Quotes about Short Stories

David Burnett was the son of Martha Foley, who edited the Best American Short Stories series. She hired me to work with David and her to read stories for the anthology. Votes: 3

Most of my short stories are fantasy. Votes: 2

I would say that all short stories have mystery naturally built into them. Votes: 2

Suspense is very important. Even though this is humor and they're short stories, that theory of building suspense is still there. 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 have always loved short stories. I have been at least as influenced by the short story masters as I have been by novelists. Votes: 2

My favorite author is Anton Chekhov, not so much for the plays but for his short stories, and I think he was really my tutor. Votes: 2

Every decade, we get a stunning collection of dynamic, heartbreaking short stories. In the past, those collections came from Barry Hannah, Mark Richard, and Thom Jones. Votes: 2

But at the same time, I have trouble keeping things out of books, which is why I don't write short stories because they turn into novels. Votes: 2

Anything is possible on a train: a great meal, a binge, a visit from card players, an intrigue, a good night's sleep, and strangers' monologues framed like Russian short stories. Votes: 2

I used to take my short stories to girls' homes and read them to them. Can you imagine the reaction reading a short story to a girl instead of pawing her? Votes: 2

Short stories consume you faster. They're connected to brevity. With the short story, you are up against mortality. I know how tough they are as a form, but they're also a total joy. Votes: 2

Short stories are tiny windows into other worlds and other minds and dreams. They are journeys you can make to the far side of the universe and still be back in time for dinner. Votes: 2

Hemingway is terribly limited. His technique is good for short stories, for people who meet once in a bar very late at night, but do not enter into relations. But not for the novel. Votes: 2

I've made seventeen or eighteen films now, only two of which have been original screenplays, all the others have been based on short stories or novels, and I find the long short story ideal for adaptation. Votes: 2

As a teenager I wrote to R.A. Lafferty. And he responded, too, with letters that were like R.A. Lafferty short stories, filled with elliptical answers to straight questions and simple answers to complicated ones. Votes: 2

I think of myself as a writer who photographs. Images, for me, can be considered poems, short stories or essays. And I've always thought the best place for my photographs was inside books of my own creation. Votes: 2

Oscar Wilde always makes me smile - with respect and admiration. His short stories prove that it is possible to be both sarcastic, even cynical, but deeply compassionate. Just seeing the cover of one of Wilde's books in a bookshop makes me smile. Votes: 2

I found that I could write two kinds of short stories: I could write very absurd, kind of surrealistic, funny stories; or I could write very dark, realistic - hyper-realistic - stories. I was never happy with that, because I couldn't meld the two. Votes: 2

I love YA, and it's been a really good fit for me. But at some point, I would like to try something else: a collection of short stories, or writing about something other than high school. A lot has happened to me since I was eighteen. Votes: 2

My first serious attempts at writing were made in 1868, and I took up two very different lines of composition; I wrote some short stories of a very flimsy type, and also a work of a much more ambitious character, 'The Lives of the Black Letter Saints.' Votes: 2

I was a good student, but a speech impediment was causing problems. One of my teachers decided that I couldn't pronounce certain words at all. She thought that if I wrote something, I would use words I could pronounce. I began writing little poems. I began to write short stories, too. Votes: 2

I was incredibly determined - I wrote short stories, I wrote the beginnings of novels. I wrote a little children's book and sent it to the editor-in-chief of the children's division of Simon and Schuster and she asked me to write a little children's book for a series she was doing. Votes: 2

Others, amounting to four novels and a mess of short stories which I did not think worth preserving, I have done my best to eliminate from the record by refusing all requests for permission to reprint them, and I hope I have done a good job of making them hard to unearth. Votes: 2

As an actor, there is room for a certain amount of creativity, but you're always ultimately going to be saying somebody else's words. I don't think I'd have the stamina, skill or ability to write a novel, but I'd love to write short stories and poetry, because those are my two passions. Votes: 2

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: 2

How much energy is wasted in Italy in trying to write the novel that obeys all the rules. The energy might have been useful to provide us with more modest, more genuine things, that had less pretensions: short stories, memoirs, notes, testimonials, or at any rate, books that are open, without a preconceived plan. Votes: 2

I am content when writing short stories. Votes: 0

I write short stories. I write every day. Votes: 0

I write short stories, and I wrote a play. Votes: 0

I decided to write short stories because they got rejected quicker. Votes: 0

Much contemporary verse reads like failed short-short stories rather than failed poetry. Votes: 0

I find that short stories are almost like palate cleansers or brain cleansers. Votes: 0

I've written over 100 short stories. You could say I'm obsessed with short stories. Votes: 0

I love short stories because I believe they are the way we live, Votes: 0

I'm going to marry my novels and have little short stories for children. Votes: 0

The great pleasure for me in writing short stories is the fierce, elegant challenge. Votes: 0

I'm used to writing short stories, which is primarily what I like to read. Votes: 0

I actually think that short stories transfer to film much better than novels do. Votes: 0

Short stories are tiny windows into other worlds and other minds and other dreams Votes: 0

I have written about 240 books and some short stories, too. It's taken me many years. Votes: 0

Fiction came quite a while later. I began with short stories and fiction for children. Votes: 0

My favorite short stories are by Alice Munro, especially her collections 'Carried Away' and 'Runaway.' Votes: 0

Short stories demand a certain awareness of one's own intentions, a certain narrowing of the focus. Votes: 0

Fiction is about feeling, which is to say that short stories are about all of us. Votes: 0

It's tricky to take a book of short stories and turn it into a feature film. Votes: 0

Once I started writing novels, I understood how hard it was to write really good short stories. Votes: 0

I'm much more drawn to fiction, to short stories, and to plays, than I am to diarists. Votes: 0

To be interested in short stories, you have to be interested in fiction as an art form. Votes: 0

Write a short story every week. It's not possible to write 52 bad short stories in a row. Votes: 0

Don't try to write a novel. Write short stories and then figure out how to connect them. Votes: 0

A novel is what you call something that won't sell if you call it poems or short stories. Votes: 0

Alice Munro is a particular kind of short story writer in that she writes long, character-driven short stories. Votes: 0

I'm mostly a novelist these days, but I have written short stories in Fantasy, Science Fiction and horror. Votes: 0

We are not quite novels. We are not quite short stories. In the end, we are collected works Votes: 0

Readers tend to devour short stories on a newssheet, but would be disinclined to read them in collections Votes: 0

Many of my short stories (all unpublished) were horror, and the novel I'd just finished was horror, too. Votes: 0

If writing novels is like planting a forest, then writing short stories is more like planting a garden. Votes: 0

I'm very interested in writing - it just takes so much discipline, whether it's short stories or novels. Votes: 0

If you look at my last songs and first short stories, there is a real connection between them. Votes: 0

There's a joy in writing short stories, a wonderful sense of reward when you pull certain things off. Votes: 0

I still read Hemingway. I still read his short stories because they're so good. He doesn't waste any words. Votes: 0

I feel a bigger sense of fulfillment when writing a novel, and short stories are more about instant gratification. Votes: 0

So many people can now write competent stories that the short story is in danger of dying of competence. Votes: 0

I work on words, mostly, toward them being poetry or short stories, and then some of those become songs. Votes: 0

I wrote short stories when I was a teenager, but they weren't any good and I kinda knew it. Votes: 0

The short stories tend to be a journalistic gathering of anecdotes that are put together to make something larger. Votes: 0

Read a short story every day. By the end of the week you would have read volumes of stories. Votes: 0

Obviously not a Stephen King level writer, but I'd written short stories and short fiction, from the time I was 12. Votes: 0

I mostly write short stories. They are best written in a continuous creative process. You have a feel of immediacy. Votes: 0

If a writer writes poems and short stories and novels, but nobody ever reads them, is she really a writer? Votes: 0

In short stories it is better to say not enough than to say too much, because, because--I don't know why. Votes: 0

Short stories are like individual jewel stones on a necklace, wonderful in themselves like standalone gleaming entities of semantic intensity. Votes: 0

[Red Dirt Marijuana] contains most of the great short stories in English that are not by Mr. Hemingway or Mr. O'Hara. Votes: 0

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

I prefer short stories, but publishers would, of course, rather that writers produce novels, since novels are still more commercially viable. Votes: 0

I write as a matter of need - seven books and God knows how many short stories before anyone published me. Votes: 0

When you want to say something very important, tell it with a short sentence! There is no time for long stories! Votes: 0

Every individual is an author in himself. It is only that he falls short of words to express; list of stories. Votes: 0

Short stories amount for the most part to parlour tricks, party favours with built-in snappers, gadgets for including recognition and reversals Votes: 0

I am also working on a couple of short stories for anthologies. This is new to me and I'm enjoying it. Votes: 0

I am also working on a couple of short stories for anthologies. This is new to me and Im enjoying it. Votes: 0

I love creating individual short stories within chapters, but I want to get better at building consistent narratives from start to finish. Votes: 0

Songwriters are expanding time rather than compressing time. My short stories tend to be old fashioned, with a beginning, middle and end. Votes: 0

In general, short stories are less read than before, they're less published than before and, not surprisingly, they're less taught than before. Votes: 0

There will always be stories that require a feature-length format, and there will always be stories that will be told in short-form. Votes: 0

I had a story-telling mother; she's written novels and short stories. So I feel like maybe I'm staying alive by telling tales. Votes: 0

I consider myself a writer. I don't favour any type of writing. I sometimes wish short stories came more easily to me. Votes: 0

You want to hear an agent scream, say, 'I'm thinking about doing a collection of short stories set in the Ozarks.' Votes: 0

With short stories, the story-teller must have a story to tell, not merely some sweet prose to take out for a walk Votes: 0

I have some other novels I want to write. I have a lot of short stories - I love the short story. Votes: 0

I think because I write so many short stories, it's not that hard to come up with characters that are not me. Votes: 0

In my short stories there's a lot of focus on people successfully and not successfully responding to some sorts of discomforts or instabilities. Votes: 0

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: 0

Short stories are fiction's R & D department, and failed or less-than-conclusive experiments are not just to be expected but to be hoped for. 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 think that writers have natural canvases, and my canvas, even in short stories, often seems to be the scope of a life. 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

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: 0

Children can't help but create: they need to put their mind on the page, they want to paint, to sculpt, to write short stories. Votes: 0

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: 0

The only way, I think, to learn to write short stories is to write them, and then try to discover what you have done. Votes: 0

Sometimes I try my hand at turning out small profundities and uncertain short stories, but I always end up with just one single word: God. Votes: 0

I began by doing book reviews on the typewriter and then went over to short stories on the machine, meanwhile sticking to pencil for poetry. Votes: 0

Short stories do not say this happened and this happened and this happened. They are a microcosm and a magnification rather than a linear progression. Votes: 0

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: 0

I've written short stories from male perspectives before, and I've never had a problem with it as long as I've understood the character's emotions and motivations. Votes: 0

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: 0

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: 0

I've read short stories that are as dense as a 19th century novel and novels that really are short stories filled with a lot of helium. Votes: 0

I write all the time. I do artwork that's part of a diary, and I write short stories to go with them pretty much every day. Votes: 0

'The Blade Itself' was my first book. Probably I should've tried a few short stories first, but for some reason I decided to begin with Everest. Votes: 0

Everything Sholom Aleichem talks about in his plays and his short stories is about people, family, man's relationship with his God, the breaking down of tradition. Votes: 0

I made several short films with very little dialogue. I'm still not a fan of talking heads. My stories are told with images as much as possible. Votes: 0

Novels are more difficult simply because they are longer and require more juggling, but short stories are closer to perfection, if you can get the language right. Votes: 0

This was my first novel [The Dissemblers ]. I've never seriously written short stories, and actually find short stories much more intimidating as an art form than novels. Votes: 0

When I started out in the early 1930s, there were a great many magazines that published short stories. Unfortunately, the short-story market has dwindled to almost nothing. 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

The first thing we see about a short story is its mystery. And in the best short stories, we return at the last to see mystery again Votes: 0

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: 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

READING, n. The general body of what one reads. In our country it consists, as a rule, of Indiana novels, short stories in "dialect" and humor in slang. 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

Though my short stories are the more readable, my novels do have more to say; and they will, if anyone has the patience for it, repay a rereading. Votes: 0

It's taken me 15 years to feel I might be able to write and publish short stories, and for the assiduous checks of the industry to allow some through. Votes: 0

Robert Louis Stevenson... I'm focusing on the late short stories that I was ignorant of. I always thought he was a boys' author, but he's not at all. Votes: 0

My short stories have always pushed twenty pages. That's no length for a short story to be. You either do them short like Carver or you stop trying. Votes: 0

When you write a novel you have to live with the characters for a long time. So I prefer short stories. I never wrote anything more than 250 pages. Votes: 0

I know it may sound silly, but I think my short stories have a life and identity of their own. They crop up in all sorts of places. Votes: 0

I write short stories when a little idea occurs to me, that I know isn't a part of a novel that will stand by itself and should be concentrated. Votes: 0

I don't think I'd have the stamina, skill or ability to write a novel, but I'd love to write short stories and poetry, because those are my two passions. Votes: 0

Short stories can be rather stark and bare unless you put in the right details. Details make stories human, and the more human a story can be, the better. Votes: 0

When people ask, "Is there any advice you'd give a young writer?," I say write short stories. They afford lots of failure. Pastiche is a great way to start. 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

The stories in Get In Trouble confirm once again that Kelly Link is a modern virtuoso of the form-playful and subversive required reading for anyone who loves short fiction. Votes: 0

Even when she was alive, Esther Kreitman's novels, short stories and translations received far less attention than the work of her famous brothers, I. J. and Isaac Bashevis Singer. Votes: 0

Three of my novels and a good number of my short stories are told from the point of view of men. I was brought up in a house of women. Votes: 0

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: 0

Short stories, for me, it's like you step inside this brand new car and you drive it and you drive it into a tree and you walk away from it. Votes: 0

When I went to university in Colorado, I was encouraged to write very innovative, experimental things, and some of the short stories in 'Bearded Ladies' are a little bit experimental. Votes: 0

Start with short stories. After all, if you were taking up rock climbing, you wouldn't start with Mount Everest. So if you're starting fantasy, don't start with a nine-book series. Votes: 0

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: 0

It wasn't until I started to read short stories - by people like Alice Munro, Mavis Gallant, John Updike... Eudora Welty - that I became excited about the possibilities of writing. Votes: 0

I see a correlation between short stories and songs, because of their length and for what they're meant to evoke. Combine certain words with melodies and it all becomes very moving. Votes: 0

You can't learn to write that way - by writing directly for the screen. Wait until you're 30. But in the meantime write 200 short stories. You've got to learn how to write! Votes: 0

I have a book in the pipeline of short stories. You want to hear an agent scream, say 'I'm thinking about doing a collection of short stories set in the Ozarks. Votes: 0

After I published my first book, my sister, known as Kali Willows, began writing. She fell as in love with it as I did. She has a number of short stories. Votes: 0

I've been writing songs since I was like six or seven. I've been writing poetry and short stories and stuff, but my first serious, serious song, I wrote when I was fourteen. Votes: 0

I have a book in the pipeline of short stories. You want to hear an agent scream, say 'I'm thinking about doing a collection of short stories set in the Ozarks.' Votes: 0

I loved short stories, and they were all I wanted to write. I love the compression of them and the exactitude needed to get a whole world into such a small space. Votes: 0

You have to be kind of clued into them, they are a world of their own, and most people find them disappointing because the best short stories are not constructed like novels. Votes: 0

In short stories there's more permission to be elliptical. You can have image-logic, or it's almost like a poem in that you can come to a lot of meanings within a short space. Votes: 0

I've published several virtually invisible novels and several dozen even more invisible short stories over the years, all of which give me joy - unlike the cumulative experience of seeking publishers for them! Votes: 0

I get stage fright with short stories. For me it feels like standup comedy: kill or die. I'm more confident when I begin a novel because I know I have space to fail. Votes: 0

Short stories and some short novels are close to poetry--with the fewest words they capture the essence of a situation, of a human being. It's like trying to pin down the eternal moment. Votes: 0

Short stories are designed to deliver their impact in as few pages as possible. A tremendous amount is left out, and a good short story writer learns to include only the most essential information. Votes: 0

Zachary Jernigan's short stories are in deep conversation with the history of the genre while maintaining a thoroughly modern sensibility. Here's a new writer who has found his voice. Listen to him and enjoy! Votes: 0

Can you write 200 words a day? 100? 50? In six months, 50 words a day is 9,000 words. That's 2-3 short stories. If you did 200 words every day, in three months that's 36,000 words. That's half a short novel. Votes: 0

A collection of short stories is generally thought to be a horrendous clinker; an enforced courtesy for the elderly writer who wants to display the trophies of his youth, along with his trout flies. Votes: 0

McGough: I'm sorry. I'm afraid I've caught poetry. Mr Bones: Oh really? Well, don't worry, sir - I used to suffer from short stories. McGough: Really? When? Mr Bones: Oh, once upon a time ... Votes: 0

If you're an American reader, you can love short stories the way other Americans love baseball; this is our game, people! We have more than two hundred years of know-how and knack, of creativity. Votes: 0

Short stories are often strong meat. Reading them, even listening to them, can be challenging, by which I do not mean hard work, simply that a certain amount of nerve and maturity is required. Votes: 0

We like to look out on the world and see ourselves, so we have many, many novels, memoirs, and short stories in Iraq that are largely about Americans in Iraq, doing what Americans do. Votes: 0

Snuffy and the Bull is one of several short stories from a time in our history which has been woven into the quilt of America and found within the eclectic tapestry of our culture. Votes: 0

That's why Tennessee Williams was a great writer. Poetically, dramatically, it was fantastic stuff. And with the landscape, the losers in life populating it. His short stories have got rhythm, something musical about them. Votes: 0

[Jorge Luis Borges] had short stories, and I was trying to learn how to write short stories, and then he had these things in the middle that were like fables, and I loved hearing fables. Votes: 0

Poetry, fiction as novels or short stories - these are autonomous as created by their authors. They should stand on their own, like pieces of furniture that should be judged as to their usefulness, elegance. Votes: 0

Short stories that's all it's ever been Don't you worry 'bout the ending Babe, before we begin I have seen the sun That's behind the rain I have felt the joy That's behind the pain. Votes: 0