“Someone wrote a piece about Henry Green in The Partisan Review that was so intriguing that I got one of his novels, Loving, I believe, which was the first that came to attention in the United States.” FirstsBelieveStatesI BelieveUnitedAttentionUnited StatesNovelPiecesGreenReviewsIntriguingPartisans Author:Terry Southern
“After the initial critical learning period of youth is over, the areas of the brain that need to be 'turned on' to allow enhanced, long lasting learning can only be activated when something important, surprising, or novel occurs, or if we make the effort to pay close attention.” IfsNeedsLongImportantEffortPayAttentionBrainKnowledgeNovelYouthPeriodsAreasCriticalLastingSurprisingInitialsLong Lasting Author:Norman Doidge
“If Edgar Allan Poe were alive today, his agent would be constantly slapping him upside the head with tightly rolled copies of his brilliant short stories and novelettes, yelling, 'Full-length novels, you moron! Pay attention! What's the matter with you -- are you shooting heroin or something? Write for the market! No more of this midlength 'Fall of the House of Usher' crap” IfsWritingMatterStoriesWould BeTodayFallHousePayAttentionNovelAliveBrilliantAgentsPay AttentionShootingLengthCopiesShort StoryCrapYellingHeroinLive For TodayMoronSlappingAllan Poe Author:Dean Koontz
“Deep attention, the cognitive style traditionally associated with the humanities, is characterized by concentrating on a single object for long periods (say, a novel by Dickens), ignoring outside stimuli while so engaged, preferring a single information stream, and having a high tolerance for long focus times. Hyper attention is characterized by switching focus rapidly among different tasks, preferring multiple information streams, seeking a high level of stimulation, and having a low tolerance for boredom.” LongDifferentHumanityLevelsAttentionNovelFocusStyleInformationObjectsPeriodsLowsTasksSeekingToleranceEngagedStreamsBoredomMultipleStimulusConcentratingCognitiveHigh LevelDickensStimulationHyperSwitching Author:N. Katherine Hayles
“If my setting is new to a reader, or the concerns of the novel are new, I hope they will learn something about the world. I would like to say that they can trust that what they do learn in the novel will be accurate, because I pay a lot of attention to facts. I do a lot of research to make sure that I'm not giving them, you know, blue moons of Jupiter. It's not science fiction.” IfsKnowsWorldGivingFactsPayAttentionFictionNovelReaderMoonResearchConcernBlueScience FictionSettingSettingsAccurateJupiterBlue Moon Author:Barbara Kingsolver
“I never think about issues when I'm working on a novel. Issues are things that happen to people in sufficient numbers to elicit widespread attention; in other words, they're just life happening. That's what I think about: life, and telling a story.” PeopleThinkingStoriesHappensNumbersAttentionNovelIssuesHappeningsSufficientLife Happens Author:Anna Quindlen
“My writing derived from the conviction I conceived during my college years: one should lead one's life as if one were the protagonist of an epic novel, with the outcome predetermined and chapter after chapter of edifying, traumatic, and exhilarating events to be suffered through. Since the end is known in advance, one must try to experience as much as possible in the brief time allotted. Writing is a way of ensuring that you pay enough attention along the way to understand what you see.” IfsWayShouldWritingTryingYearsEndsEnoughPayAttentionKnownNovelEventsCollegeConvictionOutcomesChaptersEpicExhilaratingProtagonistsPredeterminedYear OneCollege Years Author:Jeffrey Tayler