--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I have to get three pages done every day…" description: "\"I have to get three pages done every day, and there's usually a point about 150 pages in where everything falls apart, where all the plans are for naug..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a5e/andrew-sean-greer-2689_book_i-have-to-get-three-pages-done-every-day_352871.png" --- # I have to get three pages done every day, and there's… ![“I have to get three pages done every day, and there's usually a point about 150 pages in where everything falls apart, where all the plans are for naught. The book has become something else, and I have a nervous breakdown, and then I submit to what the book has become, and I keep going, and that's…” quote by Andrew Sean Greer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a5e/andrew-sean-greer-2689_book_i-have-to-get-three-pages-done-every-day_352871.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a5e/andrew-sean-greer-2689_book_i-have-to-get-three-pages-done-every-day_352871.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a5e/andrew-sean-greer-2689_book_i-have-to-get-three-pages-done-every-day_352871.png) > “I have to get three pages done every day, and there's usually a point about 150 pages in where everything falls apart, where all the plans are for naught. The book has become something else, and I have a nervous breakdown, and then I submit to what the book has become, and I keep going, and that's a terrible and then a great time.” [Andrew Sean Greer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-sean-greer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The writer describes a relentless daily writing grind that collapses around a mid‑point, leading to breakdowns but also moments of intense creativity and perseverance. **In simple terms:** Writing daily becomes chaotic but can yield breakthroughs. Key Takeaway Embrace the chaos and keep writing. Themes writing creativity resilience breakdowns Mood frustrated hopeful determined Type advice motivational When to use this quote - author deadlines - mid‑project crises - creative breakthroughs - self‑care strategies Key Concepts process flow mental health Questions to Reflect On - How do you recognize when to pause versus push forward? - What rituals help you recover after a breakdown? A Different Perspective The breakdown may signal burnout, not just progress. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/day/) [Nervous breakdown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nervous-breakdown/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [During every book, I have a nervous breakdown. 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I usually get 150 pages in and I realize it's not going anywhere. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-eugenides/i-have-a-lot-of-novels-that-i-haven-t-finished-i-usually-get-150/) [Jeffrey Eugenides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-eugenides/) > [The way 'The Icarus Girl' came about was by me just basically bragging it with a literary agent and telling him I'd written 150…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-oyeyemi/the-way-the-icarus-girl-came-about-was-by-me-just-basically-bragging/) [Helen Oyeyemi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-oyeyemi/) > [Donald Trump's a great deal-maker with a lot of momentum and it will do a lot of damage to us. We are in grave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-jones/donald-trump-s-a-great-deal-maker-with-a-lot-of-momentum-and-it-will/) [Van Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-jones/) > [I go into every story thinking I'm going to fail. 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Kingfisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-kingfisher/) > [I could tell it was going to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-viorst/i-could-tell-it-was-going-to-be-a-terrible-horrible-no-good-very-bad/) [Judith Viorst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-viorst/) > [“I was going to be so terrible at this… the worst he’d ever had probably. And then he’d never want to see me again…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cora-carmack/i-was-going-to-be-so-terrible-at-this-the-worst-he-d-ever-had/) [Cora Carmack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cora-carmack/) > [For the last few years I've tried to force myself to write at least one page every day, which doesn't sound like much but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-chaon/for-the-last-few-years-i-ve-tried-to-force-myself-to-write-at-least/) [Dan Chaon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-chaon/) ## More by Andrew Sean Greer > [It takes too much imagination to see the sorrows of people we take for happy. Their real battles take place, like those of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-sean-greer/it-takes-too-much-imagination-to-see-the-sorrows-of-people-we-take/) [Andrew Sean Greer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-sean-greer/) > [They say you hit your stride as a writer at about 50. I'm hoping to do that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-sean-greer/they-say-you-hit-your-stride-as-a-writer-at-about-50-i-m-hoping-to-do/) [Andrew Sean Greer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-sean-greer/) > [“Then I traveled. Quite a bit, in fact. You have to stockpile a few beautiful vistas in your memory, Pearlie. 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The cut, the buttons, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-sean-greer/a-rosewater-smell-from-the-box-summoned-instantly-a-dictatorial-woman/) [Andrew Sean Greer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-sean-greer/) > [Does love always form, like a pearl, around the hardened bits of life?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-sean-greer/does-love-always-form-like-a-pearl-around-the-hardened-bits-of-life/) [Andrew Sean Greer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-sean-greer/) > [I was raised Unitarian, and my mother said she took us to church so that we wouldn't get religious later in life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-sean-greer/i-was-raised-unitarian-and-my-mother-said-she-took-us-to-church-so/) [Andrew Sean Greer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-sean-greer/) > [A downside to being a successful novelist? Wow - I can't imagine one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-sean-greer/a-downside-to-being-a-successful-novelist-wow-i-can-t-imagine-one/) [Andrew Sean Greer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-sean-greer/) > [My country is nothing if not diverse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-sean-greer/my-country-is-nothing-if-not-diverse/) [Andrew Sean Greer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-sean-greer/) > [Any gay man in America redeals a deck at some point.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-sean-greer/any-gay-man-in-america-redeals-a-deck-at-some-point/) [Andrew Sean Greer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-sean-greer/) > [“We kept each other's stare a long time, for we had each done a startling thing, dodged time for an instant - which is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-sean-greer/we-kept-each-other-s-stare-a-long-time-for-we-had-each-done-a/) [Andrew Sean Greer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-sean-greer/) > [My grandmother was not a great storyteller.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-sean-greer/my-grandmother-was-not-a-great-storyteller/) [Andrew Sean Greer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-sean-greer/) [Explore all 154 Andrew Sean Greer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-sean-greer/) ## More Book 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/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! 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