--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I had been a reporter for 15 years when I…" description: "\"I had been a reporter for 15 years when I set out to write my first novel. I knew how to research an article or profile a subject - skills that I assum..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/406/amy-waldman-14698_articles_i-had-been-a-reporter-for-15-years-when_1209586.jpg" --- # I had been a reporter for 15 years when I set out to write… ![“I had been a reporter for 15 years when I set out to write my first novel. I knew how to research an article or profile a subject - skills that I assumed would be useless when it came to fiction. It was from my imagination that the characters in my story would emerge.” quote by Amy Waldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/406/amy-waldman-14698_articles_i-had-been-a-reporter-for-15-years-when_1209586.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/406/amy-waldman-14698_articles_i-had-been-a-reporter-for-15-years-when_1209586.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/406/amy-waldman-14698_articles_i-had-been-a-reporter-for-15-years-when_1209586.jpg) > “I had been a reporter for 15 years when I set out to write my first novel. I knew how to research an article or profile a subject - skills that I assumed would be useless when it came to fiction. It was from my imagination that the characters in my story would emerge.” [Amy Waldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-waldman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Journalistic skills can enrich fiction, but imagination drives storytelling. **In simple terms:** Research helps, but imagination creates characters. Key Takeaway Blend factual research with creative imagination. Themes writing fiction research Mood reflective inspirational Type educational creative When to use this quote - novel writing - character development - world‑building Key Concepts storytelling creative process journalism Questions to Reflect On - How can journalists transition to novelists? - What balance yields authentic fiction? A Different Perspective Relying solely on research may limit originality. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Articles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/articles/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) [Fiction Imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction-imagination-1826855/) [Firsts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/firsts/) [Imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination/) [My imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/my-imagination/) [Novel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novel/) [Novel Knew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novel-knew-1214582/) [Profile](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/profile/) [Reporter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reporter/) [Research](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/research/) [Skills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/skills/) [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) [Subjects](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/subjects/) [Useless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/useless/) [Would be](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/would-be/) [Write Novel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/write-novel/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years/) ## Related quotes > [For me, it would be pointless to write a novel that I knew I could complete within a specific length of time. I could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-palliser/for-me-it-would-be-pointless-to-write-a-novel-that-i-knew-i-could/) [Charles Palliser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-palliser/) > [The novel as we knew it in the nineteenth century was killed off by Proust and Joyce.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-moravia/the-novel-as-we-knew-it-in-the-nineteenth-century-was-killed-off-by/) [Alberto Moravia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-moravia/) > [Fiction is not imagination. It is what anticipates imagination by giving it the form of reality. This is quite opposite to our own natural…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/fiction-is-not-imagination-it-is-what-anticipates-imagination-by/) [Jean Baudrillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/) > [Fiction is not imagination. It is what anticipates imagination by giving it the form of reality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/fiction-is-not-imagination-it-is-what-anticipates-imagination-by-2/) [Jean Baudrillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/) > [When you do fiction, it is your imagination you have put out there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-moore/when-you-do-fiction-it-is-your-imagination-you-have-put-out-there/) [Beth Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-moore/) > [Let it be fact, one feels, or let it be fiction; the imagination will not serve under two masters simultaneously.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/let-it-be-fact-one-feels-or-let-it-be-fiction-the-imagination-will/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [I wasn't sitting around years ago thinking, 'I really want to write a novel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-waldman/i-wasn-t-sitting-around-years-ago-thinking-i-really-want-to-write-a/) [Amy Waldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-waldman/) > [As a reporter you tend to seek coherence from your subject or your source - it all needs to add up and make sense.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-waldman/as-a-reporter-you-tend-to-seek-coherence-from-your-subject-or-your/) [Amy Waldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-waldman/) > [As a novelist, you deepen your characters as you go, adding layers. As a reporter, you try to peel layers away: observing subjects enough…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-waldman/as-a-novelist-you-deepen-your-characters-as-you-go-adding-layers-as-a/) [Amy Waldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-waldman/) > [When people write a novel, they want to have that reach and that impact. To get it with a first novel, you can either…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvine-welsh/when-people-write-a-novel-they-want-to-have-that-reach-and-that/) [Irvine Welsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvine-welsh/) > [I don't assume, because I can write screenplays, that I know how to write a novel. It's a very different world. There's a craft…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melissa-rosenberg/i-don-t-assume-because-i-can-write-screenplays-that-i-know-how-to/) [Melissa Rosenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melissa-rosenberg/) > [“I'm going to write a novel and get it published. I'm going to do it because writing a novel is worthwhile and because I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randy-ingermanson/i-m-going-to-write-a-novel-and-get-it-published-i-m-going-to-do-it/) [Randy Ingermanson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randy-ingermanson/) > [When I need to take a side, I write a newspaper article and I tell my government, "You should not do that, you should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-oz/when-i-need-to-take-a-side-i-write-a-newspaper-article-and-i-tell-my/) [Amos Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-oz/) > [I've never been that person who thought that because I've written one novel, I should write another and another. It's only when there was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/i-ve-never-been-that-person-who-thought-that-because-i-ve-written-one/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [“I can't understand why a person will take a year or two to write a novel when he can easily buy one for a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-allen/i-can-t-understand-why-a-person-will-take-a-year-or-two-to-write-a/) [Fred Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-allen/) ## More by Amy Waldman > [I'm kind of a mash-up of taste - Graham Greene and Jane Austen; W.G. Sebald and Alice Munro.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-waldman/i-m-kind-of-a-mash-up-of-taste-graham-greene-and-jane-austen-w-g/) [Amy Waldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-waldman/) > [Nothing in life gets dropped without someone else having to pick it up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-waldman/nothing-in-life-gets-dropped-without-someone-else-having-to-pick-it-up/) [Amy Waldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-waldman/) > [I wasn't sitting around years ago thinking, 'I really want to write a novel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-waldman/i-wasn-t-sitting-around-years-ago-thinking-i-really-want-to-write-a/) [Amy Waldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-waldman/) > [“She ate ramen noodles from the vending machine, their texture just a few molecular recombinations from the Styrofoam cup containing them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-waldman/she-ate-ramen-noodles-from-the-vending-machine-their-texture-just-a/) [Amy Waldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-waldman/) > [My children, who are almost two: watching them develop has made me pay much closer attention to how we become who we are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-waldman/my-children-who-are-almost-two-watching-them-develop-has-made-me-pay/) [Amy Waldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-waldman/) > [The rhetoric is the first step, it coarsens attitudes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-waldman/the-rhetoric-is-the-first-step-it-coarsens-attitudes/) [Amy Waldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-waldman/) > [In life, redemption was walking up the down escalator: stop to congratulate yourself, and back you slid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-waldman/in-life-redemption-was-walking-up-the-down-escalator-stop-to/) [Amy Waldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-waldman/) > [Perhaps this was the secret to being at peace: want nothing but what is given to you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-waldman/perhaps-this-was-the-secret-to-being-at-peace-want-nothing-but-what/) [Amy Waldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-waldman/) > [Eden, paradise - all the best gardens are imaginary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-waldman/eden-paradise-all-the-best-gardens-are-imaginary/) [Amy Waldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-waldman/) > [My parents are aging and there are difficult issues. It's strange to have children at the beginning of life and parents nearing the end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-waldman/my-parents-are-aging-and-there-are-difficult-issues-it-s-strange-to/) [Amy Waldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-waldman/) > [Imagination, it turns out, is a great deal like reporting in your own head. Here is a paradox of fiction-writing. You are crafting something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-waldman/imagination-it-turns-out-is-a-great-deal-like-reporting-in-your-own/) [Amy Waldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-waldman/) > [“Don't succumb to the fear; don't mistake the absolutism of Khan's opposition for morality”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-waldman/don-t-succumb-to-the-fear-don-t-mistake-the-absolutism-of-khan-s/) [Amy Waldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-waldman/) > [Fabricating reality was criminal; editing it, commonplace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-waldman/fabricating-reality-was-criminal-editing-it-commonplace/) [Amy Waldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-waldman/) > [So the premise of 'The Submission' is that there's an anonymous competition to design a 9/11 memorial and it's won by an American Muslim,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-waldman/so-the-premise-of-the-submission-is-that-there-s-an-anonymous/) [Amy Waldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-waldman/) > [“She knew well the history of which they spoke because her father had been a part of it. When the military overseers of Pakistan…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-waldman/she-knew-well-the-history-of-which-they-spoke-because-her-father-had/) [Amy Waldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-waldman/) [Explore all 45 Amy Waldman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-waldman/) ## More Articles quotes > [The Harvard Business Review recently had an article called 'The Human Moment,' about how to make real contact with a person at work: ...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-goleman/the-harvard-business-review-recently-had-an-article-called-the-human/) [Daniel Goleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-goleman/) > [The strange thing with Wikipedia is that the first article that ever gets written about you will define your Wikipedia page forever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bo-burnham/the-strange-thing-with-wikipedia-is-that-the-first-article-that-ever/) [Bo Burnham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bo-burnham/) > [Some article called me the most feared man in Silicon Valley. Good Lord! Why? My teenage boys got a kick out of it: 'Dad,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-myhrvold/some-article-called-me-the-most-feared-man-in-silicon-valley-good/) [Nathan Myhrvold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-myhrvold/) > [ I wrote an article about the marine landing \[in Haiti\] right away, but barely mentioned the oil, because my article would come out two… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/i-wrote-an-article-about-the-marine-landing-in-haiti-right-away-but/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [Authors of published papers and editors of scientific journals can, unfortunately, be slow to come to terms with criticism, and it's good that we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-gelman/authors-of-published-papers-and-editors-of-scientific-journals-can/) [Andrew Gelman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-gelman/) > [Everyone seems to assume that the unscrupulous parts of journalism will be the frivolous or jocular parts. This is against all ethical experience. Jokes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/everyone-seems-to-assume-that-the-unscrupulous-parts-of-journalism/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Over immense periods of time the intellect produced nothing but errors. A few of these proved to be useful and helped to preserve the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/over-immense-periods-of-time-the-intellect-produced-nothing-but/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [I used to be a columnist for 'Golf Monthly' and have contributed articles for national newspapers based on the humour that is in abundance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jasper-carrott/i-used-to-be-a-columnist-for-golf-monthly-and-have-contributed/) [Jasper Carrott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jasper-carrott/) > [There was an interesting article in Los Angeles Magazine about women directors. A woman director makes one bad independent film and her career is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-wolf/there-was-an-interesting-article-in-los-angeles-magazine-about-women/) [Dick Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-wolf/) > [People went out there and they wrote articles and went on television shows saying that I am an operative that the CIA who used…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bassem-youssef/people-went-out-there-and-they-wrote-articles-and-went-on-television/) [Bassem Youssef](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bassem-youssef/) > [But there are times when men have serious thoughts, and it is at such times, when they begin to think, that they begin to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/but-there-are-times-when-men-have-serious-thoughts-and-it-is-at-such/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [As civil rulers, not having their duty to the people duly before them, may attempt to tyrannize,... The people are confirmed by the next…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tench-coxe/as-civil-rulers-not-having-their-duty-to-the-people-duly-before-them/) [Tench Coxe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tench-coxe/) > [An article on playwrights in the Daily Mail , listed according to Hard Left, Soft Left, Hard Right, Soft Right and Centre. I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bennett/an-article-on-playwrights-in-the-daily-mail-listed-according-to-hard/) [Alan Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bennett/) > [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/) > [The definition of the right of suffrage is very justly regarded as a fundamental article of republican government.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-madison/the-definition-of-the-right-of-suffrage-is-very-justly-regarded-as-a/) [James Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-madison/) [Browse all 893 Articles quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/articles/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I had been a reporter for 15 years when I set out to write my first novel. 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