Caroline Gordon

“Art is not a plaything, but a necessity, and its essence, form, is not a mere decoration but a vital part of the organism.”

“Every writer has to find his own way of telling a story.”

“The details, in a work of fiction, are what count.”

“A work of art is a concrete object, which is to say that it has a form, and that form is its meaning.”

“A writer must have a 'sense of the past.'”

“The writer of fiction is not a reporter but a maker.”

“A story is a dramatic action, which is to say that it is a series of events which are causally related.”

“The first virtue of a style is its appropriateness.”

“Technique in fiction is what is called style in the other arts.”

“The life of the artist, like the life of the saint, is a life of dedication.”

“The world of the artist is a world of particulars.”