--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Like all his attempts at fiction it would…" description: "\"“Like all his attempts at fiction it would be as personal as a letter—painful to those who knew him, of no interest to those who didn’t; precious or se..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/647/charles-jackson-64492_bad-writing_like-all-his-attempts-at-fiction-it-woul_2635589.jpg" --- # Like all his attempts at fiction it would be as personal… ![“Like all his attempts at fiction it would be as personal as a letter—painful to those who knew him, of no interest to those who didn’t; precious or self-pitying in spots, in others too clever for its own good; so packed with Shakespeare that it looked as if he worked with a concordance in his lap…” quote by Charles Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/647/charles-jackson-64492_bad-writing_like-all-his-attempts-at-fiction-it-woul_2635589.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/647/charles-jackson-64492_bad-writing_like-all-his-attempts-at-fiction-it-woul_2635589.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/647/charles-jackson-64492_bad-writing_like-all-his-attempts-at-fiction-it-woul_2635589.jpg) > ““Like all his attempts at fiction it would be as personal as a letter—painful to those who knew him, of no interest to those who didn’t; precious or self-pitying in spots, in others too clever for its own good; so packed with Shakespeare that it looked as if he worked with a concordance in his lap; so narcissistic that its final effect would be that of the mirrored room which gives back the same image times without count, or the old Post Toastie box of his boyhood with the fascinating picture of a woman and child holding a Post Toastie box with a picture of a woman and child holding a Post Toastie box with a picture of a woman and child holding—-”” [Charles Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-jackson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Critiquing a self‑indulgent, overly literary style that mirrors the author's own narcissism, making it inaccessible. **In simple terms:** Overly literary, self‑absorbed writing alienates readers. Key Takeaway Avoid self‑indulgence in prose. Themes literary style self‑reflection accessibility critique Mood analytical critical Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - creative writing - literary criticism - publishing Key Concepts authorial ego reader engagement Questions to Reflect On - Do you prioritize style over clarity? - How does ego affect storytelling? A Different Perspective Complexity can obscure meaning. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bad writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bad-writing/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Fiction Personal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction-personal-1663723/) [Lap Narcissistic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lap-narcissistic-2224945/) [Letter Painful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/letter-painful-2224943/) [Narcissism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/narcissism/) [Narcissistic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/narcissistic/) [Shakespeare Looked](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shakespeare-looked-2224944/) ## Related quotes > [“I have always derived great comfort from William Shakespeare. After a depressing visit to the mirror or an unkind word from a girlfriend or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/i-have-always-derived-great-comfort-from-william-shakespeare-after-a/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) > [I believe that all fiction is personal and all writing is at some level personal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kwame-dawes/i-believe-that-all-fiction-is-personal-and-all-writing-is-at-some/) [Kwame Dawes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kwame-dawes/) > [Think 'Game of Thrones.' In the old days, this sort of show might be considered bad writing. It doesn't really seem to be moving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-rushkoff/think-game-of-thrones-in-the-old-days-this-sort-of-show-might-be/) [Douglas Rushkoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-rushkoff/) > [The way the show was conceived originally and developed, has always had good writing at the heart of it, it's very difficult to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-lawson/the-way-the-show-was-conceived-originally-and-developed-has-always/) [Denis Lawson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-lawson/) > [There is no left and right in writing. There is only good and bad writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/there-is-no-left-and-right-in-writing-there-is-only-good-and-bad/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“Is this a case of “Do as I say, not as I do?” The reader has a perfect right to ask the question, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/is-this-a-case-of-do-as-i-say-not-as-i-do-the-reader-has-a-perfect/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [A day of bad writing is always better than a day of no writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-roff/a-day-of-bad-writing-is-always-better-than-a-day-of-no-writing/) [Don Roff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-roff/) > [Good writers hate bad writing but hating bad writing doesn’t make you good. Writing badly does.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-harmon/good-writers-hate-bad-writing-but-hating-bad-writing-doesn-t-make-you/) [Dan Harmon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-harmon/) > [“He isn't a - well...eh." She made a face. "Well, yeah.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/molly-mcadams/he-isn-t-a-well-eh-she-made-a-face-well-yeah/) [Molly McAdams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/molly-mcadams/) > [“Heresy is usually quite sophisticated, actually has a meaning, and is to be taken very seriously. It is therefore to be carefully distinguished from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/heresy-is-usually-quite-sophisticated-actually-has-a-meaning-and-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“A person who wrote badly did better than a person who does not write at all. A bad writing can be corrected. An empty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israelmore-ayivor/a-person-who-wrote-badly-did-better-than-a-person-who-does-not-write/) [Israelmore Ayivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israelmore-ayivor/) > [Jokes that are gratuitously offensive are synonymous with bad writing to me. I'm offended as a writer first and as a person second.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-bloom/jokes-that-are-gratuitously-offensive-are-synonymous-with-bad-writing/) [Rachel Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-bloom/) > [The world is a hellish place, and bad writing is destroying the quality of our suffering.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/the-world-is-a-hellish-place-and-bad-writing-is-destroying-the/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) > [“There is one surefire way to produce bad writing: submit to the slavery of a deadline.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flavia-id/there-is-one-surefire-way-to-produce-bad-writing-submit-to-the/) [Flavia Idà](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flavia-id/) > [“Except in stock locutions, such as "You were paid yesterday," "The Germans were defeated," or "The project was abandoned," the passive voice is virtually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gardner/except-in-stock-locutions-such-as-you-were-paid-yesterday-the-germans/) [John Gardner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gardner/) ## More by Charles Jackson > [“Dreamy tosspots, they stand all afternoon in a 2nd Avenue bar looking at the sun-patterns under the L or their own faces in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-jackson/dreamy-tosspots-they-stand-all-afternoon-in-a-2nd-avenue-bar-looking/) [Charles Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-jackson/) > [“Who would ever want to read a novel about a punk and a drunk! Everybody knew a couple or a dozen; they were not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-jackson/who-would-ever-want-to-read-a-novel-about-a-punk-and-a-drunk/) [Charles Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-jackson/) > [“He supposed he was only one of several million persons of his generation who had grown up and, somewhere around thirty, made the upsetting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-jackson/he-supposed-he-was-only-one-of-several-million-persons-of-his/) [Charles Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-jackson/) > [“I haven’t got time to be neurotic,” he had heard Helen say once; and the words had made him go weak with anger. He…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-jackson/i-haven-t-got-time-to-be-neurotic-he-had-heard-helen-say-once-and-the/) [Charles Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-jackson/) [Explore all 5 Charles Jackson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-jackson/) ## More Bad writing quotes > [“Except in stock locutions, such as "You were paid yesterday," "The Germans were defeated," or "The project was abandoned," the passive voice is virtually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gardner/except-in-stock-locutions-such-as-you-were-paid-yesterday-the-germans/) [John Gardner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gardner/) > [“There is one surefire way to produce bad writing: submit to the slavery of a deadline.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flavia-id/there-is-one-surefire-way-to-produce-bad-writing-submit-to-the/) [Flavia Idà](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flavia-id/) > [The world is a hellish place, and bad writing is destroying the quality of our suffering.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/the-world-is-a-hellish-place-and-bad-writing-is-destroying-the/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) > [Jokes that are gratuitously offensive are synonymous with bad writing to me. I'm offended as a writer first and as a person second.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-bloom/jokes-that-are-gratuitously-offensive-are-synonymous-with-bad-writing/) [Rachel Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-bloom/) > [“A person who wrote badly did better than a person who does not write at all. A bad writing can be corrected. An empty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israelmore-ayivor/a-person-who-wrote-badly-did-better-than-a-person-who-does-not-write/) [Israelmore Ayivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israelmore-ayivor/) > [“Heresy is usually quite sophisticated, actually has a meaning, and is to be taken very seriously. It is therefore to be carefully distinguished from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/heresy-is-usually-quite-sophisticated-actually-has-a-meaning-and-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“He isn't a - well...eh." She made a face. "Well, yeah.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/molly-mcadams/he-isn-t-a-well-eh-she-made-a-face-well-yeah/) [Molly McAdams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/molly-mcadams/) > [Good writers hate bad writing but hating bad writing doesn’t make you good. Writing badly does.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-harmon/good-writers-hate-bad-writing-but-hating-bad-writing-doesn-t-make-you/) [Dan Harmon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-harmon/) > [A day of bad writing is always better than a day of no writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-roff/a-day-of-bad-writing-is-always-better-than-a-day-of-no-writing/) [Don Roff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-roff/) > [“Is this a case of “Do as I say, not as I do?” The reader has a perfect right to ask the question, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/is-this-a-case-of-do-as-i-say-not-as-i-do-the-reader-has-a-perfect/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [There is no left and right in writing. There is only good and bad writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/there-is-no-left-and-right-in-writing-there-is-only-good-and-bad/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [The way the show was conceived originally and developed, has always had good writing at the heart of it, it's very difficult to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-lawson/the-way-the-show-was-conceived-originally-and-developed-has-always/) [Denis Lawson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-lawson/) > [Think 'Game of Thrones.' In the old days, this sort of show might be considered bad writing. It doesn't really seem to be moving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-rushkoff/think-game-of-thrones-in-the-old-days-this-sort-of-show-might-be/) [Douglas Rushkoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-rushkoff/) > [“I wanted to let go, drop him, anything to get him out of my arms.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-a-bodeen/i-wanted-to-let-go-drop-him-anything-to-get-him-out-of-my-arms/) [S.A. Bodeen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-a-bodeen/) > [“You can only write regularly if you're willing to write badly. You can't write regularly and well. One should accept bad writing as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-egan/you-can-only-write-regularly-if-you-re-willing-to-write-badly-you-can/) [Jennifer Egan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-egan/) [Browse all 94 Bad writing quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bad-writing/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Like all his attempts at fiction it would be as personal as a letter—painful to those who knew him, of no interest to those who didn’t; precious or self-pitying in spots, in others too clever for its own good; so packed with Shakespeare that it looked as if he worked with a concordance in his lap; so narcissistic that its final effect would be that of the mirrored room which gives back the same image times without count, or the old Post Toastie box of his boyhood with the fascinating picture of a woman and child holding a Post Toastie box with a picture of a woman and child holding a Post Toastie box with a picture of a woman and child holding—-”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Charles Jackson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-jackson/like-all-his-attempts-at-fiction-it-would-be-as-personal-as-a-letter/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Bad writing" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-jackson/like-all-his-attempts-at-fiction-it-would-be-as-personal-as-a-letter/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/647/charles-jackson-64492_bad-writing_like-all-his-attempts-at-fiction-it-woul_2635589.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/647/charles-jackson-64492_bad-writing_like-all-his-attempts-at-fiction-it-woul_2635589.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/647/charles-jackson-64492_bad-writing_like-all-his-attempts-at-fiction-it-woul_2635589.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Like all his attempts at fiction it would be as personal as a letter—painful to those who knew him, of no…” — Charles Jackson", "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": "Charles Jackson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-jackson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Like all his attempts at fiction...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-jackson/like-all-his-attempts-at-fiction-it-would-be-as-personal-as-a-letter/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-jackson/like-all-his-attempts-at-fiction-it-would-be-as-personal-as-a-letter/#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 } } ] } ```