--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Fiction is what happens inside a writer's…" description: "\"“Fiction is what happens inside a writer's head. Reality takes place outside it”\" — Barry A. Whittingham" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a62/barry-a-whittingham-77157_humour-quote_fiction-is-what-happens-inside-a-writer_1300830.jpg" --- # Fiction is what happens inside a writer's head. Reality… ![“Fiction is what happens inside a writer's head. Reality takes place outside it” quote by Barry A. Whittingham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a62/barry-a-whittingham-77157_humour-quote_fiction-is-what-happens-inside-a-writer_1300830.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a62/barry-a-whittingham-77157_humour-quote_fiction-is-what-happens-inside-a-writer_1300830.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a62/barry-a-whittingham-77157_humour-quote_fiction-is-what-happens-inside-a-writer_1300830.jpg) > ““Fiction is what happens inside a writer's head. Reality takes place outside it”” [Barry A. Whittingham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-a-whittingham/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Fiction originates in the writer's imagination, while reality exists independently of that imagination. **In simple terms:** Stories come from the mind; reality is outside it. Key Takeaway Distinguish imagination from external facts. Themes creativity reality imagination writing Mood thoughtful analytical Type educational inspirational When to use this quote - writing workshops - teaching creative writing - analyzing media influence Key Concepts psychology philosophy literature Questions to Reflect On - How does reality influence your storytelling? - Can fiction change perception of reality? A Different Perspective May overlook how reality shapes imagination. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) [Fiction Happens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction-happens-534810/) [Head Reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/head-reality-3753572/) [Humour-quote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humour-quote/) [Inside Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inside-writer-1090906/) [Reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reality/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [You cannot keep bumping your head against reality and saying it is not there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-chekhov/you-cannot-keep-bumping-your-head-against-reality-and-saying-it-is/) [Michael Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-chekhov/) > [That is one thing I am sure of amid my many uncertainties regarding the literary vocation: deep inside, a writer feels that writing is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-vargas-llosa/that-is-one-thing-i-am-sure-of-amid-my-many-uncertainties-regarding/) [Mario Vargas Llosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-vargas-llosa/) > [“I guess I had all kinds of ideas about him, but they weren't really him, they were just what I made him in my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-vanderbilt/i-guess-i-had-all-kinds-of-ideas-about-him-but-they-weren-t-really/) [May Vanderbilt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-vanderbilt/) > [“You remember: countless drives by night, two hours north or south from home to your grandparents’ house and back again, you in the back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hope-nicholson/you-remember-countless-drives-by-night-two-hours-north-or-south-from/) [Hope Nicholson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hope-nicholson/) > [“A plane flies overhead and inside it is a writer who has spent most of his life as a law clerk, even though he’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pleasefindthis/a-plane-flies-overhead-and-inside-it-is-a-writer-who-has-spent-most/) [pleasefindthis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pleasefindthis/) > [Treasure nothing, be willing to throw out anything. The story you just wrote that you are proud of should not be coddled and worshipped.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-robert-lennon/treasure-nothing-be-willing-to-throw-out-anything-the-story-you-just/) [J. Robert Lennon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-robert-lennon/) > [As an actress, I think I really understand that stage where you think you are picking reality in order to feed the fiction, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludivine-sagnier/as-an-actress-i-think-i-really-understand-that-stage-where-you-think/) [Ludivine Sagnier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludivine-sagnier/) > [Fiction happens in the womb. It doesn't get processed in the mind until you do the editing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-allende/fiction-happens-in-the-womb-it-doesn-t-get-processed-in-the-mind/) [Isabel Allende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-allende/) > [I'm not much of a plotter. I start off with an inciting incident, and in classic crime fiction what happens is that all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denise-mina/i-m-not-much-of-a-plotter-i-start-off-with-an-inciting-incident-and/) [Denise Mina](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denise-mina/) > [fiction happens in the belly, it doesn't happen in the brain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-allende/fiction-happens-in-the-belly-it-doesn-t-happen-in-the-brain/) [Isabel Allende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-allende/) > [“The perfect body protects its owner from disease, gives birth to amazing new people and stops your bones from falling out. The end.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-hill/the-perfect-body-protects-its-owner-from-disease-gives-birth-to/) [Heather Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-hill/) > [“The Difference between Writers and Editors. Writers are creative using one end of a pencil. Editors are more adept using the opposite end.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roy-a-higgins/the-difference-between-writers-and-editors-writers-are-creative-using/) [Roy A Higgins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roy-a-higgins/) > [“Connor; "Push me and you might just find yourself locked in the trunk of a car and on a ferry headed off to Nova…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-l-mathewson/connor-push-me-and-you-might-just-find-yourself-locked-in-the-trunk/) [R.L. Mathewson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-l-mathewson/) > [“the city is full of three types of people, the first being soldiers, the other classes are politicians and prostitutes, both very numerous, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-jones/the-city-is-full-of-three-types-of-people-the-first-being-soldiers/) [Mark Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-jones/) > [“Contrary to popular belief, people always say "It was a pleasure doing business with you". It is the only thing that has stayed with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikhil-sharda/contrary-to-popular-belief-people-always-say-it-was-a-pleasure-doing/) [Nikhil Sharda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikhil-sharda/) ## More by Barry A. Whittingham > [“... but some say that reality is what happens inside a writer's head, and it is fiction which takes place outside it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-a-whittingham/but-some-say-that-reality-is-what-happens-inside-a-writer-s-head-and/) [Barry A. Whittingham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-a-whittingham/) > [“Things are never as bad as we fear nor as good as we hope. François Théodore Thistlethwaite”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-a-whittingham/things-are-never-as-bad-as-we-fear-nor-as-good-as-we-hope-fran-ois-th/) [Barry A. Whittingham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-a-whittingham/) [Explore all 3 Barry A. Whittingham quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-a-whittingham/) ## More Fiction quotes > [“…progress isn't necessarily about change but about things turning out as we want them to”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-hogan/progress-isn-t-necessarily-about-change-but-about-things-turning-out/) [Phil Hogan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-hogan/) > [The thing about science fiction is that it's totally wide open. But it's wide open in a conditional way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavia-butler/the-thing-about-science-fiction-is-that-it-s-totally-wide-open-but-it/) [Octavia Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavia-butler/) > [I do think that theater is a great venue for science fiction, and not just adaptations but also original work. I also think some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-einhorn/i-do-think-that-theater-is-a-great-venue-for-science-fiction-and-not/) [Edward Einhorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-einhorn/) > [Fiction is a way of exploring possibilities present but undreamt of in the living of a single life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/fiction-is-a-way-of-exploring-possibilities-present-but-undreamt-of/) [Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) > [I love writing fiction and can do it anywhere - I once even missed a flight because I was so engrossed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/prue-leith/i-love-writing-fiction-and-can-do-it-anywhere-i-once-even-missed-a/) [Prue Leith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/prue-leith/) > [“The fiction will seek the real.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/coheed-and-cambria/the-fiction-will-seek-the-real/) [Coheed and Cambria](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/coheed-and-cambria/) > [I think that most of us, anyway, read these stories that we know are not "true" because we're hungry for another kind of truth:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/i-think-that-most-of-us-anyway-read-these-stories-that-we-know-are/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [The danger that may really threaten (crime fiction) is that soon there will be more writers than readers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-barzun/the-danger-that-may-really-threaten-crime-fiction-is-that-soon-there/) [Jacques Barzun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-barzun/) > [There's always that discussion about fiction about how do you market it - these are books for boys, these are books for girls, these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-a-weatherly/there-s-always-that-discussion-about-fiction-about-how-do-you-market/) [L.A. Weatherly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-a-weatherly/) > [Inspiration comes from so many sources. Music, other fiction, the non-fiction I read, TV shows, films, news reports, people I know, stories I hear,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trudi-canavan/inspiration-comes-from-so-many-sources-music-other-fiction-the-non/) [Trudi Canavan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trudi-canavan/) > [I'm not interested in making a diagnostic novel or a concern. I'm 100 percent committed in fiction to the pleasure principle - that's what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/i-m-not-interested-in-making-a-diagnostic-novel-or-a-concern-i-m-100/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) > [“His hands on my waist he gently pulled me n embrace. I could feel his breath on my face our lips were about to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-eglinger/his-hands-on-my-waist-he-gently-pulled-me-n-embrace-i-could-feel-his/) [Nicole Eglinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-eglinger/) > [In early drafts, one of the trickiest things for me to do was to realize that the techniques and devices that make readable and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-rooney/in-early-drafts-one-of-the-trickiest-things-for-me-to-do-was-to/) [Kathleen Rooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-rooney/) > [I don't think it's always a sign of respect for persons (inside or outside of fiction) to pretend to be able to represent, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-lerner/i-don-t-think-it-s-always-a-sign-of-respect-for-persons-inside-or/) [Ben Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-lerner/) > [Metafiction says something. It has to do with taking a large fiction itself and writing within it; that kind of self-reflecting writing that emerges…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-coover/metafiction-says-something-it-has-to-do-with-taking-a-large-fiction/) [Robert Coover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-coover/) [Browse all 7,410 Fiction quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Fiction is what happens inside a writer's head. Reality takes place outside it”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Barry A. 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