98 Short Story Quotes for You to Enjoy

I never really wanted to be a writer. I know it sounds strange, but I honestly believe that I didn't pick the story; the story has picked me. I've written absolutely no fiction before 'The Immortals of Meluha.' Not even a short story in school - absolutely nothing. Amish Tripathi

Me Strange School Before Nothing Believe Honestly Immortal Absolutely Writer Absolutely Nothing Never Pick Picked Written Know Sounds Short Fiction Wanted Short Story Story Really Even

I do think that short story writing is often a matter of luck. Robert Sheckley

Writing Matter Luck Think Often Short Short Story Story

I pretty much drink a cup of coffee, write in my journal for a while, and then sit at a computer in my office and torture the keys. My one saving grace as a writer is that, if I'm having trouble with the novel I'm writing, I write something else, a poem or a short story. I try to avoid writer's block by always writing something. Jess Walter

Writing Grace Try Coffee Trouble Sit Saving Saving Grace Else Keys Torture Pretty Something Poem Something Else Having Drink Computer Write Writer Journal Always Block Cup Office Short Short Story Story While Then Much Avoid Novel

Because I really love tax, tax topics actually feature quite a lot in my fiction of various lengths. I once wrote a science fiction short story centered around the idea of an alien tax code, and the idea that you can understand a society by parsing its tax code. Ken Liu

Love You Science Alien Society Once Topics Various Feature Idea Wrote Because Science Fiction Around Understand Lot Quite Quite A Lot Short Tax Fiction Tax Code Short Story Centered Story Really Code Actually

Like pretty much every short story writer, I submitted to every market under the sun and hoped for the best. The rejection letters I've collected over the years can probably make a book of their own. Ken Liu

I studied the short story as part of my creative writing course at university but then set off as a novelist. Generally, there is a sense that even if you want to write short stories, you need to do a novel first. Sarah Hall

You Creative Writing First Sense Write Generally Studied Part Course Off Short Want Stories Short Stories Short Story Story Then Even Novel Creative Writing Novelist Need Set University

The truth is, you have about three paragraphs in a short story, three pages in a novel, to capture that editor's attention enough for her to finish your story. Nancy Kress

Truth You Truth Is Three Enough Paragraphs About Finish Attention Editor Short Short Story Story Pages Your Novel Capture Her

The most-asked question when someone describes a novel, movie or short story to a friend probably is, 'How does it end?' Endings carry tremendous weight with readers; if they don't like the ending, chances are they'll say they didn't like the work. Failed endings are also the most common problems editors have with submitted works. Nancy Kress

Work Ending Problems Tremendous Say Carry Someone Weight Failed Like Most Also Readers Does How Editors Question Friend End Submitted Endings Short Common Movie Short Story Story Works Novel Chances

A brief short story may require only a few paragraphs after the climax. On the other hand, in his massive novel 'The World According to Garp,' John Irving's denouement consisted of 10 separate sections, each devoted to an individual character's fate and each almost a story in itself. Nancy Kress

Character World Fate Few Other Sections Paragraphs John Only Individual Almost Massive Devoted Climax His Hand According Itself May Short After Short Story Story Require Separate Novel Each Brief

I wrote my first short story for a competition and won second prize. Another competition came up and I won first prize. The first story was published in a newspaper. The second went out on radio. Ian Rankin

Competition First Out Wrote Another Came Up Won Prize Short Short Story Story Newspaper Radio Published Second

My highest point was the first thing I won, a short story competition in a women's magazine in the Eighties. It was the first time I'd had my writing validated, and the first thing I'd ever shown anyone else. Kate Atkinson

Time Women Writing Competition First Else Validated Magazine Point Had Highest First Thing First Time Won Short The First Thing Anyone Anyone Else Eighties Short Story Story Shown Ever Thing

I have a musical called Goodbye and Good Luck, based on a Grace Paley short story. I also have King Island Christmas, and there are 20 different productions of it this year. David Friedman

Christmas Good Grace King Year Luck Good Luck Musical Goodbye Also Island Short Different Short Story Story Productions Based

A typical twenty-page short story would work quite well as a graphic novel. A single graphic novel of maybe 120 pages would condense down into a short story quite nicely. Richard K. Morgan

Work Single Down Typical Would Well Condense Quite Maybe Short Short Story Story Pages Graphic Novel Nicely

For me, writing a short story is much, much harder than writing a novel. Lynn Abbey

Me Writing Than Short Short Story Story Much Novel Harder

One of the last courses I taught was on the Russian short story, which I love. Tobias Wolff

Love Russian Courses Short Taught Short Story Story Which Last

It's probably why I'm a short story writer. I tend to remember things in the past in narrative form, in story form, and I grew up around people who told stories all the time. Tobias Wolff

Time People Remember Past Tend Writer Around Narrative Up Short Form Grew Stories In The Past Short Story Story Who Why Things

The short story, on the other hand, is the perfect American form. Tobias Wolff

Other Perfect Hand American Short Form Short Story Story