Patrick Rothfuss Quotes

My stories are very compact. I want them to say the most complex things in the simplest way.

They write them long because they can't write them short.

The lessons learned in journalism also apply. Writing for NPR has taught me to cut a piece in half and then in half again - without losing the essence. Apply that to the swollen prose of a bulky novel and you might reveal a beautiful work.

Anything that can be put in a nut shell should remain there.

What a labour writing is ... making one sentence do the work of a page; that's what I call hard work.

A good rule for writers: do not explain overmuch.

Not that the story need be long, but it will take a long while to make it short.

Let me tell you one thing about why writers write: had I known the answer to any of these questions I would never have needed to write a novel.

Never use a long word where a short one will do.

I think I'm succinct to the point of trying to write the two-word novel. Editing my work almost never means taking anything out but rather adding, because I'm always stripping down. I tend to under-write rather than over-write.

To use many words to communicate few thoughts is everywhere the unmistakable sign of mediocrity. To gather much thought into few words stamps the man of genius.

Lyrically, 'less words mean more' is a pretty good rule of thumb. Try to cut out the fat and get to the meat of what you're saying.

Brevity in writing is the best insurance for its perusal.

Many people have a novel inside them, but most don't bother to get it out.

When I struggle to be terse, I end by being obscure.

The finest words in the world are only vain sounds if you can't understand them. The best sentence? The shortest.

Short stories demand a certain awareness of one's own intentions, a certain narrowing of the focus.

My father always said that too many words cheapened the value of a man's speech.

Writing a novel resembles a journey with only the sketchiest of maps.

To say more while saying less is the secret of being simple.

If a thing can be said in ten words, I may be relied upon to take a hundred to say it. I ought to apologize for that. I ought to prune, pare and extirpate excess growth, but I will not. I like words—strike that, I love words—and while I am fond of the condensed and economical use of them in poetry, in song lyrics, in Twitter, in good journalism and smart advertising, I love the luxuriant profusion and mad scatter of them too.

The best sentence? The shortest.

The whole idea of interviews is in itself absurd - one cannot answer deep questions about what one's life was like - one writes novels about it.

When you write a novel, you make other people see your imaginary friends.

My favorite form is the short story. From an aesthetics stand point you really have to pare down to the bone. You can't write a throw-away scene.