---
title: "5 Down and Quotes By Terry Pratchett"
description: "5 Down and quotes by Terry Pratchett. Plus more from Terry Pratchett and more Down and sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bba/terry-pratchett-19_book_i-certainly-don-t-sit-down-and-plan-a-bo_168343.jpg"
---

> [I certainly don't sit down and plan a book out before I write it. There's a phrase I use called "The Valley…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/i-certainly-don-t-sit-down-and-plan-a-book-out-before-i-write-it/)

[Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bba/terry-pratchett-19_book_i-certainly-don-t-sit-down-and-plan-a-bo_168343.jpg)

> [In all seriousness, people think that it's the ideas that are important. Well, everyone has ideas, all the time. I tend to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/in-all-seriousness-people-think-that-it-s-the-ideas-that-are/)

[Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bbc/terry-pratchett-19_books_in-all-seriousness-people-think-that-it_259022.jpg)

> [“First draft: let it run. Turn all the knobs up to 11. Second draft: hell. Cut it down and cut it into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/first-draft-let-it-run-turn-all-the-knobs-up-to-11-second-draft-hell/)

[Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dbb/terry-pratchett-19_blow_first-draft-let-it-run-turn-all-the-knob_1465053.jpg)

> [People look down on stuff like geography and meteorology, and not only because they're standing on one and being soaked by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/people-look-down-on-stuff-like-geography-and-meteorology-and-not-only-2/)

[Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/601/terry-pratchett-19_chaos_people-look-down-on-stuff-like-geography_2825614.jpg)

> [Once you have your character sitting right there in your head, all you really need to do is wind them up, put…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/once-you-have-your-character-sitting-right-there-in-your-head-all-you/)

[Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e0/terry-pratchett-19_character_once-you-have-your-character-sitting-rig_2934541.jpg)

## Other authors on Down and

## More by Terry Pratchett

> [“This one’s mental.’ ‘Eccentric.’ ‘What’s the difference?’ ‘A bag of cash.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/this-one-s-mental-eccentric-what-s-the-difference-a-bag-of-cash/)

[Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/)

> [“But I did not return until half past four this morning and I distinctly remember stubbing my toe on the stairs. I am as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/but-i-did-not-return-until-half-past-four-this-morning-and-i/)

[Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/)

> [“The universe contains any amount of horrible ways to be woken up, such as the noise of the mob breaking down the front door,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/the-universe-contains-any-amount-of-horrible-ways-to-be-woken-up-such/)

[Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/)

> [“Someone broke from the scrum and, punching and kicking, staggered towards the Klatchian goal. "Isn't that man your butler?" said Ahmed. "Yes." "One of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/someone-broke-from-the-scrum-and-punching-and-kicking-staggered/)

[Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/)

> [It's an interesting fact that fewer than 17 % of Real cats end their lives with the same name they started with. Much family…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/it-s-an-interesting-fact-that-fewer-than-17-of-real-cats-end-their/)

[Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/)

> [You can't trust folk songs. They always sneak up on you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/you-can-t-trust-folk-songs-they-always-sneak-up-on-you/)

[Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/)

> [Either dragons should exist completely or fail to exist at all, he felt. A dragon only half-existing was worse than the extremes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/either-dragons-should-exist-completely-or-fail-to-exist-at-all-he/)

[Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/)

> [“Magrat wondered what it was like, spending your whole life doing something you didn’t want to do. Like being dead, she considered, only worse,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/magrat-wondered-what-it-was-like-spending-your-whole-life-doing/)

[Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/)

> [A hardback's harder at Christmas time because that's a good hardback buying time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/a-hardback-s-harder-at-christmas-time-because-that-s-a-good-hardback/)

[Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/)

> [“There were more old people. The world was full of them,' said the wizard. 'Yes, I know. And now it's full of young people.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/there-were-more-old-people-the-world-was-full-of-them-said-the-wizard/)

[Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/)

> [“Hobson was big and heavyset, but not exactly fat; he was probably what you’d get if you shaved a bear.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/hobson-was-big-and-heavyset-but-not-exactly-fat-he-was-probably-what/)

[Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/)

> [“There is a night that never comes to an end… The clock of the world turns under its own shadow. Midnight is a moving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/there-is-a-night-that-never-comes-to-an-end-the-clock-of-the-world/)

[Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/)

> [“You'd like Freedom, Truth, and Justice, wouldn't you, Comrade Sergeant?' said Reg encouragingly. 'I'd like a hard-boiled egg,' said Vimes, shaking the match out.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/you-d-like-freedom-truth-and-justice-wouldn-t-you-comrade-sergeant/)

[Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/)

> [“You are not apprehensive, are you? I can't detect no trace of fear none whatsoever Roomy cranium all possible videos of all possible outcomes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/you-are-not-apprehensive-are-you-i-can-t-detect-no-trace-of-fear-none/)

[Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/)

> [Imagination, not intelligence, made us human.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/imagination-not-intelligence-made-us-human/)

[Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "ItemList",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/down-and/terry-pratchett/#itemlist",
            "name": "5 Down and Quotes By Terry Pratchett",
            "numberOfItems": 5,
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "I certainly don't sit down and plan a book out before I write it. There's a phrase I use called \"The Valley Full of Clouds.\" Writing a novel is as if you are going off on a journey across a valley. The valley is full of mist, but you can see the top of a tree here and the top of another tree over there. And with any luck you can see the other side of the valley. But you cannot see down into the mist. Nevertheless, you head for the first tree.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Terry Pratchett"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/i-certainly-don-t-sit-down-and-plan-a-book-out-before-i-write-it/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bba/terry-pratchett-19_book_i-certainly-don-t-sit-down-and-plan-a-bo_168343.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bba/terry-pratchett-19_book_i-certainly-don-t-sit-down-and-plan-a-bo_168343.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bba/terry-pratchett-19_book_i-certainly-don-t-sit-down-and-plan-a-bo_168343.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“I certainly don't sit down and plan a book out before I write it. There's a phrase I use called \"The Valley…” — Terry Pratchett",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "In all seriousness, people think that it's the ideas that are important. Well, everyone has ideas, all the time. I tend to write mine down and remember them, but at some point you have to apply the bum to the seat and knock out about sixty five thousand words - that's how long a novel is.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Terry Pratchett"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/in-all-seriousness-people-think-that-it-s-the-ideas-that-are/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bbc/terry-pratchett-19_books_in-all-seriousness-people-think-that-it_259022.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bbc/terry-pratchett-19_books_in-all-seriousness-people-think-that-it_259022.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bbc/terry-pratchett-19_books_in-all-seriousness-people-think-that-it_259022.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“In all seriousness, people think that it's the ideas that are important. Well, everyone has ideas, all the…” — Terry Pratchett",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "“First draft: let it run. Turn all the knobs up to 11. Second draft: hell. Cut it down and cut it into shape. Third draft: comb its nose and blow its hair. I usually find that most of the book will have handed itself to me on that first draft.”",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Terry Pratchett"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/first-draft-let-it-run-turn-all-the-knobs-up-to-11-second-draft-hell/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dbb/terry-pratchett-19_blow_first-draft-let-it-run-turn-all-the-knob_1465053.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dbb/terry-pratchett-19_blow_first-draft-let-it-run-turn-all-the-knob_1465053.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dbb/terry-pratchett-19_blow_first-draft-let-it-run-turn-all-the-knob_1465053.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“First draft: let it run. Turn all the knobs up to 11. Second draft: hell. Cut it down and cut it into shape…” — Terry Pratchett",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "People look down on stuff like geography and meteorology, and not only because they're standing on one and being soaked by the other. They don't look quite like real science. But geography is only physics slowed down and with a few trees stuck on it, and meteorology is full of excitingly fashionable chaos and complexity. And summer isn't a time. It's a place as well. Summer is a moving creature and likes to go south for the winter.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Terry Pratchett"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/people-look-down-on-stuff-like-geography-and-meteorology-and-not-only-2/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/601/terry-pratchett-19_chaos_people-look-down-on-stuff-like-geography_2825614.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/601/terry-pratchett-19_chaos_people-look-down-on-stuff-like-geography_2825614.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/601/terry-pratchett-19_chaos_people-look-down-on-stuff-like-geography_2825614.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“People look down on stuff like geography and meteorology, and not only because they're standing on one and…” — Terry Pratchett",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 5,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "Once you have your character sitting right there in your head, all you really need to do is wind them up, put them down, and simply write down what they do, say, or think.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Terry Pratchett"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/once-you-have-your-character-sitting-right-there-in-your-head-all-you/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e0/terry-pratchett-19_character_once-you-have-your-character-sitting-rig_2934541.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e0/terry-pratchett-19_character_once-you-have-your-character-sitting-rig_2934541.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e0/terry-pratchett-19_character_once-you-have-your-character-sitting-rig_2934541.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“Once you have your character sitting right there in your head, all you really need to do is wind them up…” — Terry Pratchett",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "@type": "CollectionPage",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/down-and/terry-pratchett/#webpage",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/down-and/terry-pratchett/",
            "name": "Down and Quotes by Terry Pratchett",
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "mainEntity": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/down-and/terry-pratchett/#itemlist"
            },
            "primaryImageOfPage": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bba/terry-pratchett-19_book_i-certainly-don-t-sit-down-and-plan-a-bo_168343.jpg"
            },
            "description": "5 Down and quotes by Terry Pratchett. Plus more from Terry Pratchett and more Down and sayings from other authors.",
            "breadcrumb": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/down-and/terry-pratchett/#breadcrumb"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/down-and/terry-pratchett/#breadcrumb",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Topics",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/categories/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Down And",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/down-and/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 5,
                    "name": "Terry Pratchett",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/down-and/terry-pratchett/"
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
