--- title: "17 Understand Writing Quotes by 16 authors" description: "Browse 17 Understand Writing quotes by 16 authors. Discover the best Understand Writing sayings and thoughts." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb9/thomas-harris-1874_author_you-must-understand-that-when-you-are-wr_2622245.jpg" --- > [“You must understand that when you are writing a novel you are not making anything up.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-harris/you-must-understand-that-when-you-are-writing-a-novel-you-are-not-2/) [Thomas Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-harris/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb9/thomas-harris-1874_author_you-must-understand-that-when-you-are-wr_2622245.jpg) > [You must understand that when you are writing a novel you are not making anything up. It's all there and you just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-harris/you-must-understand-that-when-you-are-writing-a-novel-you-are-not/) [Thomas Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-harris/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/504/thomas-harris-1874_books_you-must-understand-that-when-you-are-wr_855939.png) > [I do believe that reading can help you understand what you're writing and see what others are doing. But sometimes the desire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manuel-puig/i-do-believe-that-reading-can-help-you-understand-what-you-re-writing/) [Manuel Puig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manuel-puig/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec8/manuel-puig-9471_believe_i-do-believe-that-reading-can-help-you-u_287666.jpg) > [“Advice? Focus on the craft. Study the greats. Try and understand how and why they made the writing choices they did.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-stump/advice-focus-on-the-craft-study-the-greats-try-and-understand-how-and/) [Patrick Stump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-stump/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a98/patrick-stump-2850_patrick-stump_advice-focus-on-the-craft-study-the-grea_403133.png) > [My aunt could never understand how writing could be a full-time job. She'd keep asking when I'd get a real job!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-spillman/my-aunt-could-never-understand-how-writing-could-be-a-full-time-job/) [Ken Spillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-spillman/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/360/ken-spillman-64945_asking_my-aunt-could-never-understand-how-writi_1630280.jpg) > [Understand that writing is like an athletic activity. To play tennis well, you expect to keep practicing, but for some reason with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/understand-that-writing-is-like-an-athletic-activity-to-play-tennis/) [Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8a3/natalie-goldberg-1741_activity_understand-that-writing-is-like-an-athle_1405479.png) > [My writing model is my mother, who is a writer as well. She always valued clarity and simplicity above all else. If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-gladwell/my-writing-model-is-my-mother-who-is-a-writer-as-well-she-always/) [Malcolm Gladwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-gladwell/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/52d/malcolm-gladwell-348_clarity_my-writing-model-is-my-mother-who-is-a-w_321809.png) > [Also, they don't understand - writing is language. The use of language. The language to create image, the language to create drama.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milius/also-they-don-t-understand-writing-is-language-the-use-of-language/) [John Milius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milius/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/808/john-milius-18681_drama_also-they-don-t-understand-writing-is-la_3107578.jpg) > [“MFA in a Box is designed to help you to find the courage to put truth into words and to understand that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-rember/mfa-in-a-box-is-designed-to-help-you-to-find-the-courage-to-put-truth/) [John Rember](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-rember/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ea2/john-rember-249613_courage_mfa-in-a-box-is-designed-to-help-you-to_1906144.jpg) > [There was a time before I felt I was a real writer, when I was a yarn spinner and I just wanted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joss-whedon/there-was-a-time-before-i-felt-i-was-a-real-writer-when-i-was-a-yarn/) [Joss Whedon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joss-whedon/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/767/joss-whedon-480_felt_there-was-a-time-before-i-felt-i-was-a-r_1657127.jpg) > [I love that "furious and gorgeous barrage." That helps me see the relation between the introduction and the book's final section, where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-mullen/i-love-that-furious-and-gorgeous-barrage-that-helps-me-see-the/) [Laura Mullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-mullen/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/555/laura-mullen-16442_book_i-love-that-furious-and-gorgeous-barrage_1512782.jpg) > [It took a lot to understand that the interest in both writing a story and reading it is not in the objective…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etgar-keret/it-took-a-lot-to-understand-that-the-interest-in-both-writing-a-story/) [Etgar Keret](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etgar-keret/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd0/etgar-keret-2656_apartment_it-took-a-lot-to-understand-that-the-int_2786086.jpg) > [“Things that only a writer would understand—you’re writing a character—you tell that character who she or he is and they stop you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-marbly-warir/things-that-only-a-writer-would-understand-you-re-writing-a-character/) [Lisa Marbly-Warir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-marbly-warir/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b1e/lisa-marbly-warir-91123_author-quotes_things-that-only-a-writer-would-understa_1562289.jpg) > ["There is no analysis here," the most brutal of them wrote. Now I wonder if my papers lacked critical thought, or if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-j-miller/there-is-no-analysis-here-the-most-brutal-of-them-wrote-now-i-wonder/) [Mary J. Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-j-miller/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/97b/mary-j-miller-21370_analysis_there-is-no-analysis-here-the-most-bruta_2309836.jpg) > [“Never worry about the reader, what the reader can understand. When you are writing, glance over your shoulder, and you’ll find there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hugo/never-worry-about-the-reader-what-the-reader-can-understand-when-you/) [Richard Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-hugo/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/837/richard-hugo-14365_aesthetics_never-worry-about-the-reader-what-the-re_2170418.jpg) > [“The longer I am a writer--so long now that my writing finger is periodically numb--the better I understand what writing is; what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-walker/the-longer-i-am-a-writer-so-long-now-that-my-writing-finger-is/) [Alice Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-walker/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b09/alice-walker-347_human-animal_the-longer-i-am-a-writer-so-long-now-tha_507571.jpg) > [“In my classes, we read great fiction obsessively, and then attempt to see how a writer managed to affect us. We try…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-bakopoulos/in-my-classes-we-read-great-fiction-obsessively-and-then-attempt-to/) [Dean Bakopoulos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-bakopoulos/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a87/dean-bakopoulos-162527_books_in-my-classes-we-read-great-fiction-obse_2075519.jpg) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/understand-writing/#itemlist", "name": "Understand Writing Quotes", "numberOfItems": 17, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“You must understand that when you are writing a novel you are not making anything up.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thomas Harris" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-harris/you-must-understand-that-when-you-are-writing-a-novel-you-are-not-2/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb9/thomas-harris-1874_author_you-must-understand-that-when-you-are-wr_2622245.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb9/thomas-harris-1874_author_you-must-understand-that-when-you-are-wr_2622245.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb9/thomas-harris-1874_author_you-must-understand-that-when-you-are-wr_2622245.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“You must understand that when you are writing a novel you are not making anything up.” — Thomas Harris", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "You must understand that when you are writing a novel you are not making anything up. It's all there and you just have to find it.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thomas Harris" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-harris/you-must-understand-that-when-you-are-writing-a-novel-you-are-not/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/504/thomas-harris-1874_books_you-must-understand-that-when-you-are-wr_855939.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/504/thomas-harris-1874_books_you-must-understand-that-when-you-are-wr_855939.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/504/thomas-harris-1874_books_you-must-understand-that-when-you-are-wr_855939.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“You must understand that when you are writing a novel you are not making anything up. It's all there and you…” — Thomas Harris", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I do believe that reading can help you understand what you're writing and see what others are doing. But sometimes the desire for more information can act as an inhibitor.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Manuel Puig" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manuel-puig/i-do-believe-that-reading-can-help-you-understand-what-you-re-writing/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec8/manuel-puig-9471_believe_i-do-believe-that-reading-can-help-you-u_287666.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec8/manuel-puig-9471_believe_i-do-believe-that-reading-can-help-you-u_287666.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec8/manuel-puig-9471_believe_i-do-believe-that-reading-can-help-you-u_287666.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I do believe that reading can help you understand what you're writing and see what others are doing. But…” — Manuel Puig", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Advice? Focus on the craft. Study the greats. Try and understand how and why they made the writing choices they did.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Patrick Stump" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-stump/advice-focus-on-the-craft-study-the-greats-try-and-understand-how-and/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a98/patrick-stump-2850_patrick-stump_advice-focus-on-the-craft-study-the-grea_403133.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a98/patrick-stump-2850_patrick-stump_advice-focus-on-the-craft-study-the-grea_403133.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a98/patrick-stump-2850_patrick-stump_advice-focus-on-the-craft-study-the-grea_403133.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Advice? Focus on the craft. Study the greats. Try and understand how and why they made the writing choices…” — Patrick Stump", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 5, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "My aunt could never understand how writing could be a full-time job. She'd keep asking when I'd get a real job!", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ken Spillman" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-spillman/my-aunt-could-never-understand-how-writing-could-be-a-full-time-job/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/360/ken-spillman-64945_asking_my-aunt-could-never-understand-how-writi_1630280.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/360/ken-spillman-64945_asking_my-aunt-could-never-understand-how-writi_1630280.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/360/ken-spillman-64945_asking_my-aunt-could-never-understand-how-writi_1630280.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“My aunt could never understand how writing could be a full-time job. She'd keep asking when I'd get a real…” — Ken Spillman", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 6, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Understand that writing is like an athletic activity. To play tennis well, you expect to keep practicing, but for some reason with writing, you think you should come out fresh the first time.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Natalie Goldberg" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/understand-that-writing-is-like-an-athletic-activity-to-play-tennis/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8a3/natalie-goldberg-1741_activity_understand-that-writing-is-like-an-athle_1405479.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8a3/natalie-goldberg-1741_activity_understand-that-writing-is-like-an-athle_1405479.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8a3/natalie-goldberg-1741_activity_understand-that-writing-is-like-an-athle_1405479.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Understand that writing is like an athletic activity. To play tennis well, you expect to keep practicing…” — Natalie Goldberg", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 7, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "My writing model is my mother, who is a writer as well. She always valued clarity and simplicity above all else. If someone doesn't understand what you're writing, then everything else you do is superfluous. Irrelevant. If any thoughtful, curious reader finds what I do impenetrable, I've failed.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Malcolm Gladwell" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-gladwell/my-writing-model-is-my-mother-who-is-a-writer-as-well-she-always/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/52d/malcolm-gladwell-348_clarity_my-writing-model-is-my-mother-who-is-a-w_321809.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/52d/malcolm-gladwell-348_clarity_my-writing-model-is-my-mother-who-is-a-w_321809.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/52d/malcolm-gladwell-348_clarity_my-writing-model-is-my-mother-who-is-a-w_321809.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“My writing model is my mother, who is a writer as well. She always valued clarity and simplicity above all…” — Malcolm Gladwell", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 8, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Also, they don't understand - writing is language. The use of language. The language to create image, the language to create drama. It requires a skill of learning how to use language.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Milius" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milius/also-they-don-t-understand-writing-is-language-the-use-of-language/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/808/john-milius-18681_drama_also-they-don-t-understand-writing-is-la_3107578.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/808/john-milius-18681_drama_also-they-don-t-understand-writing-is-la_3107578.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/808/john-milius-18681_drama_also-they-don-t-understand-writing-is-la_3107578.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Also, they don't understand - writing is language. The use of language. The language to create image, the…” — John Milius", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 9, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“MFA in a Box is designed to help you to find the courage to put truth into words and to understand that writing is a life-and-death endeavor — but that nothing about a life-and-death endeavor keeps it from being laugh-out-loud funny.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Rember" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-rember/mfa-in-a-box-is-designed-to-help-you-to-find-the-courage-to-put-truth/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ea2/john-rember-249613_courage_mfa-in-a-box-is-designed-to-help-you-to_1906144.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ea2/john-rember-249613_courage_mfa-in-a-box-is-designed-to-help-you-to_1906144.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ea2/john-rember-249613_courage_mfa-in-a-box-is-designed-to-help-you-to_1906144.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“MFA in a Box is designed to help you to find the courage to put truth into words and to understand that…” — John Rember", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 10, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There was a time before I felt I was a real writer, when I was a yarn spinner and I just wanted to tell story until it was over. But then there came a time where I was like, 'No, I want to understand something through writing this that I might have not understood before. I want people to come away with something to think about.'", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Joss Whedon" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joss-whedon/there-was-a-time-before-i-felt-i-was-a-real-writer-when-i-was-a-yarn/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/767/joss-whedon-480_felt_there-was-a-time-before-i-felt-i-was-a-r_1657127.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/767/joss-whedon-480_felt_there-was-a-time-before-i-felt-i-was-a-r_1657127.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/767/joss-whedon-480_felt_there-was-a-time-before-i-felt-i-was-a-r_1657127.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There was a time before I felt I was a real writer, when I was a yarn spinner and I just wanted to tell…” — Joss Whedon", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 11, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I love that \"furious and gorgeous barrage.\" That helps me see the relation between the introduction and the book's final section, where writing about a fire (and about the attempt to understand the event), also becomes an attempt to understand how writing might get closer to the fire, in so many ways.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Laura Mullen" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-mullen/i-love-that-furious-and-gorgeous-barrage-that-helps-me-see-the/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/555/laura-mullen-16442_book_i-love-that-furious-and-gorgeous-barrage_1512782.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/555/laura-mullen-16442_book_i-love-that-furious-and-gorgeous-barrage_1512782.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/555/laura-mullen-16442_book_i-love-that-furious-and-gorgeous-barrage_1512782.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I love that \"furious and gorgeous barrage.\" That helps me see the relation between the introduction and the…” — Laura Mullen", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 12, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It took a lot to understand that the interest in both writing a story and reading it is not in the objective dangers someone takes. You don't have to fight snakes or wake up in a strange apartment to have a story; it's about what goes on inside your mind and soul.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Etgar Keret" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etgar-keret/it-took-a-lot-to-understand-that-the-interest-in-both-writing-a-story/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd0/etgar-keret-2656_apartment_it-took-a-lot-to-understand-that-the-int_2786086.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd0/etgar-keret-2656_apartment_it-took-a-lot-to-understand-that-the-int_2786086.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd0/etgar-keret-2656_apartment_it-took-a-lot-to-understand-that-the-int_2786086.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It took a lot to understand that the interest in both writing a story and reading it is not in the objective…” — Etgar Keret", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 13, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Things that only a writer would understand—you’re writing a character—you tell that character who she or he is and they stop you and make it clear, they are the ones telling their story. You just have to let them tell it.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lisa Marbly-Warir" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-marbly-warir/things-that-only-a-writer-would-understand-you-re-writing-a-character/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b1e/lisa-marbly-warir-91123_author-quotes_things-that-only-a-writer-would-understa_1562289.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b1e/lisa-marbly-warir-91123_author-quotes_things-that-only-a-writer-would-understa_1562289.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b1e/lisa-marbly-warir-91123_author-quotes_things-that-only-a-writer-would-understa_1562289.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Things that only a writer would understand—you’re writing a character—you tell that character who she or he…” — Lisa Marbly-Warir", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 14, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "\"There is no analysis here,\" the most brutal of them wrote. Now I wonder if my papers lacked critical thought, or if it was really more about my inability/refusal to write in the convoluted style that they wanted me to. I remember the initial shock upon reading my peers' papers. I seriously could not understand them, and I couldn't understand why the writing had to be so unclear in order to be considered smart.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mary J. Miller" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-j-miller/there-is-no-analysis-here-the-most-brutal-of-them-wrote-now-i-wonder/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/97b/mary-j-miller-21370_analysis_there-is-no-analysis-here-the-most-bruta_2309836.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/97b/mary-j-miller-21370_analysis_there-is-no-analysis-here-the-most-bruta_2309836.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/97b/mary-j-miller-21370_analysis_there-is-no-analysis-here-the-most-bruta_2309836.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“\"There is no analysis here,\" the most brutal of them wrote. Now I wonder if my papers lacked critical…” — Mary J. Miller", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 15, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Never worry about the reader, what the reader can understand. When you are writing, glance over your shoulder, and you’ll find there is no reader. Just you and the page. Feel lonely? Good! Assuming you can write clear English (or Norwegian) sentences, give up all worry about communication. If you want to communicate, use the telephone. To write a poem you have to have a streak of arrogance (…) when you are writing you must assume that the next thing you put down belongs not for reasons of logic, good sense, or narrative development, but because you put it there. You, the same person who said that, also said this. The adhesive force is your way of writing, not sensible connection.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Richard Hugo" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hugo/never-worry-about-the-reader-what-the-reader-can-understand-when-you/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/837/richard-hugo-14365_aesthetics_never-worry-about-the-reader-what-the-re_2170418.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/837/richard-hugo-14365_aesthetics_never-worry-about-the-reader-what-the-re_2170418.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/837/richard-hugo-14365_aesthetics_never-worry-about-the-reader-what-the-re_2170418.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Never worry about the reader, what the reader can understand. When you are writing, glance over your…” — Richard Hugo", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 16, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The longer I am a writer--so long now that my writing finger is periodically numb--the better I understand what writing is; what its function is; what it is supposed to do. I learn that the writer's pen is a microphone held up to the mouths of ancestors and even stones of long ago. That once given permission by the writer--a fool, and so why should one fear?--horses, dogs, rivers, and, yes, chickens can step forward and expound on their lives. The magic of this is not so much in the power of the microphone as in the ability of the nonhuman object or animal to BE and the human animal to PERCEIVE ITS BEING.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alice Walker" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-walker/the-longer-i-am-a-writer-so-long-now-that-my-writing-finger-is/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b09/alice-walker-347_human-animal_the-longer-i-am-a-writer-so-long-now-tha_507571.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b09/alice-walker-347_human-animal_the-longer-i-am-a-writer-so-long-now-tha_507571.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b09/alice-walker-347_human-animal_the-longer-i-am-a-writer-so-long-now-tha_507571.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The longer I am a writer--so long now that my writing finger is periodically numb--the better I understand…” — Alice Walker", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 17, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“In my classes, we read great fiction obsessively, and then attempt to see how a writer managed to affect us. We try to understand which elements—diction, syntax, point of view and so forth—made us feel that way. After we spend several weeks reading this way, wondering how the author made us shiver like that, we try our own hand. I ask students to begin with ‘green lines,’ to isolate writing so good it makes one writer envious of another. Which parts do they wish they had written themselves? Students start to understand how their own writing works, where it ripples with energy… What they really want is to have some kind of firsthand, visceral relationship with a book—to see what it’s like to take a work apart and put it back together—using great stories as structural models, just the way the kids I grew up with in Detroit fell in love with cars by spending weekends trying to make derelict Ford Mustangs run again. When the engine finally starts, when you figure out how to make it fire, it’s an incredibly powerful learning experience.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Dean Bakopoulos" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-bakopoulos/in-my-classes-we-read-great-fiction-obsessively-and-then-attempt-to/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a87/dean-bakopoulos-162527_books_in-my-classes-we-read-great-fiction-obse_2075519.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a87/dean-bakopoulos-162527_books_in-my-classes-we-read-great-fiction-obse_2075519.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a87/dean-bakopoulos-162527_books_in-my-classes-we-read-great-fiction-obse_2075519.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“In my classes, we read great fiction obsessively, and then attempt to see how a writer managed to affect us…” — Dean Bakopoulos", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } } ] }, { "@type": "CollectionPage", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/understand-writing/#webpage", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/understand-writing/", "name": "Understand Writing Quotes", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/understand-writing/#itemlist" }, "primaryImageOfPage": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb9/thomas-harris-1874_author_you-must-understand-that-when-you-are-wr_2622245.jpg" }, "description": "Browse 17 Understand Writing quotes by 16 authors. Discover the best Understand Writing sayings and thoughts.", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/understand-writing/#breadcrumb" } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/understand-writing/#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": "Understand Writing Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/understand-writing/" } ] }, { "@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 } } ] } ```