"I write novellas because I don't like loose sprawling prose"

Jim Harrison's quote, "I write novellas because I don't like loose sprawling prose", provides a succinct insight into his literary technique and preferences. Harrison, known for his careful attention to language and structure, exposes a clear preference for the succinct and the considerable, instead of the expansive and possibly unwieldy nature of longer prose kinds. This declaration shows his devotion to precision and his desire to keep a disciplined narrative focus in his writing.

Novellas usually stand in between narratives and full-length books in terms of length, offering more room to develop characters and themes than narratives while demanding a tighter narrative construction than stretching novels. Harrison's option to work within this type suggests a commitment to crafting stories that oblige readers with their intensity and depth without losing instructions or clarity. The novella, with its fundamental constraints, needs an author to be selective about the details included, ensuring that every word serves a function.

By eschewing "loose stretching prose", Harrison aligns himself with a literary tradition that values beauty and restraint over verbosity. In a novella, there is little room for the extraneous; each sentence needs to move the plot forward or deepen the reader's understanding of the characters or setting. This concise technique enables the essence of the story to shine through without being overloaded by unnecessary subplots or descriptions.

Harrison's choice likewise underscores a philosophical stance towards storytelling: a belief in the power of brevity and the significance of a well-contained narrative structure. To him, an economy of words does not correspond to an absence of depth however rather helps with a more extensive expedition of styles and emotions, providing readers a dense, abundant experience that invites contemplation without frustrating them. In essence, Harrison's preference for the novella mirrors his pursuit of literary precision and his proficiency over the art of meaningful storytelling.