-a-real-art-to-telling-a-story-in_2748691.jpg) > “There's a real art to telling a story in two hours, and that will always be something that people are very, very interested in.” [Paul Sparks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-sparks/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Storytelling in a limited timeframe requires skillful condensation and focus to engage audiences. **In simple terms:** Telling a story in two hours needs skill and focus. Key Takeaway Master concise storytelling for impact. Themes storytelling art communication focus Mood enthusiastic inquisitive Type practical inspirational When to use this quote - marketing pitches - podcast episodes - classroom lectures Key Concepts film theatre public speaking education Questions to Reflect On - How do you decide what to omit? - What techniques keep depth in short formats? A Different Perspective Complex narratives may suffer depth loss when overly shortened. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Art Telling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art-telling-2582586/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [People Interested](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people-interested/) [Real](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real/) [Story](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/story/) [Story Hours](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/story-hours-3082443/) [Telling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/telling/) [Telling A Story](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/telling-a-story/) [Telling Story](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/telling-story/) [Will](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/will/) ## Related quotes > [You can write a short story in two hours. Two hours a day, you have a novel in a year.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/you-can-write-a-short-story-in-two-hours-two-hours-a-day-you-have-a/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [It's very nice and my art is telling my girlfriend to I love you?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-s-very-nice-and-my-art-is-telling-my-girlfriend-to-i-love-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I always want to make sure I'm telling a story about people that I care about.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joss-whedon/i-always-want-to-make-sure-i-m-telling-a-story-about-people-that-i/) [Joss Whedon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joss-whedon/) > [If you're a fan of anything I do, I'm always telling a story. I'm into that - I like it when you don't know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-east/if-you-re-a-fan-of-anything-i-do-i-m-always-telling-a-story-i-m-into/) [Dave East](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-east/) > [I have to go with what I do, and what I do has more to do with what people say to each other than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/i-have-to-go-with-what-i-do-and-what-i-do-has-more-to-do-with-what/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [“Funny though… and many of you know this… given a bit of slack, I’ll wander all over the place when telling a story.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-hocking/funny-though-and-many-of-you-know-this-given-a-bit-of-slack-i-ll/) [Bob Hocking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-hocking/) > [That sad moment when you're telling a story but you realize nobody's listening to you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/that-sad-moment-when-you-re-telling-a-story-but-you-realize-nobody-s/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Telling a story is like reaching into a granary full of wheat and drawing out a handful. There is always more to tell than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/telling-a-story-is-like-reaching-into-a-granary-full-of-wheat-and/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [“Telling a story is like playing a fiddle. No one want's to hear it when it's done badly”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/telling-a-story-is-like-playing-a-fiddle-no-one-want-s-to-hear-it/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The most important thing to realise is that everyone is capable of telling a story. It doesn't matter where we were born or how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maeve-binchy/the-most-important-thing-to-realise-is-that-everyone-is-capable-of/) [Maeve Binchy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maeve-binchy/) > [Being an actor is an extension of telling a story and I loved story telling as a child.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-burton/being-an-actor-is-an-extension-of-telling-a-story-and-i-loved-story/) [Amanda Burton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-burton/) > [Listening to someone telling a story & thinking: Lie, lie, lie, lie, lie, and lie.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/listening-to-someone-telling-a-story-thinking-lie-lie-lie-lie-lie-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [This is what I thought: for the most banal even to become an adventure, you must (and this is enough) begin to recount it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/this-is-what-i-thought-for-the-most-banal-even-to-become-an-adventure/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [Telling a story of illness, one pulls a thread through a narrow opening flanked on one side by shame and the other by trivia.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-griffin/telling-a-story-of-illness-one-pulls-a-thread-through-a-narrow/) [Susan Griffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-griffin/) > [Story is about pulling the reader in and a plot is a more externalized mechanism of revelation. A plot is more antic, more performative,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-enright/story-is-about-pulling-the-reader-in-and-a-plot-is-a-more/) [Anne Enright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-enright/) ## More by Paul Sparks > [I don't know everybody's political opinions, but I think the majority of people in the arts are pretty leftist, and we're disappointed in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-sparks/i-don-t-know-everybody-s-political-opinions-but-i-think-the-majority/) [Paul Sparks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-sparks/) > [I have a somewhat reclusive quality myself, and actually what's great about New York is that it pushes you to be social because the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-sparks/i-have-a-somewhat-reclusive-quality-myself-and-actually-what-s-great/) [Paul Sparks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-sparks/) > [I think of myself as more additive than initially creative; I don't come up with the stories.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-sparks/i-think-of-myself-as-more-additive-than-initially-creative-i-don-t/) [Paul Sparks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-sparks/) > [I sort of latch onto roles that have something to fight against.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-sparks/i-sort-of-latch-onto-roles-that-have-something-to-fight-against/) [Paul Sparks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-sparks/) > [No, I'm not angling for huge fame. My career has been a very slow, arduous climb to the middle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-sparks/no-i-m-not-angling-for-huge-fame-my-career-has-been-a-very-slow/) [Paul Sparks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-sparks/) > [I've always been of the mindset that you will be defined by the things you say 'no' to because it's so easy to say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-sparks/i-ve-always-been-of-the-mindset-that-you-will-be-defined-by-the/) [Paul Sparks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-sparks/) > [As far as the destiny of the character, I just play them until they're gone. I try not to get too involved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-sparks/as-far-as-the-destiny-of-the-character-i-just-play-them-until-they-re/) [Paul Sparks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-sparks/) > [The characters I've played that I like the most are people that have a lot of obstacles. They have a lot of bad things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-sparks/the-characters-i-ve-played-that-i-like-the-most-are-people-that-have/) [Paul Sparks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-sparks/) > [Death scenes are hard. Sex scenes are hard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-sparks/death-scenes-are-hard-sex-scenes-are-hard/) [Paul Sparks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-sparks/) > [I just came home one day and, in a midlife-crisis sort of way, I told my wife, 'I'm going to run a marathon,' not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-sparks/i-just-came-home-one-day-and-in-a-midlife-crisis-sort-of-way-i-told/) [Paul Sparks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-sparks/) > [I think that's kind of nice that there's this kind of inherent respect between runners who do a marathon. People respect somebody who has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-sparks/i-think-that-s-kind-of-nice-that-there-s-this-kind-of-inherent/) [Paul Sparks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-sparks/) > [A lot of times, sets are not such fun places to be, and especially television sets, because everybody works so hard, and everybody's kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-sparks/a-lot-of-times-sets-are-not-such-fun-places-to-be-and-especially/) [Paul Sparks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-sparks/) > [I'm pretty fortunate that my beard - if I shave it off, I look like a completely different person. My face, it transforms. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-sparks/i-m-pretty-fortunate-that-my-beard-if-i-shave-it-off-i-look-like-a/) [Paul Sparks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-sparks/) > [If I was able to be omniscient and look at my career objectively, I'd be very happy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-sparks/if-i-was-able-to-be-omniscient-and-look-at-my-career-objectively-i-d/) [Paul Sparks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-sparks/) > [When I got out of school, I just started doing plays of the off-off-Broadway route, and for many years, that's what I did, slowly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-sparks/when-i-got-out-of-school-i-just-started-doing-plays-of-the-off-off/) [Paul Sparks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-sparks/) [Explore all 22 Paul Sparks quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-sparks/) ## More Art quotes > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“Hear the sum of the whole matter in the compass of one brief word — every art possessed by man comes from Prometheus.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/hear-the-sum-of-the-whole-matter-in-the-compass-of-one-brief-word/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/) [Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/) > [The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-capacity-to-be-puzzled-is-the-premise-of-all-creation-be-it-in/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [That's the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/) [Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/) > [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/) [Taf Teh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taf-teh/) > [The house has to serve comfort. The work of art is revolutionary; the house is conservative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-loos/the-house-has-to-serve-comfort-the-work-of-art-is-revolutionary-the/) [Adolf Loos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-loos/) > [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [I think a business guy is different from an artist. They walk different paths. Artists create the best outputs when they're having fun. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-dragon/i-think-a-business-guy-is-different-from-an-artist-they-walk/) [G-Dragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-dragon/) > [“The only thing--I tell you this straight from the heart--that disgusts me in Salzburg is that one can't have any proper social intercourse with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/the-only-thing-i-tell-you-this-straight-from-the-heart-that-disgusts/) [Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/) > [The sublime in art is the attempt to express the infinite without finding in the realm of phenomena any object which proves itself fitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/the-sublime-in-art-is-the-attempt-to-express-the-infinite-without/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) > [Art isn't done to decorate apartments, but to wage war against the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-isn-t-done-to-decorate-apartments-but-to-wage-war-against-the/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) [Browse all 48,643 Art quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There's a real art to telling a story in two hours, and that will always be something that people are very, very interested in.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Paul Sparks" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-sparks/there-s-a-real-art-to-telling-a-story-in-two-hours-and-that-will/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-sparks/there-s-a-real-art-to-telling-a-story-in-two-hours-and-that-will/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec2/paul-sparks-26224_art_there-s-a-real-art-to-telling-a-story-in_2748691.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec2/paul-sparks-26224_art_there-s-a-real-art-to-telling-a-story-in_2748691.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec2/paul-sparks-26224_art_there-s-a-real-art-to-telling-a-story-in_2748691.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There's a real art to telling a story in two hours, and that will always be something that people are very…” — Paul Sparks", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Paul Sparks", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-sparks/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "There's a real art to telling...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-sparks/there-s-a-real-art-to-telling-a-story-in-two-hours-and-that-will/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-sparks/there-s-a-real-art-to-telling-a-story-in-two-hours-and-that-will/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```