--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I did try to write fiction. I wrote 10…" description: "\"I did try to write fiction. I wrote 10 novels. And they were all just awful.\" — Alexandra Fuller" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/513/alexandra-fuller-7586_awful_i-did-try-to-write-fiction-i-wrote-10-no_1073378.png" --- # I did try to write fiction. I wrote 10 novels. And they… ![“I did try to write fiction. I wrote 10 novels. And they were all just awful.” quote by Alexandra Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/513/alexandra-fuller-7586_awful_i-did-try-to-write-fiction-i-wrote-10-no_1073378.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/513/alexandra-fuller-7586_awful_i-did-try-to-write-fiction-i-wrote-10-no_1073378.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/513/alexandra-fuller-7586_awful_i-did-try-to-write-fiction-i-wrote-10-no_1073378.png) > “I did try to write fiction. I wrote 10 novels. And they were all just awful.” [Alexandra Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-fuller/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The author acknowledges extensive attempts at fiction, resulting in consistently poor outcomes, highlighting perseverance despite failure. **In simple terms:** Many attempts, all poor. Key Takeaway Accept failure, keep trying. Themes perseverance writing failure Mood reflective determined Type inspirational realistic When to use this quote - novel writing - learning from mistakes - building resilience Key Concepts creative process self‑assessment Questions to Reflect On - What can you learn from each poor novel? - How might you redefine “awful”? A Different Perspective Success may still be distant despite effort. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [I have always loved to read, and now that I have penned 10 novels and a few magazine articles, I have fallen seriously in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothea-benton-frank/i-have-always-loved-to-read-and-now-that-i-have-penned-10-novels-and/) [Dorothea Benton Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothea-benton-frank/) > [“I wonder if Dickens knew he was writing historical fiction when he wrote his many novels.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-kroft/i-wonder-if-dickens-knew-he-was-writing-historical-fiction-when-he/) [Michael Kroft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-kroft/) > [I think it's important to humanize history; fiction can help us remember. A lot of books I've read in the past have been so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/i-think-it-s-important-to-humanize-history-fiction-can-help-us/) [Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/) > [The hardest piece of nonfiction I ever wrote isn't anywhere close to the easiest piece of fiction I never wrote.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/the-hardest-piece-of-nonfiction-i-ever-wrote-isn-t-anywhere-close-to/) [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) > [The first piece of 'long' fiction I wrote was a novella parody of Stephen King's 'Christine.' I was in high school, and my version…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelley-armstrong/the-first-piece-of-long-fiction-i-wrote-was-a-novella-parody-of/) [Kelley Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelley-armstrong/) > [The first fiction I ever wrote was short stories. I was writing short stories in my late teens and early twenties, and I think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jess-walter/the-first-fiction-i-ever-wrote-was-short-stories-i-was-writing-short/) [Jess Walter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jess-walter/) > [When I write novels, it's just me alone in a room.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-serle/when-i-write-novels-it-s-just-me-alone-in-a-room/) [Rebecca Serle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-serle/) > [One of my biggest goals, especially with writing YA novels, is just to have people enjoy reading.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-conrad/one-of-my-biggest-goals-especially-with-writing-ya-novels-is-just-to/) [Lauren Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-conrad/) > [“Novels are just another kind of cross-dressing, aren't they?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-irving/novels-are-just-another-kind-of-cross-dressing-aren-t-they/) [John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-irving/) > [I think novels just really show us the deepest parts of people's hearts, and you cannot walk away anymore and say, "I don't know."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwidge-danticat/i-think-novels-just-really-show-us-the-deepest-parts-of-people-s/) [Edwidge Danticat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwidge-danticat/) > [People are so used to reading novels now, they just read a poem straight through to get the meaning. And that's something totally different…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-oswald/people-are-so-used-to-reading-novels-now-they-just-read-a-poem/) [Alice Oswald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-oswald/) > [A lot of the big American social novels are just these domestic novels, like Jonathan Franzen or whoever, They have these domestic themes which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/torrey-peters/a-lot-of-the-big-american-social-novels-are-just-these-domestic/) [Torrey Peters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/torrey-peters/) > [Sometimes people write novels and they just be so wordy and so self-absorbed. I am not a fan of books ... I like to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kanye-west/sometimes-people-write-novels-and-they-just-be-so-wordy-and-so-self/) [Kanye West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kanye-west/) > [You hear about people who write 15 to 20 novels. How do they do it? You just gotta do it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-lightfoot/you-hear-about-people-who-write-15-to-20-novels-how-do-they-do-it-you/) [Gordon Lightfoot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-lightfoot/) > [When I wrote The Onion Field, I realized that my first two novels were just practice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-wambaugh/when-i-wrote-the-onion-field-i-realized-that-my-first-two-novels-were/) [Joseph Wambaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-wambaugh/) ## More by Alexandra Fuller > [“Toasted tobacco, no additives,' I said. 'Yum. Tastes like childhood.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-fuller/toasted-tobacco-no-additives-i-said-yum-tastes-like-childhood/) [Alexandra Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-fuller/) > [I don't think we have all the words in a single vocabulary to explain what we are or why we are. I don't think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-fuller/i-don-t-think-we-have-all-the-words-in-a-single-vocabulary-to-explain/) [Alexandra Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-fuller/) > [In the West, it was believed that attitude and ambition saved you. In Africa, we had learned that no one was immune to capricious…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-fuller/in-the-west-it-was-believed-that-attitude-and-ambition-saved-you-in/) [Alexandra Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-fuller/) > [I listen mostly to classical music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-fuller/i-listen-mostly-to-classical-music/) [Alexandra Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-fuller/) > [What is important is the story. Because when we are all dust and teeth and kicked-up bits of skin - when we're dancing with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-fuller/what-is-important-is-the-story-because-when-we-are-all-dust-and-teeth/) [Alexandra Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-fuller/) > [One of the things about being raised British in Africa is that you get this double whammy of toughness. The continent in place itself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-fuller/one-of-the-things-about-being-raised-british-in-africa-is-that-you/) [Alexandra Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-fuller/) > [“How much strength must one people have? And for how long must they have it?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-fuller/how-much-strength-must-one-people-have-and-for-how-long-must-they/) [Alexandra Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-fuller/) > [In general, I almost always watch foreign films.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-fuller/in-general-i-almost-always-watch-foreign-films/) [Alexandra Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-fuller/) > [I think that being raised the way I was, where everything was so uncompromising, where, you know, we're prepared to fight to the death…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-fuller/i-think-that-being-raised-the-way-i-was-where-everything-was-so/) [Alexandra Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-fuller/) > [This is not a full circle. It's life carrying on. It's the next breath we all take. 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How you receive the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-fuller/oh-i-don-t-keep-a-journal-how-you-remember-an-incident-is-dictated-by/) [Alexandra Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-fuller/) [Explore all 89 Alexandra Fuller quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-fuller/) ## More Awful quotes > [It must be that I am dreaming, and that I shall awaken in a moment to see that awful knife descending toward my heart-…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-rice-burroughs/it-must-be-that-i-am-dreaming-and-that-i-shall-awaken-in-a-moment-to/) [Edgar Rice Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-rice-burroughs/) > [I spent two years in Palo Alto - what an awful, suffocating place for those of us who don't care about yoga, yogurts and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evgeny-morozov/i-spent-two-years-in-palo-alto-what-an-awful-suffocating-place-for/) [Evgeny Morozov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evgeny-morozov/) > [Layla brought her arms around herself, no doubt because she was remembering the feel of another, stronger set. 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It was very painful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pamela-stephenson/there-was-a-special-challenge-in-describing-the-awful-childhood-of-a/) [Pamela Stephenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pamela-stephenson/) > [On balance the moral influence of religion has been awful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-weinberg/on-balance-the-moral-influence-of-religion-has-been-awful/) [Steven Weinberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-weinberg/) > [When you finish a poem, it clicks shut like the top of a jewel box, but prose is endless. I haven't experienced an awful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-koch/when-you-finish-a-poem-it-clicks-shut-like-the-top-of-a-jewel-box-but/) [Kenneth Koch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-koch/) > [Fascism: awful stench of saw and axe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-leiris/fascism-awful-stench-of-saw-and-axe/) [Michel Leiris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-leiris/) > [No one with a bad tie is getting my vote. Some Lib Dems wear the most shockingly awful ties.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freddie-fox/no-one-with-a-bad-tie-is-getting-my-vote-some-lib-dems-wear-the-most/) [Freddie Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freddie-fox/) > [“Here she was back in the brightly lit world she had been avoiding for twenty years, and it was exactly as awful as she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-charles-wilson/here-she-was-back-in-the-brightly-lit-world-she-had-been-avoiding-for/) [Robert Charles Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-charles-wilson/) > [I'm pretty indiscriminating, and I have awful taste, generally.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nellie-mckay/i-m-pretty-indiscriminating-and-i-have-awful-taste-generally/) [Nellie McKay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nellie-mckay/) > [The blessed Religion revealed in the word of God will remain an eternal and awful monument to prove that the best Institution may be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-washington/the-blessed-religion-revealed-in-the-word-of-god-will-remain-an/) [George Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-washington/) > [“I am awful. I am heartless. I am scared that these things are actually true.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/i-am-awful-i-am-heartless-i-am-scared-that-these-things-are-actually/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [Democracy is an awful way to run a country, but it's the best system we have.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/democracy-is-an-awful-way-to-run-a-country-but-it-s-the-best-system/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) Browse all 1,826 Awful quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I did try to write fiction. I wrote 10 novels. 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