The last paragraph, in which you tell what the story is about, is almost always best left out.

When I started out in the early 1930s, there were a great many magazines that published short stories. Unfortunately, the short-story market has dwindled to almost nothing.

An absolutely necessary part of a writer's equipment, almost as necessary as talent, is the ability to stand up under punishment, both the punishment the world hands out and the punishment he inflicts upon himself.

A good editor understands what you're talking and writing about and doesn't meddle too much.

I'm just trying to tell a nice story. Whether you're a writer or a producer, all you want to do is tell a good yarn.

Every novelist has a different purpose - and often several purposes which might even be contradictory.