There’s no right way to tell all stories, only the right way to tell a particular story.

There are writers who do start doing the same thing again and again and almost inevitably fall into self-parody.

You have to be kind of clued into them, they are a world of their own, and most people find them disappointing because the best short stories are not constructed like novels.

You don't teach information in a writing workshop.

Because I don't have to be careful of people's feelings when I teach literature, and I do when I'm teaching writing.

Everything has to be pulling weight in a short story for it to be really of the first order.

Work for most people is really very social, and the actual thinking is often done in community.