--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It takes a certain kind of mind to…" description: "\"It takes a certain kind of mind to narrate, to work through character motivation, to be unforgiving to one's writer-self when it comes down to creating..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e1f/cate-marvin-21032_certain_it-takes-a-certain-kind-of-mind-to-narra_1500907.jpg" --- # It takes a certain kind of mind to narrate, to work… ![“It takes a certain kind of mind to narrate, to work through character motivation, to be unforgiving to one's writer-self when it comes down to creating the minutiae of detail. Writing fiction requires stamina, a sense of how people's lives work, how people work toward and against one another and…” quote by Cate Marvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e1f/cate-marvin-21032_certain_it-takes-a-certain-kind-of-mind-to-narra_1500907.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e1f/cate-marvin-21032_certain_it-takes-a-certain-kind-of-mind-to-narra_1500907.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e1f/cate-marvin-21032_certain_it-takes-a-certain-kind-of-mind-to-narra_1500907.jpg) > “It takes a certain kind of mind to narrate, to work through character motivation, to be unforgiving to one's writer-self when it comes down to creating the minutiae of detail. Writing fiction requires stamina, a sense of how people's lives work, how people work toward and against one another and, above all, precision.” [Cate Marvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cate-marvin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Creating believable fiction demands deep empathy, relentless self‑criticism, and meticulous attention to detail. **In simple terms:** Fiction needs empathy, criticism, detail. Key Takeaway Cultivate empathy and precision. Themes writing empathy precision character stamina Mood reflective determined Type instructional inspirational When to use this quote - novel writing - screenplay development - character studies Key Concepts psychology craft detail motivation Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance self‑critique with creative flow? - When does detail become distraction? A Different Perspective Over‑analysis can stall progress. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Creating](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creating/) [Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Minutiae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/minutiae/) [Motivation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/motivation/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Precision](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/precision/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) [Stamina](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stamina/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Writing fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-fiction/) ## Related quotes > [“A character without motivation is an automaton. They’re just going through the motions.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-bransford/a-character-without-motivation-is-an-automaton-they-re-just-going/) Nathan Bransford > [Enjoying fiction requires a shift in selfhood. You give up your own identity and try on the identities of other people, adopting their perspectives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-bloom/enjoying-fiction-requires-a-shift-in-selfhood-you-give-up-your-own/) [Paul Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-bloom/) > [There's something peculiar about writing fiction. It requires an interesting balance between seeing the world as a child and having the wisdom of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kazuo-ishiguro/there-s-something-peculiar-about-writing-fiction-it-requires-an/) [Kazuo Ishiguro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kazuo-ishiguro/) > [“Not everyone is capable of writing junk fiction: It requires an authentic junk mind.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gardner/not-everyone-is-capable-of-writing-junk-fiction-it-requires-an/) [John Gardner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gardner/) > [Characters more or less present themselves to me. I don't know their origins. I think if I did, if I seemed to myself to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/characters-more-or-less-present-themselves-to-me-i-don-t-know-their/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [I'm not a moron, but science fiction to me requires a suspension of disbelief and honest curiosity or fascination in that kind of bullshit.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-maron/i-m-not-a-moron-but-science-fiction-to-me-requires-a-suspension-of/) [Marc Maron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-maron/) > [“a truth does not take too long to tell, only a fiction requires so much thought”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tami-hoag/a-truth-does-not-take-too-long-to-tell-only-a-fiction-requires-so/) [Tami Hoag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tami-hoag/) > [Fiction -- at least for me -- requires long, relatively uninterrupted time stretches in which to bring it to fruition. I've never been a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-r-delany/fiction-at-least-for-me-requires-long-relatively-uninterrupted-time/) [Samuel R. Delany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-r-delany/) > [I think it's hard to write a book about happiness because fiction requires tension and complication.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwidge-danticat/i-think-it-s-hard-to-write-a-book-about-happiness-because-fiction/) [Edwidge Danticat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwidge-danticat/) > [“The instruction here is not for every kind of writer - not for the writer of nurse books or thrillers or porno or the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gardner/the-instruction-here-is-not-for-every-kind-of-writer-not-for-the/) [John Gardner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gardner/) > [It's exciting that you've got an entire season to experience 24 hours of highly dramatically charged human experience. It allows for the close inspection…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/xander-berkeley/it-s-exciting-that-you-ve-got-an-entire-season-to-experience-24-hours/) [Xander Berkeley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/xander-berkeley/) > [Nerds get caught up in minutiae, because there is a tremendous and fulfilling sense of control in understanding every single detail of a thing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hardwick/nerds-get-caught-up-in-minutiae-because-there-is-a-tremendous-and/) [Chris Hardwick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hardwick/) > [If you don't die of thirst, there are blessings in the desert. You can be pulled into limitlessness, which we all yearn for, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/if-you-don-t-die-of-thirst-there-are-blessings-in-the-desert-you-can/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [Proust is interested in minutiae because life, as he sees it, is seldom ever about things but about our impression of things, not about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/proust-is-interested-in-minutiae-because-life-as-he-sees-it-is-seldom/) [Andre Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [Time is the nervous system of narration, whether factual or fictive. If it gets confused some of the minutiae of human nature are certain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenway-wescott/time-is-the-nervous-system-of-narration-whether-factual-or-fictive-if/) [Glenway Wescott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenway-wescott/) ## More by Cate Marvin > [The fiction writer has a lot of balls to juggle. Setting, pacing, dialogue, and so on. And let's not forget: plot. That was always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cate-marvin/the-fiction-writer-has-a-lot-of-balls-to-juggle-setting-pacing/) [Cate Marvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cate-marvin/) > [One cannot have "success" in poetry. If I wanted to be successful, I'd have become a lawyer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cate-marvin/one-cannot-have-success-in-poetry-if-i-wanted-to-be-successful-i-d/) [Cate Marvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cate-marvin/) > [One of the reasons poetry is such an amazing genre to work with is because it constantly reinvents itself and re-negotiates its terms with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cate-marvin/one-of-the-reasons-poetry-is-such-an-amazing-genre-to-work-with-is/) [Cate Marvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cate-marvin/) > [I have no precise idea of who makes up my readership. I'm surprised when I discover people have read my poems at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cate-marvin/i-have-no-precise-idea-of-who-makes-up-my-readership-i-m-surprised/) [Cate Marvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cate-marvin/) > [Confessional poetry is, to my mind, more slippery than poems that are sloppily autobiographical; I find the confessional mode much more akin to dramatic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cate-marvin/confessional-poetry-is-to-my-mind-more-slippery-than-poems-that-are/) [Cate Marvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cate-marvin/) > [I do believe that one's writing life needs to be kept separate from Po-Biz. Personally, I deal with this by not attending too many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cate-marvin/i-do-believe-that-one-s-writing-life-needs-to-be-kept-separate-from/) [Cate Marvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cate-marvin/) > [I place a lot of emphasis on process and revision because I believe that all of my students can become better writers through hard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cate-marvin/i-place-a-lot-of-emphasis-on-process-and-revision-because-i-believe/) [Cate Marvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cate-marvin/) > [“I think with my blood.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cate-marvin/i-think-with-my-blood/) [Cate Marvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cate-marvin/) > [I consider poetry my vocation, not my "career." My career is as a university professor; that's what pays the bills.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cate-marvin/i-consider-poetry-my-vocation-not-my-career-my-career-is-as-a/) [Cate Marvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cate-marvin/) > [I like it when poems are challenging, when they concern matters important and personal to the author.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cate-marvin/i-like-it-when-poems-are-challenging-when-they-concern-matters/) [Cate Marvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cate-marvin/) > [I find the elitism and blatant provincialism of many (Manhattan-based) New Yorkers unattractive. Just as place can be an identity crutch that helps a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cate-marvin/i-find-the-elitism-and-blatant-provincialism-of-many-manhattan-based/) [Cate Marvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cate-marvin/) > [I am like a table that eats its own legs off because it’s fallen in love with the floor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cate-marvin/i-am-like-a-table-that-eats-its-own-legs-off-because-it-s-fallen-in/) [Cate Marvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cate-marvin/) > [Some poems take two to three years to finish. Rarely, a poem will arrive whole. It's nice when that happens. However, process has become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cate-marvin/some-poems-take-two-to-three-years-to-finish-rarely-a-poem-will/) [Cate Marvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cate-marvin/) > [I encourage my students to be honest in their assessment of both the published work we read and the work of their classmates. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cate-marvin/i-encourage-my-students-to-be-honest-in-their-assessment-of-both-the/) [Cate Marvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cate-marvin/) > [To think of writing poetry as a "career" is not only ridiculous, it's dangerous. To the imagination. To the way one thinks of art.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cate-marvin/to-think-of-writing-poetry-as-a-career-is-not-only-ridiculous-it-s/) [Cate Marvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cate-marvin/) [Explore all 30 Cate Marvin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cate-marvin/) ## More Certain quotes > [I am certain that children always know more than they are able to tell, and that makes the big difference between them and adults,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lusseyran/i-am-certain-that-children-always-know-more-than-they-are-able-to/) [Jacques Lusseyran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lusseyran/) > [One can put some trust in the gratitude of a sovereign, and also in that of his family; under certain conditions, one can even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/otto-von-bismarck/one-can-put-some-trust-in-the-gratitude-of-a-sovereign-and-also-in/) [Otto von Bismarck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/otto-von-bismarck/) > [For successful education there must always be a certain freshness in the knowledge dealt with. It must be either new in itself or invested…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/for-successful-education-there-must-always-be-a-certain-freshness-in/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [People don't always realize that a record is forever. It'll always be there under your name. You've got to be certain that it's right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-iero/people-don-t-always-realize-that-a-record-is-forever-it-ll-always-be/) [Frank Iero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-iero/) > [Faith gives you a certain structure and meaning to your life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/riffat-hassan/faith-gives-you-a-certain-structure-and-meaning-to-your-life/) Riffat Hassan > [I started out dancing on a reality TV show, but always with the intention of making my way over to film. I transitioned into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julianne-hough/i-started-out-dancing-on-a-reality-tv-show-but-always-with-the/) [Julianne Hough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julianne-hough/) > [One of the deepest and strangest of all human moods is the mood which will suddenly strike us perhaps in a garden at night,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/one-of-the-deepest-and-strangest-of-all-human-moods-is-the-mood-which/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [A dialogue is very important. It is a form of communication in which question and answer continue till a question is left without an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/a-dialogue-is-very-important-it-is-a-form-of-communication-in-which/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) > [I mean those people who are interested in good government will certainly contribute in order to make certain there's some counter-balance to those whose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-breyer/i-mean-those-people-who-are-interested-in-good-government-will/) [Stephen Breyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-breyer/) > [Why do we love certain homes, and why do they seem to love us? It is the warmth of our individual hearts reflected in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-h-robsjohn-gibbings/why-do-we-love-certain-homes-and-why-do-they-seem-to-love-us-it-is/) T. H. 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But later in life good poets burn their early…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/i-think-that-at-a-certain-age-say-fifteen-or-sixteen-poetry-is-like/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) > [If a person does not listen to the demands of their own spiritual and heart life and insists on a certain program, you're going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/if-a-person-does-not-listen-to-the-demands-of-their-own-spiritual-and/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) Browse all 13,673 Certain quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It takes a certain kind of mind to narrate, to work through character motivation, to be unforgiving to one's writer-self when it comes down to creating the minutiae of detail. 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