The great pleasure for me in writing short stories is the fierce, elegant challenge. Votes: 4
There's a joy in writing short stories, a wonderful sense of reward when you pull certain things off. Votes: 4
I've always been ambidextrous, writing short stories and novels, and I pretty much have been writing a novel and a handful of short stories every year since '91. Votes: 4
I started writing because I wanted to write scripts, but I wasn't very good at it. Then I started writing short stories, sort of as treatments for the film scripts, and I found I enjoyed writing short stories far more than I enjoyed writing film scripts. Then the short stories got longer and longer and suddenly, I had novels. Votes: 4
I had been writing for the 'Late Show' for about four years when I started writing short stories. I had a blast writing the stories because I was writing in a voice more my own, as opposed to a man's. HBO ended up buying four of them. I think that had a direct impact on my decision to write a book. Votes: 4
I am content when writing short stories. Votes: 3
I'm used to writing short stories, which is primarily what I like to read. Votes: 3
If writing novels is like planting a forest, then writing short stories is more like planting a garden. Votes: 3
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. Votes: 3
I've been writing short stories for twenty years now, on and off ever since I was in the creative writing program at San Francisco State University. Votes: 3
I feel quite at home writing short stories but nervous and anxious when writing novels, as if the bad time of consecutive failures might arise again. Votes: 3
The first fiction I ever wrote was short stories. I was writing short stories in my late teens and early twenties, and I think it's how you teach yourself to write. Votes: 3
When I was in college, I wrote poetry very seriously, and then once I had started writing short stories, I didn't go back to poetry, partially because I felt like I understood how incredibly difficult it was. Votes: 3
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 can't do what they do, but reading them gives me hope that I'll learn something from them. Votes: 3
Like many writers, I started by writing short stories. I needed to learn how to write and stories are the most practical way to do this, and less soul-destroying than working your way through a lengthy novel and then discovering it's rubbish. Votes: 3
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 foreign ones, my bank manager - they all felt and keep feeling that I'm doing something wrong here. Votes: 3
I started writing short stories. I tried writing horror, mystery, science fiction. I joined a little critique group here in town and ran my stories past them. After about three years, I tackled my first novel, Subterranean. It took me 11 months to write. Votes: 3
You can write when you're dyslexic, you just can't read it. But I started writing short stories as a child and I found the short story format a real nice one. I love short stories and I love short documentaries or short films of any kind. Votes: 3
I started off doing fiction in 1993. It didn't occur to me to do nonfiction because it wasn't a thing yet. So I was bumbling around, writing short stories, and then I took a nonfiction workshop, and I realized that this was what I was supposed to do. Votes: 3
I began writing early - very, very early... I was already writing short stories for the radio and selling poems to poetry and art festivals; I was involved in school plays; I wrote essays, so there was no definite moment when I said, 'Now I'm a writer.' I've always been a writer. Votes: 3
I started by writing short stories, but they weren't very good; I tried them on various magazines, and none of them was published. People were nicer then about turning you down, and so I didn't lose heart - I kept on writing and wrote a lot of books, one or two of which I finished, and others I didn't. Votes: 3
I do think that short story writing is often a matter of luck. Votes: 2
For me, writing a short story is much, much harder than writing a novel. Votes: 2
Once I started writing novels, I understood how hard it was to write really good short stories. Votes: 2
I'm very interested in writing - it just takes so much discipline, whether it's short stories or novels. Votes: 2
I feel a bigger sense of fulfillment when writing a novel, and short stories are more about instant gratification. Votes: 2
I think it's a short story writer's duty, as well as writing well about emotions and characters, to write story. Votes: 2
I consider myself a writer. I don't favour any type of writing. I sometimes wish short stories came more easily to me. Votes: 2
I was well traveled, and I created this illusion of literacy through reading and writing. I wrote a book of short stories. Votes: 2
I started writing about New York as soon as I arrived. I was 19. I used to write short stories and send them out. Votes: 2
The first writing I did was short short stories for a newspaper syndicate for which I was paid five dollars a piece on publication. Votes: 2
I want to do some fiction writing, I've had some pretty good luck with short stories, I'd like to do a couple of larger things. Votes: 2
I'm not a writer. I think I can write short stories and poetry, but film writing, brilliant film writing, is a talent - you can't just do it like that. Votes: 2
The short story seems like the best of all possible worlds. I do feel it is closer to writing poetry than to writing a novel, with its requirements of concentration and economy. Votes: 2
On the other hand, now that I'm not dependent on fiction for my income, I've been writing more short stories despite the fact that there's no real paying market for short horror other than Cemetery Dance. Votes: 2
If you were writing a short ghost story, I would say start very quietly and go, 'One, two, three jump.' Or start with a jump and make it jumpier. But with a long story, it must have rises and falls. Votes: 2
Writing is my number one passion. I've written two novels. I've written a screenplay. I also write short stories and poetry. Votes: 0
If you write a hundred short stories and they're all bad, that doesn't mean you've failed. You fail only if you stop writing. Votes: 0
I'll give you the whole secret to short story writing. Here it is. Rule 1: Write stories that please yourself. There is no Rule 2. Votes: 0
Experiments with the "as if" of fiction are often more lively in poetry and criticism and other modes of writing than in weak short stories or novels. Votes: 0
Though The Kite Runner was my first completed novel, I had been writing on and off for most of my life, primarily short stories, and primarily for myself. Votes: 0
I do write a lot of prose. It's not disciplined enough yet that it's actually become stories, or short stories. The idea of writing a novel seems impossible. Votes: 0
I have been tossing around the idea of writing some non-fiction. Maybe a collection of short stories about my experience being a mom and how not to be perfect. Votes: 0
Short cuts make long delays. Votes: 4 J. R. R. Tolkien
True love stories never have endings. Votes: 6 Richard Bach
The true alchemists do not change lead into gold; they change the world into words. Votes: 6 William H. Gass