---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is no fun at all to have been writing…"
description: "\"It is no fun at all to have been writing a book for seven or so years, especially when you've never published anything before.\" — Chad Harbach"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/639/chad-harbach-3109_book_it-is-no-fun-at-all-to-have-been-writing_1925048.png"
---

#  It is no fun at all to have been writing a book for seven…

![“It is no fun at all to have been writing a book for seven or so years, especially when you've never published anything before.” quote by Chad Harbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/639/chad-harbach-3109_book_it-is-no-fun-at-all-to-have-been-writing_1925048.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/639/chad-harbach-3109_book_it-is-no-fun-at-all-to-have-been-writing_1925048.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/639/chad-harbach-3109_book_it-is-no-fun-at-all-to-have-been-writing_1925048.png)

> “It is no fun at all to have been writing a book for seven or so years, especially when you've never published anything before.”

[Chad Harbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chad-harbach/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Expresses frustration of long-term writing without publication.

**In simple terms:** Writing years without release feels unrewarding.

Key Takeaway

Persist despite setbacks.

Themes

creativity patience frustration

Mood

melancholic determined

Type

reflective advice

When to use this quote

- publishing
- self-editing
- writing workshops
- career resilience

Key Concepts

authorial perseverance literary process

Questions to Reflect On

- How do you measure writing success?
- What steps can you take to share your work?

A Different Perspective

Perfectionism can stall progress.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Fun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fun/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Writing a book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-a-book/)

## Related quotes

> [I've published one book before, and now I'm writing a book of essays and stories about life in Tokyo. And I have one book…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franka-potente/i-ve-published-one-book-before-and-now-i-m-writing-a-book-of-essays/)

[Franka Potente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franka-potente/)

> [A lot of my close friends had tolerantly washed their hands of the whole idea of me writing a book. They had said to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chad-harbach/a-lot-of-my-close-friends-had-tolerantly-washed-their-hands-of-the/)

[Chad Harbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chad-harbach/)

> [The fun one can have writing books about books is limitless, to be honest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jasper-fforde/the-fun-one-can-have-writing-books-about-books-is-limitless-to-be/)

[Jasper Fforde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jasper-fforde/)

> [I feel like every single time I've published a book, there's some little light in me that goes out. I've seen the way people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-heti/i-feel-like-every-single-time-i-ve-published-a-book-there-s-some/)

[Sheila Heti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheila-heti/)

> ['Made it as a writer'? I'm still wondering if I've made it as a writer. I've made it as a published writer of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-brown/made-it-as-a-writer-i-m-still-wondering-if-i-ve-made-it-as-a-writer-i/)

[Eric Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-brown/)

> [Pretty much every issue that we've put out, there have been at least one or two things that really surprised me. It sounds like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorin-stein/pretty-much-every-issue-that-we-ve-put-out-there-have-been-at-least/)

[Lorin Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorin-stein/)

> [I've written a lot of books now; I've been published for over 30 years. I hope with every book I learn something new, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlaine-harris/i-ve-written-a-lot-of-books-now-i-ve-been-published-for-over-30-years/)

[Charlaine Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlaine-harris/)

> [I've published several virtually invisible novels and several dozen even more invisible short stories over the years, all of which give me joy -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-bradfield/i-ve-published-several-virtually-invisible-novels-and-several-dozen/)

[Scott Bradfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-bradfield/)

> [No matter what I've published - and you can look it up, I've published quite a lot in science, quite a few books too…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-winston/no-matter-what-i-ve-published-and-you-can-look-it-up-i-ve-published/)

[Robert Winston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-winston/)

> [I think now I'm up to something like 85 different titles that I've published.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-j-anderson/i-think-now-i-m-up-to-something-like-85-different-titles-that-i-ve/)

[Kevin J. Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-j-anderson/)

> [When I was in college, I used to write little ditties and short stories and poetry for my friends. Writing a book is another…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-batali/when-i-was-in-college-i-used-to-write-little-ditties-and-short/)

[Mario Batali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-batali/)

> [“Writing a book is a blood sport. If it doesn't hurt when you're done, you're probably doing something wrong.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevis-hendrickson/writing-a-book-is-a-blood-sport-if-it-doesn-t-hurt-when-you-re-done/)

[Kevis Hendrickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevis-hendrickson/)

> [Writing a book is a brilliant thing because once you've finished it, you've done it, and there's the potential for it to go on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hodgkinson/writing-a-book-is-a-brilliant-thing-because-once-you-ve-finished-it/)

[Tom Hodgkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hodgkinson/)

> [These are rules I've picked up along the way to help me remain invisible when I'm writing a book, to help me show rather…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elmore-leonard/these-are-rules-i-ve-picked-up-along-the-way-to-help-me-remain/)

[Elmore Leonard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elmore-leonard/)

> [Writing a book is an adventure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/writing-a-book-is-an-adventure/)

[Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/)

## More by Chad Harbach

> [Other things awaited. It was good to be young and to know it for once. So much unfolding to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chad-harbach/other-things-awaited-it-was-good-to-be-young-and-to-know-it-for-once/)

[Chad Harbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chad-harbach/)

> [“The problem, like most problems in life, probably had to do with his footwork.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chad-harbach/the-problem-like-most-problems-in-life-probably-had-to-do-with-his/)

[Chad Harbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chad-harbach/)

> [There are no whys in a person's life, and very few hows. In the end, in search of useful wisdom, you could only come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chad-harbach/there-are-no-whys-in-a-person-s-life-and-very-few-hows-in-the-end-in/)

[Chad Harbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chad-harbach/)

> [“He wished that college required you to use your body more, forced you to remember that life was lived in four dimensions.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chad-harbach/he-wished-that-college-required-you-to-use-your-body-more-forced-you/)

[Chad Harbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chad-harbach/)

> [“The girl-women scampered around a beach house in various states of preparative undress, wriggled into sundresses, shook out their hair…They possessed a veneer of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chad-harbach/the-girl-women-scampered-around-a-beach-house-in-various-states-of/)

[Chad Harbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chad-harbach/)

> [“After those four years, he returned to the Midwest. He'd turned twenty-five, the Age of Unfolding, and it was time to write a novel,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chad-harbach/after-those-four-years-he-returned-to-the-midwest-he-d-turned-twenty/)

[Chad Harbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chad-harbach/)

> [“It dawned on him—as it hadn’t before; he was dense, he was slow—that his parents were five hundred miles away. They could make him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chad-harbach/it-dawned-on-him-as-it-hadn-t-before-he-was-dense-he-was-slow-that/)

[Chad Harbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chad-harbach/)

> [For many years I didn't have health insurance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chad-harbach/for-many-years-i-didn-t-have-health-insurance/)

[Chad Harbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chad-harbach/)

> [“Though his classmates supposedly hailed form "all fifty states, Guam, and twenty-two foreign lands," as President Affenlight said in his convocation address, they all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chad-harbach/though-his-classmates-supposedly-hailed-form-all-fifty-states-guam/)

[Chad Harbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chad-harbach/)

> [A lot of my close friends had tolerantly washed their hands of the whole idea of me writing a book. They had said to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chad-harbach/a-lot-of-my-close-friends-had-tolerantly-washed-their-hands-of-the/)

[Chad Harbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chad-harbach/)

> [“Ella was nineteen," Pella interrupted to say. She hated the namelessness of women in stories, as if they lived and died so that men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chad-harbach/ella-was-nineteen-pella-interrupted-to-say-she-hated-the-namelessness/)

[Chad Harbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chad-harbach/)

> [“Neither had said so, but she could tell. Unless she was just paranoid, living in her head again, but you always lived in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chad-harbach/neither-had-said-so-but-she-could-tell-unless-she-was-just-paranoid/)

[Chad Harbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chad-harbach/)

> [I feel like every time I start up, it's like a truck you have to get into 15th gear, so you very solely crank…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chad-harbach/i-feel-like-every-time-i-start-up-it-s-like-a-truck-you-have-to-get/)

[Chad Harbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chad-harbach/)

> [“It was easy enough to write a sentence, but if you were going to create a work of art, the way Melville had, each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chad-harbach/it-was-easy-enough-to-write-a-sentence-but-if-you-were-going-to/)

[Chad Harbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chad-harbach/)

> [“Life was long, unless you died, and he didn’t intend to spend the next sixty years talking about the last twenty-two.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chad-harbach/life-was-long-unless-you-died-and-he-didn-t-intend-to-spend-the-next/)

[Chad Harbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chad-harbach/)

[Explore all 138 Chad Harbach quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chad-harbach/)

## More Book quotes

> [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/)

[Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/)

> [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/)

[Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/)

> [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/)

[Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/)

> [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/)

[Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/)

> [I have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/)

[Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/)

> [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/)

[Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/)

> [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/)

[Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/)

> [I don't think I have made as much of my life as I should have. I should have written more books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-m-schlesinger-jr/i-don-t-think-i-have-made-as-much-of-my-life-as-i-should-have-i/)

[Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-m-schlesinger-jr/)

> [Some books are not read in the right way because they have skipped a stage of opinion, assume a crystallization of information in society…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/some-books-are-not-read-in-the-right-way-because-they-have-skipped-a/)

[Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/)

> [“People talk about books that write themselves, and it's a lie. Books don't write themselves. It takes thought and research and a backache and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/people-talk-about-books-that-write-themselves-and-it-s-a-lie-books/)

[Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/)

> [There are great books in this world and great worlds in books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-bronte/there-are-great-books-in-this-world-and-great-worlds-in-books/)

[Anne Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-bronte/)

> [The purpose of this book is to supply, in the form suitable for laymen, guidance in the adoption and execution of an investment policy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/the-purpose-of-this-book-is-to-supply-in-the-form-suitable-for-laymen/)

[Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/)

> [But I think that of all the literature that I studied, the book that did more than any other to fire my enthusiasm was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kwame-nkrumah/but-i-think-that-of-all-the-literature-that-i-studied-the-book-that/)

[Kwame Nkrumah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kwame-nkrumah/)

> [It's amazing to see things that are suggested in the book fully developed and so brilliantly realized through the artistry of the designers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-collins/it-s-amazing-to-see-things-that-are-suggested-in-the-book-fully/)

[Suzanne Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-collins/)

> [“But I’ve developed a great reputation for wisdom by ordering more books than I ever had time to read, and reading more books, by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/but-i-ve-developed-a-great-reputation-for-wisdom-by-ordering-more/)

[Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/)

[Browse all 29,378 Book quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "It is no fun at all to have been writing a book for seven or so years, especially when you've never published anything before.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Chad Harbach"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chad-harbach/it-is-no-fun-at-all-to-have-been-writing-a-book-for-seven-or-so-years/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Book"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chad-harbach/it-is-no-fun-at-all-to-have-been-writing-a-book-for-seven-or-so-years/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/639/chad-harbach-3109_book_it-is-no-fun-at-all-to-have-been-writing_1925048.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/639/chad-harbach-3109_book_it-is-no-fun-at-all-to-have-been-writing_1925048.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/639/chad-harbach-3109_book_it-is-no-fun-at-all-to-have-been-writing_1925048.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“It is no fun at all to have been writing a book for seven or so years, especially when you've never…” — Chad Harbach",
                "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": "Chad Harbach",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chad-harbach/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "It is no fun at all...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chad-harbach/it-is-no-fun-at-all-to-have-been-writing-a-book-for-seven-or-so-years/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chad-harbach/it-is-no-fun-at-all-to-have-been-writing-a-book-for-seven-or-so-years/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
