“Most of the complexity of the stories has developed as the stories came along (and may be a product of the principle that "nothing is what it seems"). I did start with some essential ambiguousness in the aliens' motivation and the questions this raises in human minds, which I consider to have been disregarded in Contact (novel and film). That, in part, may be what has delayed the writing of the fifth and sixth novelettes in the series.” WritingMindHumansMayHas BeensStoriesSeemsFilmMotivationPrinciplesNovelProductsEssentialsRaisesSeriesContactAliensComplexityHuman MindFifthAmbiguityDelayedDisregarded Author:James Gunn
“[Heresy is] the dislocation of a complete and self-supporting scheme by the introduction of a novel denial of some essential part therein.” SelfNovelEssentialsDenialSchemesIntroductionHeresyDislocation Author:Hilaire Belloc
“Oh, how few find time for prayer! There is time for everything else, time to sleep and time to eat, time to read the newspaper and the novel, time to visit friends, time for everything else under the sun, but-no time for prayer, the most important of all things, the one great essential!” ImportantPrayerSleepNovelSunEssentialsAll ThingsNewspapersEnd TimesTime To Sleep Author:Oswald J. Smith
“I believe that written stories will continue to survive because they answer an essential human need. I think movies might disappear before the novel disappears, because the novel is really one of the only places in the world where two strangers can meet on terms of absolute intimacy.” ThinkingWorldNeedsBelieveHumansTwoStoriesMightI BelieveTermAnswersNovelWrittenEssentialsAbsolutesStrangerDisappearIntimacyPlaces In The WorldHuman Needs Author:Jonathan Lethem
“Be critical of but not brutal with your writing. If something isn't essential, get rid of it. Remember that good dialogue can serve a whole passel of purposes in your novel, and to overlook one of them is to overlook one of the tools of the craft. Like hitting a nail with a screwdriver, if you know what I mean.” IfsKnowsWritingMeanWholeRememberPurposeNovelEssentialsToolsCriticalDialogueCraftsBrutalHittingNailsScrewdrivers Author:Elizabeth George
“In a novella, a whole lot of crap can happen, and you can build momentum and suspense and leave room for a surprise or three. Stories are cut down to the most essential elements, and novels (this might be an unfair generalization on my part) are big fat clumsy efforts where the reader can snooze for a couple chapters and miss nothing of consequence. Hence my love for the middle way.” WayWholeStoriesBigsMightHappensThreeRoomsEffortNovelCuttingMiddleMissingReaderCoupleEssentialsElementsConsequenceSurpriseFatsSuspenseChaptersUnfairCrapMomentumClumsyGeneralizationMiddle Way Author:Robert Reed
“I have used Lenovo since I wrote my first novel. My old laptop broke, so I bought a new one, but still a Lenovo. It is one of my most essential devices.” FirstsStillsUsedNovelEssentialsBrokeDevicesLaptops Author:Okky Madasari
“Self-reinvention is an essential trope of the American project, closely linked to another such trope: going on the lam. Both are regularly featured in movies and novels and suchlike. Criminals and persons loitering with and without intent hold a crucial place in the culture. For obvious reasons, the culture cannot endorse this behavior, even as it is in thrall to it.” PersonsSelfReasonCultureNovelEssentialsBehaviorProjectsObviousCriminalsCrucialLinkedReinventionTropes Author:Luc Sante
“Unlike the novel, a short story may be, for all purposes, essential.” MayStoriesPurposeNovelEssentialsShort Story Author:Jorge Luis Borges