Skip to content
quotesby

About this quote

What does it mean?
Stories should surprise like life does.
In plain terms
Stories need surprises because life has them.
What can you take from it?
Embrace unpredictability in storytelling and life.

Where it applies

  • storytelling
  • plotting
  • daily life

Putting it to work

  • plan twists
  • observe reality
  • expect the unexpected

Questions to consider

  • What surprises you in stories?
  • Is life predictable?

Another view

Not all great stories rely on shock or surprise.

More from Isaac Bashevis Singer

  1. A good writer is basically a story-teller, not a scholar or a redeemer of mankind.

    Permalink to quote #26
  2. Every creator painfully experiences the chasm between his inner vision and its ultimate expression.

    Permalink to quote #28
  3. Yiddish has not yet said its last word. It contains treasures that have not been revealed to the eyes of the world. It was the tongue of martyrs and saints, of…

    Permalink to quote #25

Related quotes

  1. Fiction gives us a second chance that life denies us.

    Paul TherouxPaul Theroux quote #1
  2. 'That's the thing about L.A.- you can freeze to death under a rosebush,' Richard says. [1].

    A. M. HomesA. M. Homes quote #1
  3. 'En ollut naitakaan pyytanyt ja ne tulivat minulle yllatyksena.' ('I hadn't requested these, and they came as a surprise to me.')

    Anneli JaatteenmakiAnneli Jaatteenmaki quote #2