--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is possible to be a great novelist…" description: "\"“It is possible to be a great novelist - that is, to render a veracious account of your times - and a bad writer - that is, an incompetent practitioner..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f2/angela-carter-1237_language_it-is-possible-to-be-a-great-novelist-th_1210185.jpg" --- # It is possible to be a great novelist - that is, to render… ![“It is possible to be a great novelist - that is, to render a veracious account of your times - and a bad writer - that is, an incompetent practitioner of applied linguistics.” quote by Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f2/angela-carter-1237_language_it-is-possible-to-be-a-great-novelist-th_1210185.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f2/angela-carter-1237_language_it-is-possible-to-be-a-great-novelist-th_1210185.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f2/angela-carter-1237_language_it-is-possible-to-be-a-great-novelist-th_1210185.jpg) > ““It is possible to be a great novelist - that is, to render a veracious account of your times - and a bad writer - that is, an incompetent practitioner of applied linguistics.”” [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A great novelist captures reality truthfully, while a bad writer merely applies language poorly. **In simple terms:** Truthful storytelling vs. poor technique. Key Takeaway Prioritize authentic voice over technical show. Themes literature truth craft Mood reflective critical Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - writing workshops - editing - teaching - publishing Key Concepts authenticity language mastery Questions to Reflect On - How do you ensure honesty in your writing? - What techniques improve both truth and craft? A Different Perspective Technical skill without truth feels hollow. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Applied Linguistics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/applied-linguistics-3664876/) [Bad Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bad-writer-429633/) [Incompetent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/incompetent/) [Incompetent Practitioner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/incompetent-practitioner-3664875/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Linguistics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/linguistics/) [Novelist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novelist/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writer Incompetent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer-incompetent-3664874/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [“Except in stock locutions, such as "You were paid yesterday," "The Germans were defeated," or "The project was abandoned," the passive voice is virtually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gardner/except-in-stock-locutions-such-as-you-were-paid-yesterday-the-germans/) [John Gardner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gardner/) > [It's okay to be a bad writer if you have something to say.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-stott/it-s-okay-to-be-a-bad-writer-if-you-have-something-to-say/) [Bill Stott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-stott/) > [“I know nothing of writing books properly. I write in the same manner I live life: one feeling at a time. If this makes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cara-rosalie-olsen/i-know-nothing-of-writing-books-properly-i-write-in-the-same-manner-i/) [Cara Rosalie Olsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cara-rosalie-olsen/) > [I think the writer makes a good story good or a good story bad. The writer has a great deal of responsibility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robinson/i-think-the-writer-makes-a-good-story-good-or-a-good-story-bad-the/) [Tom Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robinson/) > [I think Dan Brown is a terribly bad writer, but he has cliff-hangers after every chapter which makes you continue reading.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stellan-skarsgard/i-think-dan-brown-is-a-terribly-bad-writer-but-he-has-cliff-hangers/) [Stellan Skarsgard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stellan-skarsgard/) > [I realized the other day that about the only author I genuinely read for pure pleasure is one of the worst authors in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/i-realized-the-other-day-that-about-the-only-author-i-genuinely-read/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [My guiltiest pleasure is Harry Stephen Keeler. He may have been the greatest bad writer America has ever produced. Or perhaps the worst great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/my-guiltiest-pleasure-is-harry-stephen-keeler-he-may-have-been-the/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [Unless you're a terribly bad writer, you are never going to have too many readers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-wylie/unless-you-re-a-terribly-bad-writer-you-are-never-going-to-have-too/) [Andrew Wylie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-wylie/) > [If a writer is convinced that he is honest, then it is very difficult for him to be a bad writer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/primo-levi/if-a-writer-is-convinced-that-he-is-honest-then-it-is-very-difficult/) [Primo Levi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/primo-levi/) > [“All I knew was what I wasn’t, and it took me some years to discover what I was. Which was a writer. By which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/all-i-knew-was-what-i-wasn-t-and-it-took-me-some-years-to-discover/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [Bucky Katt: A bad writer is just a good writer with writer's block.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darby-conley/bucky-katt-a-bad-writer-is-just-a-good-writer-with-writer-s-block/) [Darby Conley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darby-conley/) > [I think of myself as a bad writer with big ideas, but I'd rather be that than a big writer with bad ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-moorcock/i-think-of-myself-as-a-bad-writer-with-big-ideas-but-i-d-rather-be/) [Michael Moorcock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-moorcock/) > [Being a bad writer a thousand times first.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-simone/being-a-bad-writer-a-thousand-times-first/) [Gail Simone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-simone/) > [I made a very good living as a bad writer. I wrote a lot of comedies, 'Diff'rent Strokes,' 'Facts of Life,' while all my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-haggis/i-made-a-very-good-living-as-a-bad-writer-i-wrote-a-lot-of-comedies/) [Paul Haggis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-haggis/) > [Dostoevsky is such a bad writer it is hard to take him seriously as a novelist, though he is a wonderful philosopher.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-banville/dostoevsky-is-such-a-bad-writer-it-is-hard-to-take-him-seriously-as-a/) [John Banville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-banville/) ## More by Angela Carter > [He was a lovely man in many ways. But he kept on insisting on forgiving me when there was nothing to forgive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/he-was-a-lovely-man-in-many-ways-but-he-kept-on-insisting-on/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [Reading a book is like re-writing it for yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/reading-a-book-is-like-re-writing-it-for-yourself/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [Losing their names, these things underwent a process of uncreation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/losing-their-names-these-things-underwent-a-process-of-uncreation/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [I know that whenever a group of women are gathered together, the grandmother always makes a phantom appearance, hovering above them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/i-know-that-whenever-a-group-of-women-are-gathered-together-the/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [“She herself is a haunted house. She does not possess herself; her ancestors sometimes come and peer out of the window of her eyes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/she-herself-is-a-haunted-house-she-does-not-possess-herself-her/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [Hollywood... was the place where the United States perpetrated itself as a universal dream and put the dream into mass production.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/hollywood-was-the-place-where-the-united-states-perpetrated-itself-as/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [Is not this whole world an illusion? And yet it fools everybody.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/is-not-this-whole-world-an-illusion-and-yet-it-fools-everybody/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [My paternal grandmother would not light a fire on the Sabbath and piled all Sunday's washing-up in a bucket, to be dealt with on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/my-paternal-grandmother-would-not-light-a-fire-on-the-sabbath-and/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [“Mother goddesses are just as silly a notion as father gods. If a revival of the myths of these cults gives woman emotional satisfaction,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/mother-goddesses-are-just-as-silly-a-notion-as-father-gods-if-a/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [Out of the frying pan into the fire! What is marriage but prostitution to one man instead of many? No different!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/out-of-the-frying-pan-into-the-fire-what-is-marriage-but-prostitution/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [And each stroke of his tongue ripped off skin after successive skin, all the skins of a life in the world, and left behind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/and-each-stroke-of-his-tongue-ripped-off-skin-after-successive-skin/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [In a secular age, an authentic miracle must purport to be a hoax, in order to gain credit in the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/in-a-secular-age-an-authentic-miracle-must-purport-to-be-a-hoax-in/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [We do not go to bed in single pairs; even if we choose not to refer to them, we still drag there with us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/we-do-not-go-to-bed-in-single-pairs-even-if-we-choose-not-to-refer-to/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [I see her as a series of marvellous shapes formed at random in the kaleidoscope of desire.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/i-see-her-as-a-series-of-marvellous-shapes-formed-at-random-in-the/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [“Women do not normally fuck in the active sense. They are fucked in the passive tense and hence automatically fucked-up, done over, undone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/women-do-not-normally-fuck-in-the-active-sense-they-are-fucked-in-the/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) [Explore all 263 Angela Carter quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) ## More Incompetent quotes > [“Who would vote for an incompetent President?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/who-would-vote-for-an-incompetent-president/) [Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/) > [Obviously somebody had been appallingly incompetent and he hoped to God it wasn't him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/obviously-somebody-had-been-appallingly-incompetent-and-he-hoped-to/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) > [“Problems often become worse if incompetent people try to solve them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eraldo-banovac/problems-often-become-worse-if-incompetent-people-try-to-solve-them/) [Eraldo Banovac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eraldo-banovac/) > [Democratic accountability means that governments must be popularly accepted, with citizens empowered to replace corrupt or incompetent rulers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raghuram-rajan/democratic-accountability-means-that-governments-must-be-popularly/) [Raghuram Rajan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raghuram-rajan/) > [Even when they are trying to deceive the voters, the Democrats are incompetent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-hilton/even-when-they-are-trying-to-deceive-the-voters-the-democrats-are/) [Steve Hilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-hilton/) > [Ken Blackwell is either a huge hypocrite or very incompetent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-paduchik/ken-blackwell-is-either-a-huge-hypocrite-or-very-incompetent/) [Bob Paduchik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-paduchik/) > [I'd got over playing a character. People accepted who I was, and if I was incompetent and useless, they felt quite endeared to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-palin/i-d-got-over-playing-a-character-people-accepted-who-i-was-and-if-i/) [Michael Palin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-palin/) > [“The incompetent always present themselves as experts, the cruel as pious, sinners as excessively devout, users as benefactors, the small minded as patriots, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-zafron/the-incompetent-always-present-themselves-as-experts-the-cruel-as/) [Carlos Zafron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-zafron/) > [I claim that Mach people (and apparently FreeBSD) are incompetent idiots.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linus-torvalds/i-claim-that-mach-people-and-apparently-freebsd-are-incompetent-idiots/) [Linus Torvalds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linus-torvalds/) > [“The doctor was clueless!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/the-doctor-was-clueless/) [Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/) > [“True evil is always petty and often incompetent.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claire-chilton/true-evil-is-always-petty-and-often-incompetent/) [Claire Chilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claire-chilton/) > [The switch had two settings. You could either turn it to AUTO, in which case the awning lowered itself whenever the sun came out,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/the-switch-had-two-settings-you-could-either-turn-it-to-auto-in-which/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) > [I think President Obama is weak, bored with the office, and an incompetent leader.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-grenell/i-think-president-obama-is-weak-bored-with-the-office-and-an/) [Richard Grenell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-grenell/) > [ Following is one of the most underrated aspects of leadership… I have seen many a good \[military unit\] underachieve, because someone...thought the commander was… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-h-mcraven/following-is-one-of-the-most-underrated-aspects-of-leadership-i-have/) [William H. McRaven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-h-mcraven/) > [Go the extra mile. It makes your boss look like an incompetent slacker.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hawking/go-the-extra-mile-it-makes-your-boss-look-like-an-incompetent-slacker/) [Stephen Hawking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-hawking/) [Browse all 281 Incompetent quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/incompetent/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It is possible to be a great novelist - that is, to render a veracious account of your times - and a bad writer - that is, an incompetent practitioner of applied linguistics.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Angela Carter" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/it-is-possible-to-be-a-great-novelist-that-is-to-render-a-veracious/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Incompetent" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/it-is-possible-to-be-a-great-novelist-that-is-to-render-a-veracious/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f2/angela-carter-1237_language_it-is-possible-to-be-a-great-novelist-th_1210185.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f2/angela-carter-1237_language_it-is-possible-to-be-a-great-novelist-th_1210185.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f2/angela-carter-1237_language_it-is-possible-to-be-a-great-novelist-th_1210185.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It is possible to be a great novelist - that is, to render a veracious account of your times - and a bad…” — Angela Carter", "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": "Angela Carter", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“It is possible to be a...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/it-is-possible-to-be-a-great-novelist-that-is-to-render-a-veracious/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/it-is-possible-to-be-a-great-novelist-that-is-to-render-a-veracious/#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 } } ] } ```