I can’t listen to music when I’m writing. I like music best in a car or on the train. – Nell Freudenberger
I think the few writers who influenced me most in writing short stories are Alice Munro and Grace Paley. They’re very different, and I can’t do what they do, but reading them gives me hope that I’ll learn something from them. – Nell Freudenberger
It’s usually easier for me to begin writing in a character’s voice if that person is different from me in some significant way. – Nell Freudenberger
Alice Munro is a particular kind of short story writer in that she writes long, character-driven short stories. – Nell Freudenberger
Research for fiction is a funny thing: you go looking for one piece of information, and find something altogether different. – Nell Freudenberger
Most good fiction also has a character the writer seems to know more deeply than anyone can actually be known in life, but a few unusual writers can make something great without that. – Nell Freudenberger
I’ve always been a little bit more of a novel reader than a short story reader. I think the first books that made me want to be a writer were novels. – Nell Freudenberger
If somebody says your story is only published because you look nice in the photo, that maybe spurs you on to write. – Nell Freudenberger
I think that the practice of writing every day was what made me remember that writing doesn’t have anything to do with publishing books. It can be totally separate and private – a comforting thought. – Nell Freudenberger
