--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When I write my novels, I'm not writing…" description: "\"When I write my novels, I'm not writing them to make political points. I'm writing them because I passionately love monsters and the weird and horror s..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/130/china-mi-ville-1303_books_when-i-write-my-novels-i-m-not-writing-t_2790644.jpg" --- # When I write my novels, I'm not writing them to make… ![“When I write my novels, I'm not writing them to make political points. I'm writing them because I passionately love monsters and the weird and horror stories and strange situations and surrealism, and what I want to do is communicate that. But, because I come at this with a political perspective…” quote by China Mieville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/130/china-mi-ville-1303_books_when-i-write-my-novels-i-m-not-writing-t_2790644.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/130/china-mi-ville-1303_books_when-i-write-my-novels-i-m-not-writing-t_2790644.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/130/china-mi-ville-1303_books_when-i-write-my-novels-i-m-not-writing-t_2790644.jpg) > “When I write my novels, I'm not writing them to make political points. I'm writing them because I passionately love monsters and the weird and horror stories and strange situations and surrealism, and what I want to do is communicate that. But, because I come at this with a political perspective, the world that I'm creating is embedded with many of the concerns that I have. But I never let them get in the way of the monsters.” [China Mieville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/china-mi-ville/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The writer’s passion for monsters drives storytelling, though political concerns subtly shape the narrative without overt domination. **In simple terms:** Monsters inspire writing; politics linger subtly. Key Takeaway Balance passion with perspective. Themes creative writing political subtext genre fiction Mood enthusiastic analytical Type creative reflective When to use this quote - novel drafting - world‑building - thematic planning Key Concepts literary analysis authorial intent Questions to Reflect On - How do you keep story primary? - When does subtext become overt? A Different Perspective Political bias may alienate readers. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Communicate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/communicate/) [Concern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/concern/) [Creating](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creating/) [Embedded](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/embedded/) [Horror](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/horror/) [Horror stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/horror-stories/) [Monsters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/monsters/) [Monsters Weird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/monsters-weird-3376429/) [Novel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novel/) [Novels Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novels-writing-697994/) [Perspective](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perspective/) [Points Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/points-writing-3376430/) [Political](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/political/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Situation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/situation/) [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) [Strange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strange/) [Surrealism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/surrealism/) [Want](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) [Write Novels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/write-novels/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [You do not learn how to write novels in a writing program. 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Boyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-c-boyle/) > [I won't read novels while writing novels.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wally-lamb/i-won-t-read-novels-while-writing-novels/) [Wally Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wally-lamb/) > [You learn by writing short stories. Keep writing short stories. The money's in novels, but writing short stories keeps your writing lean and pointed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-niven/you-learn-by-writing-short-stories-keep-writing-short-stories-the/) [Larry Niven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-niven/) > [I love doing the research for the novels. For me, the writing is hard work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-cussler/i-love-doing-the-research-for-the-novels-for-me-the-writing-is-hard/) [Clive Cussler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-cussler/) > [I'm a professional. So before I published any novels, I'd always been writing stories.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jess-walter/i-m-a-professional-so-before-i-published-any-novels-i-d-always-been/) [Jess Walter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jess-walter/) > [ “\[...\]i’m not a leftist trying to smuggle in my evil message by the nefarious means of fantasy novels. I’m a science fiction and fantasy… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/china-mi-ville/i-m-not-a-leftist-trying-to-smuggle-in-my-evil-message-by-the/) [China Miéville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/china-mi-ville/) > [I couldn't think about novels at all. It seemed the only writing that was appropriate to that horrendous event was journalism, reportage. And, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/i-couldn-t-think-about-novels-at-all-it-seemed-the-only-writing-that/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [The reason that I like SF and fantasy and horror is that to me it's the pulp wing of surrealism. That's the aesthetic of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/china-mi-ville/the-reason-that-i-like-sf-and-fantasy-and-horror-is-that-to-me-it-s/) [China Mieville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/china-mi-ville/) > [In order to write novels for a living - it's not pathological, but I do think and worry and brood and fidget about stuff…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-ford/in-order-to-write-novels-for-a-living-it-s-not-pathological-but-i-do/) [Richard Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-ford/) > [Books are great for if you want to work on the craft of writing for yourself, or, you know, to write novels or indie…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-lennon/books-are-great-for-if-you-want-to-work-on-the-craft-of-writing-for/) [Thomas Lennon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-lennon/) > [I want to write novels. I want to write stories. I want to do the stuff that I became a writer to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/i-want-to-write-novels-i-want-to-write-stories-i-want-to-do-the-stuff/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) ## More by China Mieville > [“I just can't get with this idea that literature is a 12-step program. If someone wants to read a book to see good people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/china-mi-ville/i-just-can-t-get-with-this-idea-that-literature-is-a-12-step-program/) [China Miéville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/china-mi-ville/) > [“Houses built on bridges are scandals. A bridge wants to not be. If it could choose its shape, a bridge would be no shape,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/china-mi-ville/houses-built-on-bridges-are-scandals-a-bridge-wants-to-not-be-if-it/) [China Miéville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/china-mi-ville/) > [Remember the movements that don't look like moving.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/china-mi-ville/remember-the-movements-that-don-t-look-like-moving/) [China Mieville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/china-mi-ville/) > [“Either way, it is a curio of the moment that hard-left advocates of ‘all power to the soviets’ were delegated by a soviet opponent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/china-mi-ville/either-way-it-is-a-curio-of-the-moment-that-hard-left-advocates-of/) [China Miéville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/china-mi-ville/) > [It felt like being a child again, though it was not. Being a child is like nothing. It's only being. Later, when we think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/china-mi-ville/it-felt-like-being-a-child-again-though-it-was-not-being-a-child-is/) [China Mieville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/china-mi-ville/) > [“We have to establish our credentials as an explorocracy; so to survive and rule ourselves, we have to explore.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/china-mi-ville/we-have-to-establish-our-credentials-as-an-explorocracy-so-to-survive/) [China Miéville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/china-mi-ville/) > [“So long as it fated, fate didn’t care what it fated.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/china-mi-ville/so-long-as-it-fated-fate-didn-t-care-what-it-fated/) [China Miéville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/china-mi-ville/) > [“Everything's fit to be worshipped.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/china-mi-ville/everything-s-fit-to-be-worshipped/) [China Miéville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/china-mi-ville/) > [“Death isn't what it used to be”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/china-mi-ville/death-isn-t-what-it-used-to-be/) [China Miéville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/china-mi-ville/) > [“almanacs, or what was left of them when those pages making incorrect predictions and offering unhelpful advice had been torn out.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/china-mi-ville/almanacs-or-what-was-left-of-them-when-those-pages-making-incorrect/) [China Miéville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/china-mi-ville/) > [“There are no telepaths in this universe, I think, but there are empathics, with languages so silent that they may as well be sharing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/china-mi-ville/there-are-no-telepaths-in-this-universe-i-think-but-there-are/) [China Miéville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/china-mi-ville/) > [“The poets and artists and philosophers, resistance activists, secret scouts and troublemakers, had become, as they must, soldiers.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/china-mi-ville/the-poets-and-artists-and-philosophers-resistance-activists-secret/) [China Miéville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/china-mi-ville/) > [“The city’s a heart, I said, and in that a heart and a city were sutured into a third thing, a heartish city, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/china-mi-ville/the-city-s-a-heart-i-said-and-in-that-a-heart-and-a-city-were-sutured/) [China Miéville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/china-mi-ville/) > [“As he got older, Billy suspected, he would, Dicaprio-like, simply become like an increasingly wizened child.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/china-mi-ville/as-he-got-older-billy-suspected-he-would-dicaprio-like-simply-become/) [China Miéville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/china-mi-ville/) > [Scars are memory. Like sutures. They stitch the past to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/china-mi-ville/scars-are-memory-like-sutures-they-stitch-the-past-to-me/) [China Mieville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/china-mi-ville/) [Explore all 257 China Mieville quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/china-mi-ville/) ## More Books 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/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [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/) > [“Within the pages of books, I've journeyed to Mandalay, the Milky Way and Santa Fe, without once having to leave my armchair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-ansbro/within-the-pages-of-books-i-ve-journeyed-to-mandalay-the-milky-way/) [Kevin Ansbro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-ansbro/) > [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/) > [“Tacitus did not write a most dangerous book. His readers made it so.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-k-krebs/tacitus-did-not-write-a-most-dangerous-book-his-readers-made-it-so/) [Christopher K. 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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/) > [“Be careful about reading health books. Some fine day you'll die of a misprint.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-herz/be-careful-about-reading-health-books-some-fine-day-you-ll-die-of-a/) [Markus Herz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/markus-herz/) > [But editors are still the world's readers. And thus the eyes of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/but-editors-are-still-the-world-s-readers-and-thus-the-eyes-of-the/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) [Browse all 59,485 Books quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "When I write my novels, I'm not writing them to make political points. I'm writing them because I passionately love monsters and the weird and horror stories and strange situations and surrealism, and what I want to do is communicate that. 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