--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I hold to fiction as a cure, or partial…" description: "\"“I hold to fiction as a cure, or partial cure, or cause for hope, or essential distraction from the rain you wake up to, the doubts in your head, the d..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/190/beth-kephart-21859_fiction_i-hold-to-fiction-as-a-cure-or-partial-c_1251527.jpg" --- # I hold to fiction as a cure, or partial cure, or cause for… ![“I hold to fiction as a cure, or partial cure, or cause for hope, or essential distraction from the rain you wake up to, the doubts in your head, the daily desolation that you have not yet said what is most true, you have not yet crafted the story that reveals you. And therefore something waits…” quote by Beth Kephart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/190/beth-kephart-21859_fiction_i-hold-to-fiction-as-a-cure-or-partial-c_1251527.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/190/beth-kephart-21859_fiction_i-hold-to-fiction-as-a-cure-or-partial-c_1251527.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/190/beth-kephart-21859_fiction_i-hold-to-fiction-as-a-cure-or-partial-c_1251527.jpg) > ““I hold to fiction as a cure, or partial cure, or cause for hope, or essential distraction from the rain you wake up to, the doubts in your head, the daily desolation that you have not yet said what is most true, you have not yet crafted the story that reveals you. And therefore something waits. Therefore you must wake and you must write and you are not alone. Your fiction is with you.”” [Beth Kephart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-kephart/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Fiction serves as a therapeutic escape, a source of hope, and a catalyst for self‑discovery, urging writers to awaken and share their truth. **In simple terms:** Stories help us cope, hope, and find ourselves. Key Takeaway Write to explore and connect. Themes creativity healing self‑discovery Mood reflective inspirational Type literary motivational When to use this quote - personal journaling - creative writing workshops - therapy sessions - daily reflection Key Concepts narrative therapy hope identity formation Questions to Reflect On - What truth are you avoiding? - How does fiction shape your perception of reality? A Different Perspective Writing may not replace professional help for deep issues. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) [Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hope/) ## Related quotes > [I want to sleep like the birds then wake to write you again without hope that you read me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-hall/i-want-to-sleep-like-the-birds-then-wake-to-write-you-again-without/) [Donald Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-hall/) > [I wake up fairly early every day, by 8, for sure. Sunday is a lighter writing day than the weekdays, but I still wake…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/i-wake-up-fairly-early-every-day-by-8-for-sure-sunday-is-a-lighter/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [If I ever saw my muse she would be an old woman with a tight bun and spectacles poking me in the middle of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kerry-greenwood/if-i-ever-saw-my-muse-she-would-be-an-old-woman-with-a-tight-bun-and/) [Kerry Greenwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kerry-greenwood/) > [I do really well when a challenge is put in front of me. I don't just wake up and write. I like being forced…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/njena-reddd-foxxx/i-do-really-well-when-a-challenge-is-put-in-front-of-me-i-don-t-just/) Njena Reddd Foxxx > [I don't want to write poems that are just really clear about how I'm aware of all the traps involved in writing poetry; I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-lerner/i-don-t-want-to-write-poems-that-are-just-really-clear-about-how-i-m/) [Ben Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-lerner/) > [Because I write fiction, I don't write autobiography, and to me they are very different things. The first-person narrative is a very intimate thing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-atkinson/because-i-write-fiction-i-don-t-write-autobiography-and-to-me-they/) [Kate Atkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-atkinson/) > [I remember reading an interview with a writer who said that in nonfiction if you have one lie it sort of messes it up.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwidge-danticat/i-remember-reading-an-interview-with-a-writer-who-said-that-in/) [Edwidge Danticat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwidge-danticat/) > [If I write nothing but fiction for some time I begin to get stupid, and to feel rather as if it had been a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-mary-yonge/if-i-write-nothing-but-fiction-for-some-time-i-begin-to-get-stupid/) [Charlotte Mary Yonge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-mary-yonge/) > [“Write non-fiction like fiction, so the reader is constantly turning the page to find out what happens next, and write fiction like non-fiction, so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-robinson/write-non-fiction-like-fiction-so-the-reader-is-constantly-turning/) [Jeffrey Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-robinson/) > [“When pondering who I am, I write the fiction that I want directly over the facts that I hate. However, what I’ve discovered is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/when-pondering-who-i-am-i-write-the-fiction-that-i-want-directly-over/) [Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/) > [So much of what I write in fiction is based on true stories.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-kurlansky/so-much-of-what-i-write-in-fiction-is-based-on-true-stories/) [Mark Kurlansky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-kurlansky/) > [For a while, when I got out of college, I tried to write fiction. I'd grown up more around novelists, and my initial attraction…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grann/for-a-while-when-i-got-out-of-college-i-tried-to-write-fiction-i-d/) [David Grann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grann/) > [Wanted to write fiction since I was 11, since I first read 'In Our Time' by Hemingway.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-heller/wanted-to-write-fiction-since-i-was-11-since-i-first-read-in-our-time/) [Peter Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-heller/) > [Fiction is lies; we're writing about people who never existed and events that never happened when we write fiction, whether its science fiction or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-r-r-martin-2/fiction-is-lies-we-re-writing-about-people-who-never-existed-and/) [George R. R. Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-r-r-martin-2/) > [I thought I was going to write fiction but I fell backwards into non-fiction. It started when I got locked out of two apartments…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sloane-crosley/i-thought-i-was-going-to-write-fiction-but-i-fell-backwards-into-non/) [Sloane Crosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sloane-crosley/) ## More by Beth Kephart > [Words are the weights which hold our history in place.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-kephart/words-are-the-weights-which-hold-our-history-in-place/) [Beth Kephart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-kephart/) > [Nature is not the number-one mystery, I’ve learned. It’s the heart that takes top honors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-kephart/nature-is-not-the-number-one-mystery-i-ve-learned-it-s-the-heart-that/) [Beth Kephart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-kephart/) > [“Love is what you give and love is what you want and love is how you wait, but it doesn't save you”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-kephart/love-is-what-you-give-and-love-is-what-you-want-and-love-is-how-you/) [Beth Kephart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-kephart/) > [“Were there language, I'd be my own lone letter.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-kephart/were-there-language-i-d-be-my-own-lone-letter/) [Beth Kephart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-kephart/) > [Step out from behind the words. When you're a writer you can imagine that the words speak for you and are you, but they're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-kephart/step-out-from-behind-the-words-when-you-re-a-writer-you-can-imagine/) [Beth Kephart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-kephart/) > [“Beauty is the worst kind of lie.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-kephart/beauty-is-the-worst-kind-of-lie/) [Beth Kephart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-kephart/) > [Forgiveness, which is the place that every story turns, the chance we give each other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-kephart/forgiveness-which-is-the-place-that-every-story-turns-the-chance-we/) [Beth Kephart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-kephart/) > [“Fox-Trot By the stream the fox and she-fox stood Nose to nose beneath the stars Dancing the music of the woods. The deer rapped…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-kephart/fox-trot-by-the-stream-the-fox-and-she-fox-stood-nose-to-nose-beneath/) [Beth Kephart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-kephart/) > [“His client needs him, he says. Needs him? But isn’t he needed at home?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-kephart/his-client-needs-him-he-says-needs-him-but-isn-t-he-needed-at-home/) [Beth Kephart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-kephart/) > [Here’s another change I’ve noticed: The dark is more than the sun dropping off, more than the moon and the stars. It’s what you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-kephart/here-s-another-change-i-ve-noticed-the-dark-is-more-than-the-sun/) [Beth Kephart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-kephart/) > [ Nothing erodes \[a mother's love\]. It is not sand on a beach. It is the nuclear heart of things-hard as the rock of this… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-kephart/nothing-erodes-a-mother-s-love-it-is-not-sand-on-a-beach-it-is-the/) [Beth Kephart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-kephart/) > [I believe friends enclose us, like a pair of parentheses. Each one knows us differently, each sustains us in a different way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-kephart/i-believe-friends-enclose-us-like-a-pair-of-parentheses-each-one/) [Beth Kephart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-kephart/) > [You know how a river goes on and on? That's my love for you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-kephart/you-know-how-a-river-goes-on-and-on-that-s-my-love-for-you/) [Beth Kephart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-kephart/) > [“Anna would say that she was a cat like Gemma, with nine lives to spend, all nine precious and delicious.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-kephart/anna-would-say-that-she-was-a-cat-like-gemma-with-nine-lives-to-spend/) [Beth Kephart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-kephart/) > [“The night before, I'd gone overboard with my Lila poems, and maybe it's true that I was hoping that in them he'd see the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-kephart/the-night-before-i-d-gone-overboard-with-my-lila-poems-and-maybe-it-s/) [Beth Kephart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-kephart/) [Explore all 28 Beth Kephart quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-kephart/) ## 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 > [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 > [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 > [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": "“I hold to fiction as a cure, or partial cure, or cause for hope, or essential distraction from the rain you wake up to, the doubts in your head, the daily desolation that you have not yet said what is most true, you have not yet crafted the story that reveals you. And therefore something waits. Therefore you must wake and you must write and you are not alone. 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