Darin Strauss

A subplot is a distinguishing characteristic of the novel; the short story, for example, does not need subplots. ”

You get a bad review with a novel, and it hurts. But I imagine if you get a bad review with a memoir, it hurts more because you can always say, 'Well, they didn't like my characters,' but when you're the character, it's like, 'Oh, yeah, they actually didn't like me.' ”

I have twin six-year-old boys. Have no mojo. The closest thing to a mojo I have is five minutes of peace. ”

Constant rejection. No security. Career paths being dictated by freelance reviewers. And of course, the terror of the writing desk, of the blank page. Why is it so hard for our non-writer friends to understand this - that it's a job? ”

I went to Aspen right after school and got a freelance gig writing articles for the 'Aspen Times.' I was their nightlife correspondent. They paid me fifty bucks an article. ”

Perhaps it's because a writer lives in Brooklyn that he'd want to get away from it. It can be very sustaining, this community of writers - sometimes it's the feeling of many hands giving you a boost. But all that identical ambition can be choking, too. The many hands slide up to your throat. ”

The main thing is to think strategically about what will engage your readers. Trust me when I tell you that few people are eager to read a story whose opening lines sound like a dissertation on giant bugs. ”

My wife and I live in Brooklyn, N.Y., not too far from where my Long Island childhood happened. ”

My prayer is improvised - though like some standard jazz performance, the improv happens within pretty strict parameters - and asks for nothing. ”

I'm very strict in my belief that non-fiction should be truthful, and fiction is for invented narratives. ”