--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I did a lot of my writing as though I was…" description: "\"I did a lot of my writing as though I was an academic, doing some piece of research as perfectly as possible.\" — A. S. Byatt" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d49/a-s-byatt-2-7553_academic_i-did-a-lot-of-my-writing-as-though-i-wa_2597901.jpg" --- # I did a lot of my writing as though I was an academic… ![“I did a lot of my writing as though I was an academic, doing some piece of research as perfectly as possible.” quote by A. S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d49/a-s-byatt-2-7553_academic_i-did-a-lot-of-my-writing-as-though-i-wa_2597901.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d49/a-s-byatt-2-7553_academic_i-did-a-lot-of-my-writing-as-though-i-wa_2597901.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d49/a-s-byatt-2-7553_academic_i-did-a-lot-of-my-writing-as-though-i-wa_2597901.jpg) > “I did a lot of my writing as though I was an academic, doing some piece of research as perfectly as possible.” [A. S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt-2/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Approach writing with academic rigor, striving for precision and depth as if conducting research. **In simple terms:** Write with scholarly thoroughness. Key Takeaway Treat writing like meticulous research. Themes writing academic rigor precision creativity discipline Mood thoughtful analytical Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - Academic publishing - creative nonfiction - novel drafting - essay composition Key Concepts Literary craft research methodology attention to detail Questions to Reflect On - How can you balance precision with imagination? - When does research enhance storytelling? A Different Perspective Too much academic focus may stifle creative spontaneity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Academic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/academic/) [Research](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/research/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [It took me a couple of years after I got out of Berkeley before I dared to start writing. 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I've tried to understand risk-and-return relationships; also the pricing of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/myron-scholes/my-career-in-academic-research-has-not-been-involved-with-active/) [Myron Scholes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/myron-scholes/) > [Doctoral training is devoted almost entirely to learning to do research, even though most Ph.Ds who enter academic life spend far more time teaching…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-bok/doctoral-training-is-devoted-almost-entirely-to-learning-to-do/) [Derek Bok](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-bok/) > [An academic discipline, or any other semiotic domain, for that matter, is not primarily content, in the sense of facts and principles. It is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-paul-gee/an-academic-discipline-or-any-other-semiotic-domain-for-that-matter/) [James Paul Gee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-paul-gee/) > [Because my graduate academic training at law school was not one that included most of the intellectual traditions I find useful for understanding the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-spade/because-my-graduate-academic-training-at-law-school-was-not-one-that/) [Dean Spade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-spade/) > [Now know I well what people sought formerly above all else when they sought Teachers of virtue. 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Everett Koop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-everett-koop/) > [Instead of explaining the sober facts of mechanics and electricity, I want to say a few words about the debt which we owe to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-bloch/instead-of-explaining-the-sober-facts-of-mechanics-and-electricity-i/) [Felix Bloch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-bloch/) > [When I went to college, as much as my parents emphasized academic achievement, they emphasized marriage even more. They told me that the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheryl-sandberg/when-i-went-to-college-as-much-as-my-parents-emphasized-academic/) [Sheryl Sandberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheryl-sandberg/) ## More by A. S. Byatt > [There is a certain aesthetic pleasure in trying to imagine the unimaginable and failing, if you are a reader.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt-2/there-is-a-certain-aesthetic-pleasure-in-trying-to-imagine-the/) [A. S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt-2/) > [I am not an academic who happens to have written a novel. I am a novelist who happens to be quite good academically.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt-2/i-am-not-an-academic-who-happens-to-have-written-a-novel-i-am-a/) [A. S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt-2/) > [“He had been violently confused by her real presence in the opposite inaccessible corner. For months he had been possessed by the imagination of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt-2/he-had-been-violently-confused-by-her-real-presence-in-the-opposite/) [A. S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt-2/) > [Narration is as much a part of human nature as breath and the circulation of the blood… storytelling is intrinsic to biological time, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt-2/narration-is-as-much-a-part-of-human-nature-as-breath-and-the/) [A. S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt-2/) > [“Pedro of Portugal's rapt and bizarre declaration of love, in 1356, for the embalmed corpse of his murdered wife, Inez de Castro, who swayed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt-2/pedro-of-portugal-s-rapt-and-bizarre-declaration-of-love-in-1356-for/) [A. S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt-2/) > [I don't think it is an easy thing to write and expect to be commercial, even if you are from Venus and a hermaphrodite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt-2/i-don-t-think-it-is-an-easy-thing-to-write-and-expect-to-be/) [A. S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt-2/) > [I am not sure how much good is done by moralising about fairy tales. This can be unsubtle - telling children that virtue will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt-2/i-am-not-sure-how-much-good-is-done-by-moralising-about-fairy-tales/) [A. S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt-2/) > [I'd like to write the way Matisse paints.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt-2/i-d-like-to-write-the-way-matisse-paints/) [A. S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt-2/) > [Louis de Bernires is in the direct line that runs through Dickens and Evelyn Waugh. . .he has only to look into his world,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt-2/louis-de-bernires-is-in-the-direct-line-that-runs-through-dickens-and/) [A. S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt-2/) > [I'm more interested in books than people, and I always expect everybody else to be, but they're not.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt-2/i-m-more-interested-in-books-than-people-and-i-always-expect/) [A. S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt-2/) > [I watch a lot of sport on television. I only watch certain sports, and I only watch them live - I don't think I've…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt-2/i-watch-a-lot-of-sport-on-television-i-only-watch-certain-sports-and/) [A. S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt-2/) > [“When the morning light came into the room it found them curled together in a nest of red and white sheets. It revealed also…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt-2/when-the-morning-light-came-into-the-room-it-found-them-curled/) [A. S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt-2/) > [I think there are a lot more important things than art in the world. But not to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt-2/i-think-there-are-a-lot-more-important-things-than-art-in-the-world/) [A. S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt-2/) > [For a long time, I felt instinctively irritated - sometimes repelled - by scientific friends' automatic use of the word 'mechanism' for automatic bodily…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt-2/for-a-long-time-i-felt-instinctively-irritated-sometimes-repelled-by/) [A. S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt-2/) > [I was no good at being a child.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt-2/i-was-no-good-at-being-a-child/) [A. S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt-2/) [Explore all 90 A. S. Byatt quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt-2/) ## More Academic quotes > [When I went to college, as much as my parents emphasized academic achievement, they emphasized marriage even more. They told me that the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheryl-sandberg/when-i-went-to-college-as-much-as-my-parents-emphasized-academic/) [Sheryl Sandberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheryl-sandberg/) > [Instead of explaining the sober facts of mechanics and electricity, I want to say a few words about the debt which we owe to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-bloch/instead-of-explaining-the-sober-facts-of-mechanics-and-electricity-i/) [Felix Bloch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-bloch/) > [The Carnegie Foundation is well aware of the fact that their reports frequently find their way to dusty archives in academic institutions, but occasionally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-everett-koop/the-carnegie-foundation-is-well-aware-of-the-fact-that-their-reports/) [C. Everett Koop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-everett-koop/) > [Marx, however imperfectly he worked out the details, set himself the task of discovering the law of motion of capitalism, and if there is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-robinson/marx-however-imperfectly-he-worked-out-the-details-set-himself-the/) [Joan Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-robinson/) > [Now know I well what people sought formerly above all else when they sought Teachers of virtue. Good sleep they sought for themselves, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/now-know-i-well-what-people-sought-formerly-above-all-else-when-they/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Because my graduate academic training at law school was not one that included most of the intellectual traditions I find useful for understanding the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-spade/because-my-graduate-academic-training-at-law-school-was-not-one-that/) [Dean Spade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-spade/) > [An academic discipline, or any other semiotic domain, for that matter, is not primarily content, in the sense of facts and principles. It is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-paul-gee/an-academic-discipline-or-any-other-semiotic-domain-for-that-matter/) [James Paul Gee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-paul-gee/) > [“In the end, ethical interpretation of the Bible means to think critically about how our practices of textual engagement might help us to become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-brueggemann/in-the-end-ethical-interpretation-of-the-bible-means-to-think/) [Walter Brueggemann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-brueggemann/) > [Perhaps art criticism cannot be reformed in a logical sense because it was never well-formed in the first place. Art criticism has long been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-elkins/perhaps-art-criticism-cannot-be-reformed-in-a-logical-sense-because/) [James Elkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-elkins/) > [And I'm the first one to tell people to break the rules. 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I am a novelist who happens to be quite good academically.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt-2/i-am-not-an-academic-who-happens-to-have-written-a-novel-i-am-a/) [A. S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt-2/) [Browse all 958 Academic quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/academic/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I did a lot of my writing as though I was an academic, doing some piece of research as perfectly as possible.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "A. S. 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