--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There are things you do when you're…" description: "\"There are things you do when you're writing that are so fun to do it's almost like they're private jokes that are amusing to you but no one else is goi..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c3f/chad-harbach-3109_amusing_there-are-things-you-do-when-you-re-writ_2846994.png" --- # There are things you do when you're writing that are so… ![“There are things you do when you're writing that are so fun to do it's almost like they're private jokes that are amusing to you but no one else is going to enjoy them nearly as much and you worry you're going to have to take them out in the end.” quote by Chad Harbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c3f/chad-harbach-3109_amusing_there-are-things-you-do-when-you-re-writ_2846994.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c3f/chad-harbach-3109_amusing_there-are-things-you-do-when-you-re-writ_2846994.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c3f/chad-harbach-3109_amusing_there-are-things-you-do-when-you-re-writ_2846994.png) > “There are things you do when you're writing that are so fun to do it's almost like they're private jokes that are amusing to you but no one else is going to enjoy them nearly as much and you worry you're going to have to take them out in the end.” [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. Writers often insert private jokes into their work, which may not resonate with readers, causing anxiety about editing. **In simple terms:** Private jokes can alienate readers. Key Takeaway Balance personal humor with audience clarity. Themes writing humor anxiety Mood playful concerned Type creative reflective When to use this quote - drafting novels - screenwriting - blogging Key Concepts literature communication Questions to Reflect On - How to decide what to keep? - What makes a joke universal? A Different Perspective Not all jokes need removal. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Amusing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/amusing/) [Amusing Going](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/amusing-going-3765576/) [Ends](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ends/) [Enjoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enjoy/) [Fun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fun/) [Jokes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jokes/) [Jokes Amusing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jokes-amusing-3765577/) [Private Jokes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/private-jokes-3765575/) [Worry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/worry/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Writing Fun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-fun-570674/) ## Related quotes > [“She had a smooth, low voice and a naughty, shocking sense of humour. Laughter followed in her wake; she collected admirers, both male and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-tessaro/she-had-a-smooth-low-voice-and-a-naughty-shocking-sense-of-humour/) [Kathleen Tessaro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-tessaro/) > [Writing can be fun. I think the challenge is to convey interesting things in accessible ways, and that's what I aim to do in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-haig/writing-can-be-fun-i-think-the-challenge-is-to-convey-interesting/) [Matt Haig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-haig/) > [I just kind of go with what I am feeling and don't think I have any kind of recipe for it... I mean, that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cole-swindell/i-just-kind-of-go-with-what-i-am-feeling-and-don-t-think-i-have-any/) [Cole Swindell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cole-swindell/) > [Writing is the most fun you can have by yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/writing-is-the-most-fun-you-can-have-by-yourself/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [“What if it were as they say? If, while I believe I am writing in fun, what I write were really dictated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/what-if-it-were-as-they-say-if-while-i-believe-i-am-writing-in-fun/) [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) > [My test for writing is always, is this fun or does it feel like a job? Is it moving me? Or am I just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/my-test-for-writing-is-always-is-this-fun-or-does-it-feel-like-a-job/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [I love writing. It's a fun challenge. It refuels me personally.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trevor-mcnevan/i-love-writing-it-s-a-fun-challenge-it-refuels-me-personally/) [Trevor McNevan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trevor-mcnevan/) > [We like writing with each other; it's fun.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shawn-wayans/we-like-writing-with-each-other-it-s-fun/) [Shawn Wayans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shawn-wayans/) > [The kind of true-life writing that is fun to read - that makes an ally of the reader - is the kind that you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-klausner/the-kind-of-true-life-writing-that-is-fun-to-read-that-makes-an-ally/) [Julie Klausner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-klausner/) > [Writing is fun - at least mostly. I write for four hours every day. After that I go running. As a rule, 10 kilometers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/writing-is-fun-at-least-mostly-i-write-for-four-hours-every-day-after/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [Writing sucks. I think it's terrible. Writing is not fun, and don't trust anyone who claims to enjoy it. Liars!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rian-johnson/writing-sucks-i-think-it-s-terrible-writing-is-not-fun-and-don-t/) [Rian Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rian-johnson/) > [To me, writing is fun. It doesn't matter what you're writing, as long as you can tell a story.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stan-lee/to-me-writing-is-fun-it-doesn-t-matter-what-you-re-writing-as-long-as/) [Stan Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stan-lee/) > [All my writing is fun, and that makes it hard to slow down or walk away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-connelly/all-my-writing-is-fun-and-that-makes-it-hard-to-slow-down-or-walk-away/) [Michael Connelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-connelly/) > [For me, writing is fun. The day I quit my job and take up writing full time, writing will become just another job. A…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ravi-subramanian/for-me-writing-is-fun-the-day-i-quit-my-job-and-take-up-writing-full/) [Ravi Subramanian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ravi-subramanian/) > [I didn't really realize that writing... would be fun and people would pay you to do it. Being an astronaut is a glory profession,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-roach/i-didn-t-really-realize-that-writing-would-be-fun-and-people-would/) [Mary Roach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-roach/) ## 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 Amusing quotes > [“I have found it an amusing strategy, when asked whether I am an atheist, to point out that the questioner is also an atheist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/i-have-found-it-an-amusing-strategy-when-asked-whether-i-am-an/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [By amusing myself with all these games, all this nonsense, all these picture puzzles, I became famous... I am only a public entertainer who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/by-amusing-myself-with-all-these-games-all-this-nonsense-all-these/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [I was reading Neil Postman's 'Amusing Ourselves to Death'. It's one of my favourites.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brent-faiyaz/i-was-reading-neil-postman-s-amusing-ourselves-to-death-it-s-one-of/) [Brent Faiyaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brent-faiyaz/) > [People of our time are losing the power of celebration. Instead of celebrating we seek to be amused or entertained. Celebration is an active…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-joshua-heschel/people-of-our-time-are-losing-the-power-of-celebration-instead-of/) [Abraham Joshua Heschel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-joshua-heschel/) > [No one survives in times of war unless they make war their home. How did I get so old and wise, but for welcoming…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-maguire/no-one-survives-in-times-of-war-unless-they-make-war-their-home-how/) [Gregory Maguire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-maguire/) > [Funny things tend not to happen to me. I am not a natural comic. I need to think about things a lot before I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rowan-atkinson/funny-things-tend-not-to-happen-to-me-i-am-not-a-natural-comic-i-need/) [Rowan Atkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rowan-atkinson/) > [ \[A\]n Obama presidency would be an amusing approximation of the Carter administration, complete with vaporous moralizing and foreign policy bungling. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmett-tyrrell/a-n-obama-presidency-would-be-an-amusing-approximation-of-the-carter/) [Emmett Tyrrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmett-tyrrell/) > [It's amusing how arrogant people can be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-s-amusing-how-arrogant-people-can-be/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Men are not amusing during the shooting season; but, after all, my dear, men were not especially designed to amuse women.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-atherton/men-are-not-amusing-during-the-shooting-season-but-after-all-my-dear/) [Gertrude Atherton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-atherton/) > [All men are fools, if truth be told, but the ones in motley are more amusing than ones with crowns.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/all-men-are-fools-if-truth-be-told-but-the-ones-in-motley-are-more/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Most poetry is the utterance of a man in some state of passion, love, joy, grief, rage, etc., and no doubt this is as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/most-poetry-is-the-utterance-of-a-man-in-some-state-of-passion-love/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [It's always amusing to see how much less the political class knows than the rest of us do. ... it's never occurred to \[the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-d-cox/it-s-always-amusing-to-see-how-much-less-the-political-class-knows/) [Stephen D. Cox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-d-cox/) > [Are there bears in these mountains?" he asked. His companion nodded. "Of course. But it's a bit early in the year for them to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-flanagan/are-there-bears-in-these-mountains-he-asked-his-companion-nodded-of/) [John Flanagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-flanagan/) > [I always find it amusing to overhear women who have never had babies discussing what a pregnant chick should 'look' like at a certain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catt-sadler/i-always-find-it-amusing-to-overhear-women-who-have-never-had-babies/) [Catt Sadler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catt-sadler/) > [The generation of random numbers is too important to be left to chance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-coveyou/the-generation-of-random-numbers-is-too-important-to-be-left-to-chance/) [Robert Coveyou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-coveyou/) [Browse all 436 Amusing quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/amusing/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There are things you do when you're writing that are so fun to do it's almost like they're private jokes that are amusing to you but no one else is going to enjoy them nearly as much and you worry you're going to have to take them out in the end.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Chad Harbach" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chad-harbach/there-are-things-you-do-when-you-re-writing-that-are-so-fun-to-do-it/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Amusing" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chad-harbach/there-are-things-you-do-when-you-re-writing-that-are-so-fun-to-do-it/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c3f/chad-harbach-3109_amusing_there-are-things-you-do-when-you-re-writ_2846994.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c3f/chad-harbach-3109_amusing_there-are-things-you-do-when-you-re-writ_2846994.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c3f/chad-harbach-3109_amusing_there-are-things-you-do-when-you-re-writ_2846994.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There are things you do when you're writing that are so fun to do it's almost like they're private jokes…” — 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": "There are things you do when...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chad-harbach/there-are-things-you-do-when-you-re-writing-that-are-so-fun-to-do-it/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chad-harbach/there-are-things-you-do-when-you-re-writing-that-are-so-fun-to-do-it/#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 } } ] } ```