Gatsby turned out all right at the end; it is what preyed on Gatsby, what foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams that temporarily closed out my interest in the abortive sorrows and short-winded elations of men.

Find the key emotion; this may be all you need know to find your short story.

If he had to bring all the bitterness and hatred of the world into his heart, he was not going to be in love with her again.

Books are like brothers. I am an only child. Gatsby [is] my imaginary eldest brother.

Murder your darlings.

Sometimes I think that idlers seem to be a special class for whom nothing can be planned, plead as one will with them - their only contribution to the human family is to warm a seat at the common table.

Want any of this stuff? Jordan?... Nick?" I didn't answer. Nick?" he asked again. What?" Want any?" No... I just remembered that today's my birthday." I was thirty. Before me stretched the portentous, menacing road of a new decade.