There's an old saying: 'No piece of writing is ever finished, it's just abandoned.' But my own rule is: No piece of work is done until you want to kill everyone involved in the publishing process, especially yourself.
Chuck PalahniukRead
What I'm always trying to do with every book is to recreate the effect of the stories we heard as children in front of campfires and fireplaces - the ghost stories that engaged us.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the author's desire to evoke childhood nostalgia and engagement through storytelling, similar to the way ghost stories captivated listeners around a fire.
In this quote, Chuck Palahniuk expresses his intention as an author to recreate the enchanting atmosphere of storytelling experiences from childhood. He highlights the power of stories told in intimate settings, like around campfires, where the shared experience of suspense and imagination deeply engage the audience, similar to the ghost stories that held us spellbound in our youth.
Themes
StorytellingChildhoodNostalgiaEngagementArt
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a workshop on creative writing to inspire authors.
More from Chuck Palahniuk
All quotes →Griping isn't the same as creating something. Rebelling isn't rebuilding. Ridiculing isn't replacing. We've taken the world apart but we have no idea what to do with the pieces.
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If we can forgive what’s been done to us... If we can forgive what we’ve done to others... If we can leave all of our stories behind. Our being villains or victims. Only then can we maybe rescue the world.
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We're all trapped. It's always 1734. All of us, we're stuck in the same time capsule, the same as those television shows where the same people are marooned on the same desert island for thirty seasons and never age or escape. They just wear more makeup. In a creepy way, those shows are maybe too authentic.
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One thing I really envy about my friends who have kids is that as their children develop, they're able to revisit their own developmental stages and recognise themselves and undo a lot of things they decided.
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If you knew that your life was merely a phase or short, short segment of your entire existence, how would you live? Knowing nothing 'real' was at risk, what would you do? You'd live a gigantic, bold, fun, dazzling life. You know you would. That's what the ghosts want us to do - all the exciting things they no longer can.
Chuck PalahniukRead
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