Emily was feeling the elation of conscientious hosts when they can temporarily escape a ubiquitous houseguest.

The more original a short-story writer, the odder looking the assortment of things he or she puts together for a story.

It is very difficult to teach navigation theory to someone who clings to the shore.

No work of literature is the product of only one or two conscious ideas. A story is mysteriously dense of meaning.

Literature has low enough standards. But we can avoid writing the worst literature if we make ourselves ask ourselves, every two or three sentences we write, 'Is that what I really think?'

There isn't a thought or feeling that doesn't alter or deepen when written. We are a writing animal. That is why all of us feel we have a book inside us. It isn't an illusion. We have got a book inside us.

Apprenticeship is one of the dearest roles of childhood, not just watching Dad or Mother, but being taught a hands-on trade.