--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I made a startling discovery. Time spent…" description: "\"I made a startling discovery. Time spent writing = output of work. Amazing.\" — Ann Patchett" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/14e/ann-patchett-670_discovery_i-made-a-startling-discovery-time-spent_2889516.jpg" --- # I made a startling discovery. Time spent writing = output… ![“I made a startling discovery. Time spent writing = output of work. Amazing.” quote by Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/14e/ann-patchett-670_discovery_i-made-a-startling-discovery-time-spent_2889516.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/14e/ann-patchett-670_discovery_i-made-a-startling-discovery-time-spent_2889516.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/14e/ann-patchett-670_discovery_i-made-a-startling-discovery-time-spent_2889516.jpg) > “I made a startling discovery. Time spent writing = output of work. Amazing.” [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writing time directly correlates with productive output; focus on time investment. **In simple terms:** More writing time yields more work. Key Takeaway Allocate dedicated writing time. Themes productivity writing time management Mood focused optimistic Type advice inspirational When to use this quote - author workshops - academic research - content creation - project deadlines Key Concepts cognitive psychology creative process Questions to Reflect On - How can you balance time with quality? - What routines boost your writing output? A Different Perspective Quantity doesn’t guarantee quality. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Discovery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discovery/) [Productivity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/productivity/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/work/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [ If there was no other motive in view \[except\] to have the privilege of reading over our journals and for our children to read,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilford-woodruff/if-there-was-no-other-motive-in-view-except-to-have-the-privilege-of/) [Wilford Woodruff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilford-woodruff/) > [In the 1970's and in early 1980's, a startling discovery was made that almost every problem contains an element of solutions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/insoo-kim-berg/in-the-1970-s-and-in-early-1980-s-a-startling-discovery-was-made-that/) Insoo Kim Berg > [“My next startling discovery: flaming breath is hot.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-riordan/my-next-startling-discovery-flaming-breath-is-hot/) [Rick Riordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-riordan/) > [“and a day spent working for money is wasted while a day spent writing poetry is wasted but more honest.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/and-a-day-spent-working-for-money-is-wasted-while-a-day-spent-writing/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Although I still think of myself as an actress, most of my time is spent writing novels or memoirs about my adventures and travels.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-drinkwater/although-i-still-think-of-myself-as-an-actress-most-of-my-time-is/) [Carol Drinkwater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-drinkwater/) > [An hour or two spent in writing from dictation, another hour or two in reading aloud, a little geography and a little history and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hudson-stuck/an-hour-or-two-spent-in-writing-from-dictation-another-hour-or-two-in/) [Hudson Stuck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hudson-stuck/) > [Sometimes I can spend as long revising a manuscript as I spent writing it in the first place.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-haddix/sometimes-i-can-spend-as-long-revising-a-manuscript-as-i-spent/) [Margaret Haddix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-haddix/) > [“What was it then? What did it mean? Could things thrust their hands up and grip one; could the blade cut; the fist grasp?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/what-was-it-then-what-did-it-mean-could-things-thrust-their-hands-up/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [The world may hold startling developments and shocking unknowns.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-spaihts/the-world-may-hold-startling-developments-and-shocking-unknowns/) [Jon Spaihts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-spaihts/) > [I don't think I've ever made a claim to startling originality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-murphy/i-don-t-think-i-ve-ever-made-a-claim-to-startling-originality/) [James Murphy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-murphy/) > [It had been startling and disappointing to me to find out that story books had been written by people, that books were not natural…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/it-had-been-startling-and-disappointing-to-me-to-find-out-that-story/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [A significant inventionmust be startling, unexpected. It must come to a world that is not prepared for it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-land/a-significant-inventionmust-be-startling-unexpected-it-must-come-to-a/) [Edwin Land](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-land/) > [The love of their country is with them only a mode of flattering its master; as soon as they think that master can no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-custine/the-love-of-their-country-is-with-them-only-a-mode-of-flattering-its/) [Marquis De Custine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-custine/) > [A significant invention must be startling, unexpected. It must come to a world that is not prepared for it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-land/a-significant-invention-must-be-startling-unexpected-it-must-come-to/) [Edwin Land](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-land/) > [I remember being shocked when I came out from under the focusing cloth after a minute or two being submerged within that, at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-sexton/i-remember-being-shocked-when-i-came-out-from-under-the-focusing/) [John Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-sexton/) ## More by Ann Patchett > [She sang as if she was saving the life of every person in the room.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/she-sang-as-if-she-was-saving-the-life-of-every-person-in-the-room/) [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) > [If I had problems, I kept them to myself. I didn't make a scene.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/if-i-had-problems-i-kept-them-to-myself-i-didn-t-make-a-scene/) [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) > [I can't write the book I want to write, but I can and will write the book I am capable of writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/i-can-t-write-the-book-i-want-to-write-but-i-can-and-will-write-the/) [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) > [“Without worry to protect me, every thought that came into my mind received real attention.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/without-worry-to-protect-me-every-thought-that-came-into-my-mind/) [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) > [“I wrote the last sentence of The Patron Saint of Liars in early April and stumbled out of my apartment and into the beautiful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/i-wrote-the-last-sentence-of-the-patron-saint-of-liars-in-early-april/) [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) > [“In the future, he will try to say her name enough, but he never can.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/in-the-future-he-will-try-to-say-her-name-enough-but-he-never-can/) [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) > [My novels are very much the same, as I think many people's novels are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/my-novels-are-very-much-the-same-as-i-think-many-people-s-novels-are/) [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) > [“He was in love, and never had he felt such kindness towards another person.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/he-was-in-love-and-never-had-he-felt-such-kindness-towards-another/) [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) > [“Gen was sleeping the sleep of the heavily drugged.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/gen-was-sleeping-the-sleep-of-the-heavily-drugged/) [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) > [If I was a waitress, I was too tired at the end of the day when I came home to try to write.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/if-i-was-a-waitress-i-was-too-tired-at-the-end-of-the-day-when-i-came/) [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) > [“She didn't know how to hate her mother yet, but every time she left her father crying in the airport she came that much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/she-didn-t-know-how-to-hate-her-mother-yet-but-every-time-she-left/) [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) > [“When you think of love you think as an American. You must think like a Russian. It is a more expansive view.' 'Americans havea…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/when-you-think-of-love-you-think-as-an-american-you-must-think-like-a/) [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) > [“...Nebraska was white, a page as still as fallen snow. It was not crosshatched with roads, overrun with the hard lines of interstate systems.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/nebraska-was-white-a-page-as-still-as-fallen-snow-it-was-not/) [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) > [“Clearly he needed a father, but some other father, any other father, would have been preferable.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/clearly-he-needed-a-father-but-some-other-father-any-other-father/) [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) > [“I don't have any talent for vacations.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/i-don-t-have-any-talent-for-vacations/) [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) [Explore all 413 Ann Patchett quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) ## More Discovery quotes > [ Next came the Patent laws. These began in England in 1624; and, in this country, with the adoption of our constitution. Before then \[these?\],… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/next-came-the-patent-laws-these-began-in-england-in-1624-and-in-this/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [Throughout my work, I have assumed that the standard model is correct, and hence, the Higgs boson should be found. Although this is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashoke-sen/throughout-my-work-i-have-assumed-that-the-standard-model-is-correct/) [Ashoke Sen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashoke-sen/) > [There is usually no dreamer so unworldly as the anthologist. He wanders in a vast garden, lost in wonder, unable to decide often between…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-webb/there-is-usually-no-dreamer-so-unworldly-as-the-anthologist-he/) [Mary Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-webb/) > [New generations of humans inherit the acquired discoveries of generations past, allowing cosmic insight to accumulate without limit. Each discovery of science therefore adds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/new-generations-of-humans-inherit-the-acquired-discoveries-of/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [The discovery that heartbreak is indeed heartbreaking consoles us about our humanity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/the-discovery-that-heartbreak-is-indeed-heartbreaking-consoles-us/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [ “\[W\]e must learn to accommodate ourselves to the discovery that some of those cunningly-fashioned instruments called human souls have only a very limited range… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/w-e-must-learn-to-accommodate-ourselves-to-the-discovery-that-some-of/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [We cannot predict the new forces, powers, and discoveries that will be disclosed to us when we reach the other planets and set up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-c-clarke/we-cannot-predict-the-new-forces-powers-and-discoveries-that-will-be/) [Arthur C. Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-c-clarke/) > [ That has been another interesting discovery: that basically a city \[Lagos\] could recover from a really deep, deep, deep pit. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rem-koolhaas/that-has-been-another-interesting-discovery-that-basically-a-city/) [Rem Koolhaas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rem-koolhaas/) > [Every fact of science was once Damned. Every invention was considered impossible. Every discovery was a nervous shock to some orthodoxy. Every artistic innovation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-anton-wilson/every-fact-of-science-was-once-damned-every-invention-was-considered/) [Robert Anton Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-anton-wilson/) > [When we look at the love of Christ, we make a wonderful discovery. Love is more a decision than an emotion! Christ-like love applauds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-lucado/when-we-look-at-the-love-of-christ-we-make-a-wonderful-discovery-love/) [Max Lucado](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-lucado/) > [Discovery is the ability to be puzzled by simple things. Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/discovery-is-the-ability-to-be-puzzled-by-simple-things-noam-chomsky/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [“In December of 2007 human bones including skulls, which have been radiocarbon dated back to between 1304 and 1424, were found in a museum…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/captain-hank-bracker-seawater-one/in-december-of-2007-human-bones-including-skulls-which-have-been/) Captain Hank Bracker, "Seawater One > [The European talks of progress because by the aid of a few scientific discoveries he has established a society which has mistaken comfort for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-disraeli/the-european-talks-of-progress-because-by-the-aid-of-a-few-scientific/) [Benjamin Disraeli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-disraeli/) > [Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-durant/education-is-a-progressive-discovery-of-our-own-ignorance/) [Will Durant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-durant/) > [The characters in my novels are my own unrealized possibilities. That is why I am equally fond of them all and equally horrified by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/the-characters-in-my-novels-are-my-own-unrealized-possibilities-that/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) [Browse all 3,125 Discovery quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discovery/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I made a startling discovery. Time spent writing = output of work. 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