“I know when a story is finished when there is not a single thing more I can think to do to it. And since I know at the start what the last line will be, I know when I've reached that point as logically as I can that it's finished. As for the rewriting-it's not foolproof, of course, but if you're honest about having thought of every possibility and you still come back to what you have, what more can you do?” IfsThinkingKnowsWritingStillsI CanStoriesLastsCoursesLinesHonestPossibilityFinishedRewritingFoolproof Author:Amy Hempel
“Journalism taught me how to write a sentence that would make someone want to read the next one. You are trained to get rid of anything nonessential. You go in, you start writing your article, assuming a person's going to stop reading the minute you give them a reason. So the trick is: don't give them one.” WantGivingWritingPersonsReasonReadingNextMinutesTaughtAssumingSentencesTricksJournalismArticlesThe Next One Author:Amy Hempel
“Sometimes a flat-footed sentence is what serves, so you don't get all writerly: 'He opened the door.' There, it's open.” WritingSometimesDoorsSentencesFlats Author:Amy Hempel
“I could claim any number of high-flown reasons for writing, just as you can explain certain dogs behavior... But maybe, it’s that they’re dog, and that’s what dogs do.” WritingReasonCertainNumbersDogBehaviorClaims Author:Amy Hempel
“I do feel that if you can write one good sentence and then another good sentence and then another, you end up with a good story.” IfsFeelsWritingEndsStoriesSentencesGood Story Author:Amy Hempel
“I started writing by doing small related things but not the thing itself, circling it and getting closer. I had no idea how to write fiction. So I did journalism because there were rules I could learn. You can teach someone to write a news story. They might not write a great one, but you can teach that pretty easily.” WritingIdeasStoriesMightFictionTeachNewsJournalismNo IdeaRelatedGreat OnesNews Stories Author:Amy Hempel
“Obviously, in journalism, you're confined to what happens. And the tendency to embellish, to mythologize, it's in us. It makes things more interesting, a closer call. But journalism taught me how to write a sentence that would make someone want to read the next one.” WantWritingHappensNextInterestingTaughtSentencesTendenciesJournalismConfinedThe Next One Author:Amy Hempel
