--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Writing requires the concentration of the…" description: "\"Writing requires the concentration of the writer, demands that nothing else be done except that.\" — Carlos Fuentes" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be7/carlos-fuentes-1696_concentration_writing-requires-the-concentration-of-th_1059927.jpg" --- # Writing requires the concentration of the writer, demands… ![“Writing requires the concentration of the writer, demands that nothing else be done except that.” quote by Carlos Fuentes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be7/carlos-fuentes-1696_concentration_writing-requires-the-concentration-of-th_1059927.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be7/carlos-fuentes-1696_concentration_writing-requires-the-concentration-of-th_1059927.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be7/carlos-fuentes-1696_concentration_writing-requires-the-concentration-of-th_1059927.jpg) > “Writing requires the concentration of the writer, demands that nothing else be done except that.” [Carlos Fuentes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-fuentes/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writing demands total focus; distractions undermine the creative act. **In simple terms:** Writing needs full concentration. Key Takeaway Eliminate distractions when writing. Themes focus creativity discipline Mood determined inspired Type practical philosophical When to use this quote - authoring a novel - academic paper - blog post - creative brainstorming Key Concepts mindfulness flow state Questions to Reflect On - How can you protect your focus without isolating yourself? - What rituals help you enter a writing flow? A Different Perspective Complete focus may be unrealistic in collaborative environments. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Concentration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/concentration/) [Concentration Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/concentration-writer-2581616/) [Demands](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/demands/) [Done](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/done/) [Else](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/else/) [Except](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/except/) [Nothing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nothing/) [Requires](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/requires/) [Requires Concentration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/requires-concentration-416261/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writer Demands](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer-demands-2581617/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Writing Requires](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-requires-1352425/) ## Related quotes > [The concentration of the elite athlete is akin perhaps to the concentration of the writer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-leigh/the-concentration-of-the-elite-athlete-is-akin-perhaps-to-the/) [Julia Leigh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-leigh/) > [Movie acting, I later realized, reminds me of contract bridge. Each requires the same concentration, intense short-term memory, and obliviousness to everything else until…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/movie-acting-i-later-realized-reminds-me-of-contract-bridge-each/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [... programming requires more concentration than other activities. It's the reason programmers get upset about 'quick interruptions' - such interruptions are tantamount to asking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-mcconnell/programming-requires-more-concentration-than-other-activities-it-s/) [Steve McConnell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-mcconnell/) > [It’s never going to be very mainstream. One reason is that poetry requires concentration, both on the part of the writer and the reader.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-armitage/it-s-never-going-to-be-very-mainstream-one-reason-is-that-poetry/) [Simon Armitage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-armitage/) > [Not all activities are equal in this regard. Those that involve genuine concentration—studying a musical instrument, playing board games, reading, and dancing—are associated with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-doidge/not-all-activities-are-equal-in-this-regard-those-that-involve/) [Norman Doidge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-doidge/) > [In order to give meaning to the world, one has to feel oneself involved in what he frames. This attitude requires concentration, a discipline…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-cartier-bresson/in-order-to-give-meaning-to-the-world-one-has-to-feel-oneself/) [Henri Cartier-Bresson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-cartier-bresson/) > [What do you want? What are you willing to give up to get it? Writing requires you make sacrifices. Be prepared to work hard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-brown/what-do-you-want-what-are-you-willing-to-give-up-to-get-it-writing/) [Sandra Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-brown/) > [I write in order to find out what I truly know and how I really feel about certain things. Writing requires me to go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslie-marmon-silko/i-write-in-order-to-find-out-what-i-truly-know-and-how-i-really-feel/) [Leslie Marmon Silko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslie-marmon-silko/) > [To write requires an ego, a belief that what you say matters. 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I want to be read, I want to be heard. I don't need to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-tempest-williams/to-be-read-to-be-heard-to-be-seen-i-want-to-be-read-i-want-to-be/) [Terry Tempest Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-tempest-williams/) > [Writing requires a great deal of skill, just like painting does. People don't want to learn those skills.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milius/writing-requires-a-great-deal-of-skill-just-like-painting-does-people/) [John Milius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milius/) > [Writing for me always requires trickery. Tricking myself into sitting down, letting words tumble out until you find the good ones. It's sort of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hodgman/writing-for-me-always-requires-trickery-tricking-myself-into-sitting/) [John Hodgman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hodgman/) > [“Writing requires a prolong period of academic education supplemented by studiously scrutinizing society and its customs. Writers also analyze their own nature and physical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kilroy-j-oldster/writing-requires-a-prolong-period-of-academic-education-supplemented/) [Kilroy J. Oldster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kilroy-j-oldster/) ## More by Carlos Fuentes > [No, it's not that they're bad. It's that they're obliged to pretend they're good. They've been brought up to deceive and be cunning, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-fuentes/no-it-s-not-that-they-re-bad-it-s-that-they-re-obliged-to-pretend/) [Carlos Fuentes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-fuentes/) > [Contrary to the macho culture of Mexico, both my grandmothers were very brave young widows. I was always very close to these hard-working, intelligent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-fuentes/contrary-to-the-macho-culture-of-mexico-both-my-grandmothers-were/) [Carlos Fuentes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-fuentes/) > [The contract between the author and the reader is a game. And the game . . . is one of the greatest invetions of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-fuentes/the-contract-between-the-author-and-the-reader-is-a-game-and-the-game/) [Carlos Fuentes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-fuentes/) > [Love can isolate us from everything around us. But in its absence, we can be filled with the fear that something comparable exists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-fuentes/love-can-isolate-us-from-everything-around-us-but-in-its-absence-we/) [Carlos Fuentes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-fuentes/) > [You start by writing to live. You end by writing so as not to die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-fuentes/you-start-by-writing-to-live-you-end-by-writing-so-as-not-to-die/) [Carlos Fuentes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-fuentes/) > [“Because it’s a fucking disaster to be creative when you know you’re not Mozart or Keats. Dammit, I got tired of scratching around in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-fuentes/because-it-s-a-fucking-disaster-to-be-creative-when-you-know-you-re/) [Carlos Fuentes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-fuentes/) > [In the name of certainty, the greatest crimes have been committed against humanity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-fuentes/in-the-name-of-certainty-the-greatest-crimes-have-been-committed/) [Carlos Fuentes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-fuentes/) > [Mexico is a very complex, mysterious country. I will never understand it fully, and that's why I write so much about it, in order…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-fuentes/mexico-is-a-very-complex-mysterious-country-i-will-never-understand/) [Carlos Fuentes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-fuentes/) > [chaos: it has no plural.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-fuentes/chaos-it-has-no-plural/) [Carlos Fuentes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-fuentes/) > [“Sólo el imbécil no duda. Sólo el idiota no sufre".”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-fuentes/s-lo-el-imb-cil-no-duda-s-lo-el-idiota-no-sufre/) [Carlos Fuentes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-fuentes/) > [I have no literary fears.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-fuentes/i-have-no-literary-fears/) [Carlos Fuentes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-fuentes/) > [“You will have given another moment to the moment you are living and to the moments you are going to live; you have perverted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-fuentes/you-will-have-given-another-moment-to-the-moment-you-are-living-and/) [Carlos Fuentes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-fuentes/) > [I am a Mexican. The United States lived seventy-five years with the one party system in Mexico - the PRI - without batting an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-fuentes/i-am-a-mexican-the-united-states-lived-seventy-five-years-with-the/) [Carlos Fuentes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-fuentes/) > [“It is true that every mountain has four faces, and one tends to know but one. ― Carlos Fuentes, Terra Nostra”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-fuentes/it-is-true-that-every-mountain-has-four-faces-and-one-tends-to-know/) [Carlos Fuentes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-fuentes/) > [To read and write is a paradise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-fuentes/to-read-and-write-is-a-paradise/) [Carlos Fuentes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-fuentes/) [Explore all 134 Carlos Fuentes quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-fuentes/) ## More Concentration quotes > [Each man is capable of doing one thing well. If he attempts several, he will fail to achieve distinction in any.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/each-man-is-capable-of-doing-one-thing-well-if-he-attempts-several-he/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [We must remember that intelligence is not enough. Intelligence plus character--that is the goal of true education. The complete education gives one not only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/we-must-remember-that-intelligence-is-not-enough-intelligence-plus/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [It is a good practice to write at least on page of mantra daily. Many people get better concentration by writing than by chanting.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mata-amritanandamayi/it-is-a-good-practice-to-write-at-least-on-page-of-mantra-daily-many/) [Mata Amritanandamayi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mata-amritanandamayi/) > [“Exceptional work is always associated with periods of deep concentration. Nothing excellent ever comes from a scattered effort.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-horsley/exceptional-work-is-always-associated-with-periods-of-deep/) [Kevin Horsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-horsley/) > [Mental attitude and concentration are the keys to pitching.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ferguson-jenkins/mental-attitude-and-concentration-are-the-keys-to-pitching/) [Ferguson Jenkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ferguson-jenkins/) > [The essence of the stage is concentration and penetration. Of the screen action, movement, sweep.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elia-kazan/the-essence-of-the-stage-is-concentration-and-penetration-of-the/) [Elia Kazan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elia-kazan/) > [I can let go of a lot of stuff, but I focus on things I think I should, like dancing, because it takes 100…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuan-yuan-tan/i-can-let-go-of-a-lot-of-stuff-but-i-focus-on-things-i-think-i-should/) [Yuan Yuan Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuan-yuan-tan/) > [“Apply the blacksmith's homely principle when you are speaking. If you feel deeply about your subject you will be able to think of little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-carnegie/apply-the-blacksmith-s-homely-principle-when-you-are-speaking-if-you/) [Dale Carnegie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-carnegie/) > [Mindfulness develops attention, concentration and the ability to simply be present with little or no future orientation, past orientation or goal orientation—choosing to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-gawler/mindfulness-develops-attention-concentration-and-the-ability-to/) [Ian Gawler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-gawler/) > [So too, monks, I saw the ancient path, the ancient road traveled by the Perfectly Enlightened Ones of the past. And what is that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/so-too-monks-i-saw-the-ancient-path-the-ancient-road-traveled-by-the/) [Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) > [Recently a study proved that working from a larger, less cluttered computer screen increases concentration. I could have told them that. And yes, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-schiff/recently-a-study-proved-that-working-from-a-larger-less-cluttered/) [Stacy Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-schiff/) > [If writing with a goal - whether it be evangelistic, apologetic, or didactic - implies propaganda, then all recorded history is propaganda. . .…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-copan/if-writing-with-a-goal-whether-it-be-evangelistic-apologetic-or/) [Paul Copan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-copan/) > [... programming requires more concentration than other activities. It's the reason programmers get upset about 'quick interruptions' - such interruptions are tantamount to asking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-mcconnell/programming-requires-more-concentration-than-other-activities-it-s/) [Steve McConnell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-mcconnell/) > [Any piece of knowledge which the pupil has himself acquired- any problem which he has himself solved, becomes, by virtue of the conquest, much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/any-piece-of-knowledge-which-the-pupil-has-himself-acquired-any/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [Our mind is a flowing something. It oscillates. Concentration is merely the continuous return to the same problem from a million angles… So my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-laubach/our-mind-is-a-flowing-something-it-oscillates-concentration-is-merely/) [Frank Laubach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-laubach/) [Browse all 1,154 Concentration quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/concentration/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Writing requires the concentration of the writer, demands that nothing else be done except that.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Carlos Fuentes" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-fuentes/writing-requires-the-concentration-of-the-writer-demands-that-nothing/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Concentration" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-fuentes/writing-requires-the-concentration-of-the-writer-demands-that-nothing/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be7/carlos-fuentes-1696_concentration_writing-requires-the-concentration-of-th_1059927.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be7/carlos-fuentes-1696_concentration_writing-requires-the-concentration-of-th_1059927.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be7/carlos-fuentes-1696_concentration_writing-requires-the-concentration-of-th_1059927.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Writing requires the concentration of the writer, demands that nothing else be done except that.” — Carlos Fuentes", "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": "Carlos Fuentes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-fuentes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Writing requires the concentration of the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-fuentes/writing-requires-the-concentration-of-the-writer-demands-that-nothing/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-fuentes/writing-requires-the-concentration-of-the-writer-demands-that-nothing/#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 } } ] } ```