“The story was gradually taking shape. Pilon liked it this way. It ruined a story to have it all come out quickly. The good story lay in half-told things which must be filled in out of the hearer's own experience.”

“Flannery O'Connor ... points out that 'a story really isn't good unless it successfully resists paraphrase. ...' ... Paraphrasing can force us into deeper levels of both story and self. O'Connor also says that a good story 'hangs on and expands the mind.' ... Most importantly, as we explore the largeness of stories, their 'macro' possibilities, we are forced further into the largeness of our own lives. The 'hidden' story, made visible, can be that which is most difficult to confront in our experiences and, at the same time, the story that demands to be told.”

“you have to be careful with the stories you tell. And you have to watch out for the stories that you are told.”

“When you write a story, you’re telling yourself the story,” he said. “When you rewrite, your main job is taking out all the things that are not the story.”

“Happy endings must come at the end of something,' the Walrus pointed out. 'If they happen in the middle of a story, or an adventure, or the like, all they do is cheer things up for awhile.”

“We are told not to privilege one story above another. All the stories must be told. Well, maybe that's true, maybe all stories are worth hearing, but not all stories are worth telling.”