--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The best writers attempt to become…" description: "\"The best writers attempt to become alternative historians.\" — Colum McCann" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/56b/colum-mccann-902_alternative_the-best-writers-attempt-to-become-alter_784010.png" --- # The best writers attempt to become alternative historians. ![“The best writers attempt to become alternative historians.” quote by Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/56b/colum-mccann-902_alternative_the-best-writers-attempt-to-become-alter_784010.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/56b/colum-mccann-902_alternative_the-best-writers-attempt-to-become-alter_784010.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/56b/colum-mccann-902_alternative_the-best-writers-attempt-to-become-alter_784010.png) > “The best writers attempt to become alternative historians.” [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writers should reimagine history, offering fresh perspectives beyond accepted narratives. **In simple terms:** Writers reframe history creatively. Key Takeaway Write history with new angles. Themes creativity history perspective Mood thoughtful inquisitive Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - fiction writing - academic research - documentary filmmaking - public discourse Key Concepts alternative narratives historical reinterpretation Questions to Reflect On - How can we balance imagination with factual integrity? - What responsibilities do writers have when reshaping history? A Different Perspective May oversimplify complex events. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Alternative](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alternative/) [Alternative Historians](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alternative-historians-6035414/) [Attempt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attempt/) [Become](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/become/) [Best](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/best/) [Best Writers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/best-writers-394617/) [Historians](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/historians/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Writers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writers/) [Writers Attempt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writers-attempt-2119290/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [“Writing is a pitched battle with the elusive self, a contest that resultant celebratory jubilee demonstrates the writer’s innate capacity to meld abstract ideas…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kilroy-j-oldster/writing-is-a-pitched-battle-with-the-elusive-self-a-contest-that/) [Kilroy J. Oldster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kilroy-j-oldster/) > [I think sometimes writers must attempt to communicate the incommunicable, because, whether they wish it or not, they're the ones to whom it falls.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-flanagan/i-think-sometimes-writers-must-attempt-to-communicate-the/) [Richard Flanagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-flanagan/) > [It must not be forgotten in fairness to the National Government that apartheid is not just a policy of oppression but an attempt -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-oppenheimer/it-must-not-be-forgotten-in-fairness-to-the-national-government-that/) [Harry Oppenheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-oppenheimer/) > [In a certain way, novelists become unacknowledged historians, because we talk about small, tiny, little anonymous moments that won't necessarily make it into the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/in-a-certain-way-novelists-become-unacknowledged-historians-because/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [I say that glorious prose is a fine and laudable thing, but without an enthralling story, it's just so much verbal tapioca. Simply put,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-hanff-korelitz/i-say-that-glorious-prose-is-a-fine-and-laudable-thing-but-without-an/) [Jean Hanff Korelitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-hanff-korelitz/) > [It was actually the movie 'Rushmore' that made me first realize that I could try writing, but 'Cheers' is the best show ever. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anders-holm/it-was-actually-the-movie-rushmore-that-made-me-first-realize-that-i/) [Anders Holm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anders-holm/) > [“You can always tell the quality of an author by their cover picture. Bad writers bear an idiotic smile on the inside flap. Great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bauvard/you-can-always-tell-the-quality-of-an-author-by-their-cover-picture/) [Bauvard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bauvard/) > [Find the best writers, pay them to write, and avoid typos at all costs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/find-the-best-writers-pay-them-to-write-and-avoid-typos-at-all-costs/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [The English may not always be the best writers in the world, but they are incomparably the best dull writers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/the-english-may-not-always-be-the-best-writers-in-the-world-but-they/) [Raymond Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-chandler/) > [Reading the very best writers—let us say Homer, Dante, Shakespeare, Tolstoy—is not going to make us better citizens. Art is perfectly useless, according to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-bloom/reading-the-very-best-writers-let-us-say-homer-dante-shakespeare/) [Harold Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-bloom/) > [I read the best works of some of the best satirists, and indeed best writers from the beginning of the Victorian era to about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/i-read-the-best-works-of-some-of-the-best-satirists-and-indeed-best/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [ We have the best writers in the business \[on The Office\]. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-krasinski/we-have-the-best-writers-in-the-business-on-the-office/) [John Krasinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-krasinski/) > [“The best writers are usually the most voracious & diverse readers!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-dixon/the-best-writers-are-usually-the-most-voracious-diverse-readers/) [C.S. Dixon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-dixon/) > [There are all kinds of writers. The best writers write children's books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-scarry/there-are-all-kinds-of-writers-the-best-writers-write-children-s-books/) [Richard Scarry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-scarry/) > [ “Hammett was the ace performer... He is said to have lacked heart; yet the story he himself thought the most of \[The Glass Key\]… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/hammett-was-the-ace-performer-he-is-said-to-have-lacked-heart-yet-the/) [Raymond Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-chandler/) ## More by Colum McCann > [Give life long enough and it will solve all your problems, including the one of being alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/give-life-long-enough-and-it-will-solve-all-your-problems-including/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [“There is something that happens to the mind in moments of terror. Perhaps we figure it's the last we'll ever have and we record…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/there-is-something-that-happens-to-the-mind-in-moments-of-terror/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [“The short sharp shock of three thousand mother two hundred mothers. The ones who picked through the supermarket debris for pieces of their dead…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/the-short-sharp-shock-of-three-thousand-mother-two-hundred-mothers/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [I'm not so sure that I can teach people how to, you know, write dialogue or create plot or anything like that. But if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/i-m-not-so-sure-that-i-can-teach-people-how-to-you-know-write/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [“Once we had filled each other with desire, not remembrance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/once-we-had-filled-each-other-with-desire-not-remembrance/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [“How long ago it was and how strange, but all dead friends come to life again sometimes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/how-long-ago-it-was-and-how-strange-but-all-dead-friends-come-to-life/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [“She would want, instead, to recall him in the air, between layers of cloud. To give him back that ancient dignity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/she-would-want-instead-to-recall-him-in-the-air-between-layers-of/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [Novels are more difficult simply because they are longer and require more juggling, but short stories are closer to perfection, if you can get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/novels-are-more-difficult-simply-because-they-are-longer-and-require/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [It was a silence that heard itself, awful and beautiful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/it-was-a-silence-that-heard-itself-awful-and-beautiful/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [I think one of the biggest political failures, and the biggest social failures, over the past few years has been the failure of empathy;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/i-think-one-of-the-biggest-political-failures-and-the-biggest-social/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [“Bits of it floating in the air, he said. "It's like dust. You walk about and don't see it, don't notice it, but it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/bits-of-it-floating-in-the-air-he-said-it-s-like-dust-you-walk-about/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [“He has read whole volumes on the philosophy of nonviolence. How peace had to be understood in all its moral dimensions. The proper coexistence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/he-has-read-whole-volumes-on-the-philosophy-of-nonviolence-how-peace/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [“She’s always thought that one of the beauties of New York is that you can be from anywhere and within moments of landing it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/she-s-always-thought-that-one-of-the-beauties-of-new-york-is-that-you/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [I'm of the opinion that the real is imagined and the imagined is quite real. The real is imagined, in the sense that we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/i-m-of-the-opinion-that-the-real-is-imagined-and-the-imagined-is/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [“She had that emigrant’s sadness—she would never go back to her old country—it was gone in more senses than one—but she was forever gazing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/she-had-that-emigrant-s-sadness-she-would-never-go-back-to-her-old/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) [Explore all 333 Colum McCann quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) ## More Alternative quotes > [The alternative comedy scene is actually pretty small, I guess.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/casey-wilson/the-alternative-comedy-scene-is-actually-pretty-small-i-guess/) [Casey Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/casey-wilson/) > [In my book I specifically discussed the structural nature of injustice and offered Nine Touchstones of Goddess ethics as an alternative to the Ten…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-p-christ/in-my-book-i-specifically-discussed-the-structural-nature-of/) [Carol P. Christ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-p-christ/) > [As the future is never known with certainty, the evaluation of the prospective benefits requires the formation of expectations. An acceptable house, partner or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-t-mortensen/as-the-future-is-never-known-with-certainty-the-evaluation-of-the/) [Dale T. Mortensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-t-mortensen/) > [Maximise the alternative forms in which a user might receive a service, and the alternative sources of supply.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-chipp/maximise-the-alternative-forms-in-which-a-user-might-receive-a/) [Don Chipp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-chipp/) > [In January 2012, Google Plus started to roll out support for nicknames and pseudonyms, but those registering with a name other than their real-life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-mackinnon/in-january-2012-google-plus-started-to-roll-out-support-for-nicknames/) [Rebecca MacKinnon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-mackinnon/) > [It's American Alternative radio stations that bug me. We're considered Alternative, but don't expect us to be played next to Blink 182 and Offspring.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thurston-moore/it-s-american-alternative-radio-stations-that-bug-me-we-re-considered/) [Thurston Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thurston-moore/) > [There are some fantastic, brilliant alternative doctors out there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hayley-mills/there-are-some-fantastic-brilliant-alternative-doctors-out-there/) [Hayley Mills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hayley-mills/) > [The alternative to the market process is government control, and we know where that principle leads.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheldon-richman/the-alternative-to-the-market-process-is-government-control-and-we/) [Sheldon Richman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheldon-richman/) > [Alternative services would mean that there would be services available to compete with Google, Facebook, Amazon, Dropbox, Skype, etc., and they would be run…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikko-hypponen/alternative-services-would-mean-that-there-would-be-services/) [Mikko Hypponen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikko-hypponen/) > [I liked a lot of alternative and I like punk stuff.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martie-maguire/i-liked-a-lot-of-alternative-and-i-like-punk-stuff/) [Martie Maguire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martie-maguire/) > [I've thought about what is an alternative word to feminism. There isn't one. It's a perfectly good word. And it can't be changed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-lennox/i-ve-thought-about-what-is-an-alternative-word-to-feminism-there-isn/) [Annie Lennox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-lennox/) > [The Voice has always been an alternative paper. They have always understood that that was part of their role.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sydney-schanberg/the-voice-has-always-been-an-alternative-paper-they-have-always/) [Sydney Schanberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sydney-schanberg/) > [Please don't eat less, eat right, don't hold it in, its okay to cry, do not hurt yourself there is always an alternative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/please-don-t-eat-less-eat-right-don-t-hold-it-in-its-okay-to-cry-do/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The Gospel is not an alternative, it’s an ultimatum.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhard-bonnke/the-gospel-is-not-an-alternative-it-s-an-ultimatum/) [Reinhard Bonnke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhard-bonnke/) > [Alternative medicine plays into this exaggerated notion that you can prevent disease simply by doing the right thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcia-angell/alternative-medicine-plays-into-this-exaggerated-notion-that-you-can/) [Marcia Angell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcia-angell/) [Browse all 400 Alternative quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alternative/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The best writers attempt to become alternative historians.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Colum McCann" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/the-best-writers-attempt-to-become-alternative-historians/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Alternative" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/the-best-writers-attempt-to-become-alternative-historians/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/56b/colum-mccann-902_alternative_the-best-writers-attempt-to-become-alter_784010.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/56b/colum-mccann-902_alternative_the-best-writers-attempt-to-become-alter_784010.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/56b/colum-mccann-902_alternative_the-best-writers-attempt-to-become-alter_784010.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The best writers attempt to become alternative historians.” — Colum McCann", "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": "Colum McCann", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The best writers attempt to become...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/the-best-writers-attempt-to-become-alternative-historians/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/the-best-writers-attempt-to-become-alternative-historians/#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 } } ] } ```