“When I started graduate school we did this publishing class where we learned about submitting and read interviews with editors from different magazines. A lot of them said they got so many submissions that unless the first page stuck out or the first paragraph or even the first sentence they'll probably send it back. So part of my idea was that if I have a really good first sentence maybe they'll read on a bit further. At least half, maybe more of the stories in Knockemstiff started with the first sentence; I got it down then went from there.” IfsFirstsSaidIdeasDifferentStoriesSchoolBitsHalfClassPagesSentencesStuckMagazinesInterviewsEditorsGraduatesPublishingSubmissionParagraphGraduate School Author:Donald Ray Pollock
“I had this bad habit of not writing out a first draft and going back. For me it was the first sentence, then the second sentence, and I might be several weeks on the first page instead of writing a draft and trying to figure it out from there.” WritingTryingFirstsMightWeekFiguresHabitPagesSentencesBad Habits Author:Donald Ray Pollock
“I'm trying to break myself of that habit [of not writing out a first draft ] because I'm working on a couple novels and I know if I tried to write those books the way I wrote the stories it would take me years to finish.” IfsKnowsWayWritingTryingYearsFirstsBookStoriesBreakNovelCoupleHabitTake Me Author:Donald Ray Pollock
“When I first started out, I was trying to write stories about nurses and lawyers and a lot of people I didn't know anything about, and they just weren't working.” PeopleKnowsWritingTryingFirstsStoriesLawyerNurse Author:Donald Ray Pollock
“The Oxys filled holes in me I hadn't realized were empty. It was, at least for those first few months, a wonderful way to be disabled. I felt blessed.” WayFirstsFeltWonderfulMonthsEmptyBlessedFilledHolesDisabled Author:Donald Ray Pollock
