--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I'm always determined that as a novelist…" description: "\"I'm always determined that as a novelist I'm going to go out there and research my characters very thoroughly before I start writing.\" — Chris Cleave" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b8e/chris-cleave-1698_character_i-m-always-determined-that-as-a-novelist_2167342.png" --- # I'm always determined that as a novelist I'm going to go… ![“I'm always determined that as a novelist I'm going to go out there and research my characters very thoroughly before I start writing.” quote by Chris Cleave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b8e/chris-cleave-1698_character_i-m-always-determined-that-as-a-novelist_2167342.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b8e/chris-cleave-1698_character_i-m-always-determined-that-as-a-novelist_2167342.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b8e/chris-cleave-1698_character_i-m-always-determined-that-as-a-novelist_2167342.png) > “I'm always determined that as a novelist I'm going to go out there and research my characters very thoroughly before I start writing.” [Chris Cleave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-cleave/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The statement emphasizes thorough research of characters before writing, highlighting authenticity and depth in storytelling. **In simple terms:** Research characters deeply before writing. Key Takeaway Invest time in character study. Themes writing authenticity research Mood reflective inspirational Type advice creative When to use this quote - novel writing - screenwriting - creative workshops - author interviews Key Concepts Character development creative process Questions to Reflect On - How does character research improve your story? - What methods help you understand a character? A Different Perspective Time constraints may limit research depth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Determined](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/determined/) [Novelist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novelist/) [Novelists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novelists/) [Research](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/research/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [Really, what you should tell a novelist is, 'Keep going until you finish the draft. Don't show it to anyone.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-sean-greer/really-what-you-should-tell-a-novelist-is-keep-going-until-you-finish/) [Andrew Sean Greer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-sean-greer/) > [Is any novelist going to recognize the moment when he or she has nothing more to say? 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It's the ideal relationship between a novelist and a character, I think, total involvement…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-barker/that-balance-between-involvement-and-detachment-is-what-novelists-do/) [Pat Barker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-barker/) > [The fact is that in this day and age I don't think any novelist can assume that a book will get attention.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/curtis-sittenfeld/the-fact-is-that-in-this-day-and-age-i-don-t-think-any-novelist-can/) [Curtis Sittenfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/curtis-sittenfeld/) > [Whether he be an original or a plagiarist, man is the novelist of himself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/whether-he-be-an-original-or-a-plagiarist-man-is-the-novelist-of/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [A novelist should make you realize nothing is stable. 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Gilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-s-gilbert/) > [Playing with different genres and perspectives and ways of telling stories is one of the perks of being a novelist, but at the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linn-ullmann/playing-with-different-genres-and-perspectives-and-ways-of-telling/) Linn Ullmann > [I am not an academic who happens to have written a novel. I am a novelist who happens to be quite good academically.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt-2/i-am-not-an-academic-who-happens-to-have-written-a-novel-i-am-a/) [A. S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt-2/) > [I'm a novelist. Fortunately I don't have to rule the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/i-m-a-novelist-fortunately-i-don-t-have-to-rule-the-world/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [“She'll be an excellent novelist: a monster of self-absorption.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lan-samantha-chang/she-ll-be-an-excellent-novelist-a-monster-of-self-absorption/) [Lan Samantha Chang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lan-samantha-chang/) ## More by Chris Cleave > [It was hard not to be full of hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-cleave/it-was-hard-not-to-be-full-of-hope/) [Chris Cleave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-cleave/) > [I like to push characters to extremes so they have to make really tough decisions and there is no life more extreme than that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-cleave/i-like-to-push-characters-to-extremes-so-they-have-to-make-really/) [Chris Cleave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-cleave/) > [This is the forked tongue of grief again. It whispers in one ear: return to what you once loved best, and in the other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-cleave/this-is-the-forked-tongue-of-grief-again-it-whispers-in-one-ear/) [Chris Cleave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-cleave/) > [In a few breaths' time I will speak some sad words to you. But you must hear them the same way we have agreed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-cleave/in-a-few-breaths-time-i-will-speak-some-sad-words-to-you-but-you-must/) [Chris Cleave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-cleave/) > [Wouldn't that be funny, if the oil rebels were playing U2 in their jungle camps, and the government soldiers were playing U2 in their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-cleave/wouldn-t-that-be-funny-if-the-oil-rebels-were-playing-u2-in-their/) [Chris Cleave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-cleave/) > [“When death comes you do not stay for one minute in the place it has visited. 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Just as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-cleave/i-think-the-recent-cluster-of-wwii-novels-is-so-good-because-we-have/) [Chris Cleave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-cleave/) > [“Yu only be livin one life, darlin. Don't matter yu don't uh-preshie-ate part of it, cos it don't stop bein part of yu.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-cleave/yu-only-be-livin-one-life-darlin-don-t-matter-yu-don-t-uh-preshie-ate/) [Chris Cleave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-cleave/) > [Sometimes we don't notice that someone is being brave, because they are only doing something that seems quite easy for us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-cleave/sometimes-we-don-t-notice-that-someone-is-being-brave-because-they/) [Chris Cleave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-cleave/) > [Life is extremely short and you cannot dance to current affairs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-cleave/life-is-extremely-short-and-you-cannot-dance-to-current-affairs/) [Chris Cleave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-cleave/) > [Sad words are just another beauty. A sad story means, this storyteller is alive. The next thing you know something fine will happen to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-cleave/sad-words-are-just-another-beauty-a-sad-story-means-this-storyteller/) [Chris Cleave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-cleave/) > [“If I was telling this story to the girls from back home, I would have to explain to them how it was possible to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-cleave/if-i-was-telling-this-story-to-the-girls-from-back-home-i-would-have/) [Chris Cleave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-cleave/) > [“April showers bring May flower”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-cleave/april-showers-bring-may-flower/) [Chris Cleave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-cleave/) [Explore all 214 Chris Cleave quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-cleave/) ## More Character quotes > [This may sound strange, but although I feel like I know everything about my characters, the brand of shampoo they use, how many cavities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-honeyman/this-may-sound-strange-but-although-i-feel-like-i-know-everything/) [Gail Honeyman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-honeyman/) > [I always like a character who makes me laugh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachael-stirling/i-always-like-a-character-who-makes-me-laugh/) [Rachael Stirling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachael-stirling/) > [Social responsibility above the level of family, or at most of tribe, requires imagination-- devotion, loyalty, all the higher virtues -- which a man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/social-responsibility-above-the-level-of-family-or-at-most-of-tribe/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [I'm often moved by the circumstances around some of my characters, but I don't think I've actually cried watching myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-winslet/i-m-often-moved-by-the-circumstances-around-some-of-my-characters-but/) [Kate Winslet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-winslet/) > [When you're on a daytime drama you get one page, you better damn well know your character. You better know what she would do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hudgins/when-you-re-on-a-daytime-drama-you-get-one-page-you-better-damn-well/) David Hudgins > [It can sometimes make people fold into themselves and kind of run away, but I think in this case these characters are being forced…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-deschanel/it-can-sometimes-make-people-fold-into-themselves-and-kind-of-run/) [Emily Deschanel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-deschanel/) > [If you are well-mannered towards those whose views are similar to yours, you may be said to exhibit a fairly good character. But, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-you-are-well-mannered-towards-those-whose-views-are-similar-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Democracy is based on the conviction that man has the moral and intellectual capacity, as well as the inalienable right, to govern himself with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-s-truman/democracy-is-based-on-the-conviction-that-man-has-the-moral-and/) [Harry S. 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And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warwick-davis/if-you-stood-me-in-a-costume-next-to-a-computer-graphic-of-the-same/) [Warwick Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warwick-davis/) > [Courage: the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can't practice any other virtue consistently](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/courage-the-most-important-of-all-the-virtues-because-without-courage/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [I'm a character actor - always have been, always will be - and historically, character actors don't come into their own until later in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-potts/i-m-a-character-actor-always-have-been-always-will-be-and/) [Annie Potts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-potts/) [Browse all 32,707 Character quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I'm always determined that as a novelist I'm going to go out there and research my characters very thoroughly before I start writing.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Chris Cleave" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-cleave/i-m-always-determined-that-as-a-novelist-i-m-going-to-go-out-there/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Character" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-cleave/i-m-always-determined-that-as-a-novelist-i-m-going-to-go-out-there/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b8e/chris-cleave-1698_character_i-m-always-determined-that-as-a-novelist_2167342.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b8e/chris-cleave-1698_character_i-m-always-determined-that-as-a-novelist_2167342.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b8e/chris-cleave-1698_character_i-m-always-determined-that-as-a-novelist_2167342.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I'm always determined that as a novelist I'm going to go out there and research my characters very…” — Chris Cleave", "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": "Chris Cleave", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-cleave/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I'm always determined that as a...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-cleave/i-m-always-determined-that-as-a-novelist-i-m-going-to-go-out-there/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-cleave/i-m-always-determined-that-as-a-novelist-i-m-going-to-go-out-there/#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 } } ] } ```