it’s a forest

The View from the Cheap Seats

Find the Right Rhythm

"I think a story, when properly told, finds its own natural length.  If you try to extend it too much, it just stretches and begins to bore, and if you try to compress it too much, it just fractures.  So you just hope that you can find the right rhythm.  It's a musical thing.  You feel it out, you cut back, you switch things around—until it feels entirely natural.  A story should feel easy when of course it's far from easy." (artist)

it’s an art, not a science

"Short stories are the same: they generally thrive on very severe attention. But it’s an art, not a science, so some writers ... need a certain ornateness to achieve their effect."

present it to the world

"It is our job as writers to do the work, have the courage to bring it out and present it to the world, because that's why we are here."

do it better or different that it's been done before

"You have to do it better or different that it's been done before, otherwise there's no point doing it.  But that challenge is what makes writing a book ... so much fun."