“How can we expect novelists to be moral, when their trade forces them to treat every end they meet as no more than an imperfect means to a novel?” MeanEndsForceMoralNovelTreatsTradeNovelistsImperfect Book:Pictures from an Institution: A Comedy Source: Pictures from an Institution: A Comedy
“First drafts are for learning what your novel or story is about. Revision is working with that knowledge to enlarge and enhance an idea, to re-form it.... The first draft of a book is the most uncertain-where you need guts, the ability to accept the imperfect until it is better.” NeedsFirstsBookIdeasStoriesFormAbilityAcceptingNovelGutsImperfectUncertainRevision Book:Conversations with Bernard Malamud Source: Conversations with Bernard Malamud
“My hope is that my novels reflect the reality of a world where good and evil exist, imperfect people make mistakes, but a perfect Heavenly Father offers forgiveness and second chances.” PeopleWorldRealityEvilFatherChancePerfectMistakeNovelOffersGood And EvilMaking MistakesHeavenlyImperfectSecond ChanceHeavenly FatherPeople Make Mistakes Author:Julie Klassen
“The novel's not the best form for disposing ideas, though that's one thing it can do. It likely is the best form, though, for conveying the experience of us each being alone, trapped in our skulls with only these bodies and this imperfect instrument of language to convey our state and to find meaning and connection.” IdeasStatesBodyFormLanguageCan DoNovelOne ThingConnectionsInstrumentsImperfectTrappedFind MeSkullsConveying Author:Michael Helm