--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Now, if, as I think, writing should be…" description: "\"Now, if, as I think, writing should be, it's a kind of risky trade.\" — Al Alvarez" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d77/al-alvarez-21402_kind_now-if-as-i-think-writing-should-be-it-s_1617236.png" --- # Now, if, as I think, writing should be, it's a kind of… ![“Now, if, as I think, writing should be, it's a kind of risky trade.” quote by Al Alvarez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d77/al-alvarez-21402_kind_now-if-as-i-think-writing-should-be-it-s_1617236.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d77/al-alvarez-21402_kind_now-if-as-i-think-writing-should-be-it-s_1617236.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d77/al-alvarez-21402_kind_now-if-as-i-think-writing-should-be-it-s_1617236.png) > “Now, if, as I think, writing should be, it's a kind of risky trade.” [Al Alvarez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-alvarez/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writing involves risk, as it trades safety for creative vulnerability. **In simple terms:** Writing is a risky, creative trade. Key Takeaway Embrace uncertainty in creative work. Themes writing risk creativity Mood inspirational thoughtful Type creative philosophical When to use this quote - novel drafting - poetry composition - journalistic reporting Key Concepts artistic vulnerability innovation authorial voice Questions to Reflect On - What risks are you willing to take in your work? - How does risk fuel artistic growth? A Different Perspective Risk may lead to failure or rejection. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Trade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trade/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [I'm not one of those people who's so blinded by my own work and my sweat. 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Writing is a kind of double living.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-drinker-bowen/writing-is-not-apart-from-living-writing-is-a-kind-of-double-living/) [Catherine Drinker Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-drinker-bowen/) > [When I started writing it was kind of hard getting people to do my stuff. They' say they couldn't do my style.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/otis-blackwell/when-i-started-writing-it-was-kind-of-hard-getting-people-to-do-my/) [Otis Blackwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/otis-blackwell/) > [If you are disappearing from yourself, but you're still writing, then there is a kind of activity of thinking going on, which in my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-ove-knausgard/if-you-are-disappearing-from-yourself-but-you-re-still-writing-then/) [Karl Ove Knausgard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-ove-knausgard/) > [“It doesn't matter where or how far you go - the farther commonly the worse - the important thing is how alive you are.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pico-iyer/it-doesn-t-matter-where-or-how-far-you-go-the-farther-commonly-the/) [Pico Iyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pico-iyer/) > [I guess writing is a kind of therapy in the sense that there are things you need to say and you say them, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hanif-kureishi/i-guess-writing-is-a-kind-of-therapy-in-the-sense-that-there-are/) [Hanif Kureishi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hanif-kureishi/) > [Making music and writing kind of come from the same creative place.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-eggold/making-music-and-writing-kind-of-come-from-the-same-creative-place/) [Ryan Eggold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryan-eggold/) > [When you're writing, it's as if you're within a kind of closed world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/when-you-re-writing-it-s-as-if-you-re-within-a-kind-of-closed-world/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) > [In a sense, the story, or poem or verse or whatever it is you're writing, you can kind of think of it as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-moore/in-a-sense-the-story-or-poem-or-verse-or-whatever-it-is-you-re/) [Alan Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-moore/) > [I'm always writing. 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After you finish a piece of work it only seems good to you for a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/what-profession-is-more-trying-than-that-of-author-after-you-finish-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Writing the same kind of material is no guarantee you'll be working from the same ethos so that writers from different fields are just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-sheridan/writing-the-same-kind-of-material-is-no-guarantee-you-ll-be-working/) [Sara Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-sheridan/) ## More by Al Alvarez > [I absolutely don't believe in anything. Full stop. Including luck.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-alvarez/i-absolutely-don-t-believe-in-anything-full-stop-including-luck/) [Al Alvarez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-alvarez/) > [“I balanced all, brought all to mind, The years to come seemed waste of breath, A waste of breath the years behind In balance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-alvarez/i-balanced-all-brought-all-to-mind-the-years-to-come-seemed-waste-of/) [Al Alvarez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-alvarez/) > [Despair, in short, seeks its own environment as surely as water finds its own level.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-alvarez/despair-in-short-seeks-its-own-environment-as-surely-as-water-finds/) [Al Alvarez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-alvarez/) > [“Suicide is, after all, the result of a choice. 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If your cards are good enough for you to call a bet, they are good enough to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-alvarez/hold-em-is-a-game-of-calculated-aggression-if-your-cards-are-good/) [Al Alvarez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-alvarez/) [Explore all 29 Al Alvarez quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-alvarez/) ## More Kind quotes > [Money is the kind of instrument which is very speedily produced.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatoly-chubais/money-is-the-kind-of-instrument-which-is-very-speedily-produced/) [Anatoly Chubais](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatoly-chubais/) > [Since I worked with Danny Boyle before on Slumdog Millionaire, we have great success and everything. So, when I first got the script and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-r-rahman/since-i-worked-with-danny-boyle-before-on-slumdog-millionaire-we-have/) [A. R. 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I'm not so good at understated, kitchen-sink kinds of parts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-reeve/the-bigger-the-canvas-the-better-i-do-i-m-not-so-good-at-understated/) [Christopher Reeve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-reeve/) > [I'm a big fan of all the Boston guys that are acting - Matt Damon , Ben Affleck, Mark Wahlberg - they made a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenny-wormald/i-m-a-big-fan-of-all-the-boston-guys-that-are-acting-matt-damon-ben/) [Kenny Wormald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenny-wormald/) > [If we accept being talked to any kind of a way, then we are telling ourselves we are not quite worth the best. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/if-we-accept-being-talked-to-any-kind-of-a-way-then-we-are-telling/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [You're getting into some kind of shape, cop." Aw, come on, now." Butch grinned. 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