Quotes about Story Writers

Having judged a few competitions, it's clear that novelists are often the laziest short story writers. Votes: 4

Los Angeles is a Yukon for crime-story writers. Votes: 3

In Hollywood, they think they know it all. You, as a writer, are essentially an outsider. Novelists and short-story writers, especially. Votes: 3

With ancient history writers most immediately in view, the author indicates "tendency to look to the virtues and vices of individuals when seeking causes. Votes: 3

My breakthrough as a reader was when I discovered the European adventure story writers - Alexander Dumas, Robert Louis Stevenson, Sir Walter Scott, to name a few. Votes: 3

A lot of artists start out as failed poets, then move on to being failed short-story writers before they finally break through to the big time and become failed novelists. Votes: 3

Let the novelists fret about consistency - story writers should feel free to jam; to get things right in new, surprising ways by allowing themselves, now and then, to get things wrong. Votes: 3

I mean, first, almost all writers these days teach because they don't make enough money publishing to live on, to support themselves - people like Tobias Wolff, Anne Beattie, Amy Hempel, Stuart Dybek; a lot of short story writers, for one thing. Votes: 3

I love the necessary ambiguity of short stories - there simply isn't time to render every detail, so much of the story that orbits the literal prose must happen in the reader's imagination. Who knows, maybe the dwindling attention spans means a lucrative future for short story writers. Votes: 3

My favorite short-story writer is John Cheever. Votes: 2

I'm a writer. I just love telling stories. Votes: 2

Mine is not a story to tell struggling writers. Votes: 2

As a writer, my only responsibility is to tell a compelling story. Votes: 2

When modern writers gave up telling stories, they gave up the greatest thing we had. Votes: 2

When you're a writer, you're always looking for conflict. It's conflict that drives great stories. Votes: 2

The writer interweaves a story with his own doubts, questions, and values. That is art. Votes: 2

I'm not a writer. I'm not smart. I couldn't possibly even write my own story. Votes: 2

It's a responsibility of the writer to get the reader out of the story somehow. Votes: 2

A good writer is basically a story teller, not a scholar or a redeemer of mankind. Votes: 2

Chekhov - shall I be blunt? - is the greatest short story writer who ever lived. Votes: 2

What writer wants to make compromises with story? Story is the only reason you're in it. Votes: 2

A good short-story writer has an instinct for sketching in just enough background to ground the specific story. Votes: 2

Alice Munro is a particular kind of short story writer in that she writes long, character-driven short stories. 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 wanted to be a literary writer, so I wrote story after story and sent them to 'The New Yorker.' Votes: 2

It's not easy to tell a story about writers and make that feel like a complete story and an interesting story. Votes: 2

I don't think it's going to be possible for the next generation of writers to tell stories without telling stories about telling stories. Votes: 2

I believe that stories find writers, writers don't find stories. With the 'Pendragon' series, I actually had multiple story ideas and decided that instead of writing them individually, I would create a character whose journey would thread them all together. Votes: 2

Mine is not a story to tell struggling writers, Votes: 0

We have story-makers and we have writers apparently most of the today's writing falls into the first category. Votes: 0

Writers are given one great story to tell their story. I’m telling my story as a political document. Votes: 0

This is the role of writers: to turn their tears into a story - and perhaps into a prayer. Votes: 0

Some writers keep a tighter rein on that than others. For short story collections I'm definitely in the loose-rein camp. Votes: 0

Journalists don't retire, writers don't retire. I'm still hoping for that other big story. There's always one just around the corner. Votes: 0

What the readers want is a good story, and what the writers always want to luck into, it's a good story. Votes: 0

I'm not famous for my back story investigations; I'm lucky that I work with good writers and it's usually in the script. Votes: 0

I like terrific writing, but I also like a terrific story. My favorite books have both, and they're by contemporary, commercial American writers. Votes: 0

Great writers know what to cut out. It's the same in life. Clear ambitions. Clear relationships. This is the stuff of good story. Votes: 0

I've told the same story twelve different ways, but I think that's just part of what writers do. Once may not be enough. Votes: 0

Let's not pretend there isn't a huge industry driven by the choices made by editors and writers who decide what a story is. Votes: 0

I'm not one of these 'the characters write themselves; the story just fell out of me' kind of writers. Wish it was like that. Votes: 0

I thought I was going to be a horror story writer. My influences were horror writers, like Rich Matheson, Ray Bradbury and Bram Stoker. Votes: 0

Don't mistake a good setup for a satisfying conclusion - many beginning writers end their stories when the real story is just ready to begin. Votes: 0

There are no such things as happy endings. Never. They're totally manufactured by fiction writers who choose to end the story on a high point. Votes: 0

All writers are liars. They twist events to suit themselves. They make use of their own tragedies to make a better story... They are terrible people. Votes: 0

All writers are different, each have their own artist way they go about telling a story. The only thing they have in common, is they write. Votes: 0

Writers do not have the privilege of sleep. There is always a story coming alive in their heads, constantly composing. Whether they choose it or not. Votes: 0

Everybody walks past a thousand story ideas every day. The good writers are the ones who see five or six of them. Most people don't see any. Votes: 0

My sister and brother are both writers as well. We are constantly discussing story and plot lines. And I love to discuss story ideas with my husband. Votes: 0

I love seeing the light go on in aspiring writers' eyes when you point out ways to improve their prose or their story - when they get it. Votes: 0

Writers need restrictions. If somebody just says, "Hey, do you want to write a novel, or an article, or a movie, or a short story, you get shut down." Votes: 0

Writers would submit scripts to me, and if I liked one well enough to submit to magazine editors, I had the know-how whether the story was good or bad. Votes: 0

All of us ambitious young writers hoped to have a cover story in Esquire, of course. The idea was to write the best, most entertaining article that you can. Votes: 0

All writers know how important a good title is. It's the first thing readers see, along with a knock-your-socks-off cover - a seductive 'come hither' for the story within. Votes: 0

I've been many kinds of writers in my career: novelist; tele-playwright; short story writer. As a high-school student, I wrote amateur pieces for fanzines, and I've written for Hollywood. Votes: 0