So I just discovered Amy Hempel’s writing.  I guess I am behind the times, but whatever…at least I found her!  I looked up an interview and her answer to this question below struck me.  In particular, this statement of hers rang like a bell in my head:  “I’m still drawn to MOMENTS, moments when power shifts between two people, or moments when something small but encompassing happens.”

YES.  Yes, Amy.

I also really like the quote from that Jane Hirshfield poem…I’m going to have to look that poem up.  In her answer to the next question, Amy talks about poetry and how important it is in helping her craft stories, how you learn about rhythm and conserving words, among other valuable lessons.

RH: Your longest written work, Tumble Home, is a novella. Have you ever considered or attempted a full-length novel? And what attracts you to the short story form?
 
AH: I have never wanted to write a novel, though I might write another novella someday. I never get tired of what stories can do. I’m working very short again, and will continue this way (short-shorts, prose poems) until that gets old. I’m still drawn to MOMENTS, moments when power shifts between two people, or moments when something small but encompassing happens. There is a poem by Jane Hirshfield titled “Changing Everything” that best describes what I mean by that last– a person walking in the woods who picks up a stick and moves it to the other side of the path and says, “There, that’s done now.”