I know when a story is finished when there is not a single thing more I can think to do to it. And since I know at the start what the last line will be, I know when I've reached that point as logically as I can that it's finished. As for the rewriting-it's not foolproof, of course, but if you're honest about having thought of every possibility and you still come back to what you have, what more can you do?

Amy Hempel

Categorized in : Thinking Writing Lines

We can only die in the future, I thought; right now we are always... by Amy Hempel

We can only die in the future, I thought; right now we are always alive.

dies alive right-now

Sometimes a flat-footed sentence is what serves, so you don't get all writerly: 'He opened the door.' There, it's open.

writing doors sometimes

It was like that class at school where the teacher talks about Realization, about how you could realize something big in a commonplace thing. The example he gave--and the liar said it really happened--was that once while drinking orange juice, he'd realized he would be dead someday. He wondered if we, his students, had had similar 'realizations.' Is he kidding? I thought. Once I cashed a paycheck and I realized it wasn't enough. Once I had food poisoning, and realized I was trapped inside my body.

drinking liars teacher

Good leaders being scarce, following yourself is allowed. by Amy Hempel

Good leaders being scarce, following yourself is allowed.

good-leader following leader

I've always known when I start a story what the last line is. It's always been the case, since the first story I ever wrote. I don't know how it's going to get there, but I seem to need the destination. I need to know where I end up. It never changes, ever.

lines stories needs

They say the smart dog obeys but the smarter dog knows when to di... by Amy Hempel

They say the smart dog obeys but the smarter dog knows when to disobey.

smart dog knows

Wear your heart on the page, and people will read to find out how... by Amy Hempel

Wear your heart on the page, and people will read to find out how you solved being alive.

alive heart people

In my head there's a broken balcony I fall off of when I speak. by Amy Hempel

In my head there's a broken balcony I fall off of when I speak.

broken speak fall

Sometimes I can better describe a person by another person's reaction. In a story in my first book, I couldn't think of a way to sufficiently describe the charisma of a certain boy, so the narrator says, "I knew girls who saved his gum."

girl boys book

I do feel that if you can write one good sentence and then another good sentence and then another, you end up with a good story.

ends stories writing

Just because you have stopped sinking doesn't mean you're not sti... by Amy Hempel

Just because you have stopped sinking doesn't mean you're not still underwater.

underwater sinking mean

I meet a person, and in my mind I'm saying three minutes; I give you three minutes to show me the spark.

three mind giving

I exaggerated even before I began to exaggerate, because it's true — nothing is ever quite as bad as it could be.

exaggerated

I'm not first and foremost interested in story and the what-happens, but I'm interested in who's telling it and how they're telling it and the effects of whatever happened on the characters and the people.

stories character people

if it's true your life flashes past your eyes before you die, then it is also the truth that your life rushes forth when you are ready to start to truly be alive.

alive eye past

I want to know everything about you, so I tell you everything abo... by Amy Hempel

I want to know everything about you, so I tell you everything about myself.

knows want

I have written letters that are failures, but I have written few, I think, that are lies. Trying to reach a person means asking the same question over and over again: Is this the truth, or not? I begin this letter to you, then, in the western tradition. If I understand it, the western tradition is: Put your cards on the table.

mean lying thinking

I sleep with a glass of water on the nightstand so I can see by its level if the coastal earth is trembling or if the shaking is still me.

glasses sleep water

Just once in my life--oh, when have I ever wanted anything just o... by Amy Hempel

Just once in my life--oh, when have I ever wanted anything just once in my life?

wanted

Dreams: the place most of us get what we need. by Amy Hempel

Dreams: the place most of us get what we need.

dream needs