“I think a day in your life on which nothing bad happens may be a wonderful day, but it probably isn't going to be the basis of a story.” ThinkingMayStoriesHappensWonderfulBasesWonderful Day Author:Alice Mattison
“We have to give our poor, innocent, and undeserving-of-our-badness characters trouble in order to make them characters in a story.” GivingCharacterStoriesOrderPoorTroubleInnocentBadnessUndeserving Author:Alice Mattison
“I began to see, again and again, stories that were first confusing and second where the emotional impact was muted because the big scene came before the explanation of what was going on. There was a reverse chronological order as well as a concealment of what exactly was going on. I think often that comes out of the fear of being boring, and sometimes I think it's just an attempt to seem clever.” ThinkingFirstsWellsSometimesStoriesBigsSeemsOrderEmotionalSceneImpactBoringCleverExplanationAgain And AgainReverseConfusingConcealment Author:Alice Mattison
“I've been astonished how often, when I convince a writer to tell a story more straightforwardly and to tell it more simply and directly, it turns out that this author is great and the story is wonderful.” StoriesTurnsWonderfulConvince Author:Alice Mattison
“Sometimes people want to know how to write a story from the point of view of a murderer and make her sympathetic. I think the answer is that you start by having her look for her car keys, because everybody knows what it's like.” PeopleThinkingKnowsWantWritingLooksSometimesStoriesAnswersViewsKnow HowCarKeysPoint Of ViewMurdererSympatheticCar Keys Author:Alice Mattison