--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I think people feel for a long time that…" description: "\"I think people feel for a long time that they ought to know how to write a novel in two drafts.\" — Alice Mattison" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f4f/alice-mattison-11066_books_i-think-people-feel-for-a-long-time-that_522864.jpg" --- # I think people feel for a long time that they ought to… ![“I think people feel for a long time that they ought to know how to write a novel in two drafts.” quote by Alice Mattison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f4f/alice-mattison-11066_books_i-think-people-feel-for-a-long-time-that_522864.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f4f/alice-mattison-11066_books_i-think-people-feel-for-a-long-time-that_522864.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f4f/alice-mattison-11066_books_i-think-people-feel-for-a-long-time-that_522864.jpg) > “I think people feel for a long time that they ought to know how to write a novel in two drafts.” [Alice Mattison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-mattison/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The belief that a novel can be perfected in just two drafts is a misconception; writing requires iterative refinement. **In simple terms:** Writing a novel needs many drafts, not just two. Key Takeaway Embrace the process of revising multiple times. Themes creativity process writing Mood thoughtful encouraging Type practical inspirational When to use this quote - novel writing - creative workshops - self‑editing - publishing preparation Key Concepts drafting revision learning curve Questions to Reflect On - How many drafts do you need to feel satisfied? - What steps help you know when to stop revising? A Different Perspective Some writers may find endless revisions discouraging. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Drafts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/drafts/) [Feels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feels/) [Know how](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/know-how/) [Know Write](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/know-write/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long/) [Long time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long-time/) [Novel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novel/) [Novel Drafts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novel-drafts-4409161/) [Ought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ought/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Two](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/two/) [Write](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/write/) [Write Novel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/write-novel/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [“You're never confident. 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Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-m-martin/) > [I'm not so sure that I can teach people how to, you know, write dialogue or create plot or anything like that. But if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/i-m-not-so-sure-that-i-can-teach-people-how-to-you-know-write/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [“In the same way there is much, much in all of us, but we do not know it. No one ever calls it out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-ueland/in-the-same-way-there-is-much-much-in-all-of-us-but-we-do-not-know-it/) [Brenda Ueland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-ueland/) > [“To be a great Writer, Write what you know & Write what other writers wouldn't write about.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maryann-gestwicki/to-be-a-great-writer-write-what-you-know-write-what-other-writers/) [Maryann Gestwicki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maryann-gestwicki/) > [It's a gift that I have and I became good at it. When I heard my first song I didn't even know that I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rico-love/it-s-a-gift-that-i-have-and-i-became-good-at-it-when-i-heard-my-first/) [Rico Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rico-love/) > [“Advice? I don’t have advice. Stop aspiring and start writing. If you’re writing, you’re a writer. Write like you’re a goddamn death row inmate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-wilson-watts/advice-i-don-t-have-advice-stop-aspiring-and-start-writing-if-you-re/) [Alan Wilson Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-wilson-watts/) ## More by Alice Mattison > [Sometimes indirect style and varying chronology is great, but quite often I've seen it be just something that gets in the way. It turns…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-mattison/sometimes-indirect-style-and-varying-chronology-is-great-but-quite/) [Alice Mattison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-mattison/) > [Every once in a while someone says, 'You can't really learn anything, if you're really a writer then you wouldn't need to do it.'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-mattison/every-once-in-a-while-someone-says-you-can-t-really-learn-anything-if/) [Alice Mattison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-mattison/) > [Whoever would write books? It's suffering as well as greatly satisfying. 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They're writers then,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-mattison/when-i-ve-taught-writing-to-five-six-and-seven-year-olds-it-s-not/) [Alice Mattison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-mattison/) > [I find that I get very excited about what my students are up to and that I get to be the hurdle they need…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-mattison/i-find-that-i-get-very-excited-about-what-my-students-are-up-to-and/) [Alice Mattison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-mattison/) > [I love to read nonfiction and memoir, but I'm mostly interested in the piece of writing more than the person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-mattison/i-love-to-read-nonfiction-and-memoir-but-i-m-mostly-interested-in-the/) [Alice Mattison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-mattison/) > [I think that inevitably, the trouble our characters go through is a kind of metaphor for what's happening in ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-mattison/i-think-that-inevitably-the-trouble-our-characters-go-through-is-a/) [Alice Mattison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-mattison/) > [When an editor first explained to me the difference between direct and indirect writing, I just thought it was a stylistic choice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-mattison/when-an-editor-first-explained-to-me-the-difference-between-direct/) [Alice Mattison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-mattison/) > [Writers sometimes are paid a great deal of money, but much more frequently they're not paid or are paid only a little bit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-mattison/writers-sometimes-are-paid-a-great-deal-of-money-but-much-more/) [Alice Mattison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-mattison/) > [We're always inventing, even if we're making someone who's fairly close to ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-mattison/we-re-always-inventing-even-if-we-re-making-someone-who-s-fairly/) [Alice Mattison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-mattison/) > [I just like doing it, I like writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-mattison/i-just-like-doing-it-i-like-writing/) [Alice Mattison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-mattison/) [Explore all 62 Alice Mattison quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-mattison/) ## More Books quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [“Within the pages of books, I've journeyed to Mandalay, the Milky Way and Santa Fe, without once having to leave my armchair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-ansbro/within-the-pages-of-books-i-ve-journeyed-to-mandalay-the-milky-way/) [Kevin Ansbro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-ansbro/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [“Tacitus did not write a most dangerous book. His readers made it so.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-k-krebs/tacitus-did-not-write-a-most-dangerous-book-his-readers-made-it-so/) [Christopher K. 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Some fine day you'll die of a misprint.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-herz/be-careful-about-reading-health-books-some-fine-day-you-ll-die-of-a/) [Markus Herz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/markus-herz/) > [But editors are still the world's readers. And thus the eyes of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/but-editors-are-still-the-world-s-readers-and-thus-the-eyes-of-the/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) [Browse all 59,485 Books quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I think people feel for a long time that they ought to know how to write a novel in two drafts.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alice Mattison" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-mattison/i-think-people-feel-for-a-long-time-that-they-ought-to-know-how-to/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Books" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-mattison/i-think-people-feel-for-a-long-time-that-they-ought-to-know-how-to/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f4f/alice-mattison-11066_books_i-think-people-feel-for-a-long-time-that_522864.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f4f/alice-mattison-11066_books_i-think-people-feel-for-a-long-time-that_522864.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f4f/alice-mattison-11066_books_i-think-people-feel-for-a-long-time-that_522864.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I think people feel for a long time that they ought to know how to write a novel in two drafts.” — Alice Mattison", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "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": "Alice Mattison", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-mattison/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I think people feel for a...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-mattison/i-think-people-feel-for-a-long-time-that-they-ought-to-know-how-to/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-mattison/i-think-people-feel-for-a-long-time-that-they-ought-to-know-how-to/#breadcrumb" }, { "@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 } } ] } ```