“Drug programs began to turn their attention and money away from prevention and into maintenance. Methadone was cheaper than social workers, I suppose.” TurnsSocialAttentionDrugProgramWorkersCheaperMaintenancePreventionSocial WorkerMethadone Author:John Dufresne
“I lost my job and started painting houses with a friend. The marriage had ended about the same time the career did.” JobsHouseLostCareersPainting Author:John Dufresne
“I think I've learned to be mindful. I may not have taken the time to try to understand narrative techniques, let's say, with any rigor, if I did not also have to try to explain those techniques to someone else.” IfsThinkingTryingMayTakenTechniqueNarrativeI've LearnedRigor Author:John Dufresne
“Reading is also a creative activity if you're doing it right. You can learn more from a story that's left the tracks than from a successful story.” IfsStoriesReadingLeftCreativeSuccessfulActivityTrack Author:John Dufresne
“What you create when you're teaching fiction writing is a kind of literary salon, not a social club or a mutual admiration society, not a debating society, not a repair shop, not a fight club or a soap box. It's a place to have a conversation about a story.” WritingKindStoriesFightingSocialFictionTeachingConversationBoxesClubsShopsMutualAdmirationSoapFiction WritingSalonsMutual Admiration Author:John Dufresne
“As a writer you can and should expect to hear conflicting responses to your story.” ShouldStoriesResponse Author:John Dufresne
“Writing a story, you understand, is not done by consensus. But we do learn from each other, and we remind ourselves how important this work we're doing is.” WritingImportantDoneStoriesConsensus Author:John Dufresne
“The facts, however, are unimportant in fiction. It's not the events of my life that I mine, but the emotional experiences I've had.” FactsFictionEventsEmotionalMinesUnimportant Author:John Dufresne
“The regional tags are often pejorative and dismissive. Don't think of place-bound stories, in other words, but of stories with a strong sense of place.” ThinkingStoriesStrongBoundsTagSense Of Place Author:John Dufresne