Stories of all lengths and depths come from different parts of the cave. For a novel, you must lay in mental, physical and spiritual provision as for a siege or for a time of hectic explosions, while a short story is, or can be, a steady, timed flame like the lighting of a blow lamp on a building site full of dry tinder.
Interpretation
Writing requires careful preparation and understanding of different forms.
In this quote, Jane Gardam emphasizes the distinct approaches needed for crafting a novel versus a short story. She uses metaphors of a siege and a steady flame to illustrate that while a novel demands extensive mental and emotional investment akin to preparing for a challenging battle, a short story can be more focused and deliberate, akin to lighting a controlled flame in a construction setting. This highlights the diverse skills and preparations involved in different forms of storytelling.
In practice
An author discussed her creative process during a workshop.
I discovered that writing was very nice indeed when I was very young, and I never changed. I don't think my style has changed very much at all - though I hope what I say is a bit more interesting. It's about getting to know a character and loving them, I think.
I started to write as a child as soon as I could read, or even before, when my mother read me Beatrix Potter at bedtime. Writing seemed to me to be the only sensible way to live and be happy.
I was nearly 40 when I started. I had no fear that I wasn't going to write. I knew it was just delayed. Then, my goodness, I never stopped.
In modern novels, there is no one I want to copy. My style 'is a poor thing, but it is my own.'
Poetry, whatever the manifest content of the poem, is always a violation of the rationalism and morality of bourgeois society.
The only time I have a good hunch the audience is going to be there is when I make the sequel to 'Jurassic Park' or I make another Indiana Jones movie. I know I've got a good shot at getting an audience on opening night. Everything else that is striking out into new territory is a crap shoot.
No poet is ever completely lost. He has the secret of his childhood safe with him, like some secret cave in which he can kneel. And, when we read his poetry, we can join him there.
If I lose the light of the sun, I will write by candlelight, moonlight, no light. If I lose paper and ink, I will write in blood on forgotten walls. I will write always. I will capture nights all over the world and bring them to you
Architecture is one of the art forms best able to improve and revitalise cities both artistically and functionally.
I adore wearing gems, but not because they are mine. You can't possess radiance, you can only admire it.
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