The purpose of a short story is ... that the reader shall come away with the satisfactory feeling that a particular insight into human character has been gained, or that his (or her) knowledge of life has been deepened, or that pity, love or sympathy for a human being is awakened.

A story is the shortest distance between a human being and the truth.

A short story must have a single mood and every sentence must build towards it.

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.

Story is metaphor for life.

Stories are the creative conversion of life itself into a more powerful, clearer, more meaningful experience. They are the currency of human contact.

Stories are the creative conversion of life itself into a more powerful, clearer, more meaningful experience. They are the currency of human contact.

You have to understand, my dears, that the shortest distance between truth and a human being is a story.

A story is like something you wind out of yourself. Like a spider, it is a web you weave, and you love your story like a child.

She said that sometimes she uses a formula when writing a short story, which goes ABDCE, for Action, Background, Development, Climax, and Ending.

A novel is achieved with hard work, the short story with inspiration.

This is a short book because most books about writing are filled with bullshit. I figured the shorter the book, the less bullshit.

Story is metaphor for life and life is lived in time.

Curiously, there are many perfect short stories, but no perfect novels.