"My uncle used to say that the good books begin with “… and shots rang out.” Shots rang out is a cliché, but what he meant is that no one has time for you to get us to the minefield. Drop us in the midfield in the beginning. Drop us off in the mix and you can move backward and forward from there. End in the mix. Don’t answer any questions. Leave me in the muck at the end, too. There can be less muck, but all the loose ends shouldn’t be tied up. There should be something unreconciled. That’s life. Nobody’s life is tied up in a bow. Stories that end in a bow are kind of disrespectful to the reader. If you want your story to be compelling, let it fade to black without reconciliation."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Novelists from the United StatesPeople from Washington, D.C.Poets from the United StatesAfrican AmericansYoung adult authors
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
On creating a satisfying beginning and ending in “Sunny Author Jason Reynolds on Writing, Publishing and Advice for New Writers” in Writer’s Digest (2018 Jul 20)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jason_Reynolds
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Jason Reynolds
15 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Jason Reynolds →
Related Quotes
"I get to whisper to them, "I love you, I see you, I know. I know you're scared, and it's OK to be scared, and if you …"
"People are like, "Well it's not standard English." So what? Standard English is for standard people."
"…And I just remember the pain – the pain of the lost friend but also the pain of meeting a part of myself that I didn…"
"…Young people – especially young men – it’s not that they hate reading, it’s that they hate boredom. So my thing was:…"
"It totally matters to me that teenagers think I'm cool. I mean, teens keep their fingers on the pulse of culture. Whe…"
"I’m proud of young black america. I’m proud of them, even if they are misunderstood. I’m proud of them for using thei…"
"Hip-hop saved me,. It gave me permission to use language in a certain way. It validated my community and my friends. …"
"It's hard to be what you can't see."
"The truths are universal: Every kid knows fear. Every kid knows family and friendship. Loss, love, laughter. Everythi…"
"I don't expect it to be easy, but I'm certain it will be fruitful. My mission is to take a different approach: Instea…"