--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Actually, writers have no business…" description: "\"Actually, writers have no business writing about their own works. They either wax conceited, saying things like: 'My brilliance is possibly most appare..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f16/connie-willis-5208_brilliance_actually-writers-have-no-business-writin_1302049.png" --- # Actually, writers have no business writing about their own… ![“Actually, writers have no business writing about their own works. They either wax conceited, saying things like: 'My brilliance is possibly most apparent in my dazzling short story, "The Cookiepants Hypotenuse."' Or else they get unbearably cutesy: 'My cat Ootsywootums has given me all my best…” quote by Connie Willis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f16/connie-willis-5208_brilliance_actually-writers-have-no-business-writin_1302049.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f16/connie-willis-5208_brilliance_actually-writers-have-no-business-writin_1302049.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f16/connie-willis-5208_brilliance_actually-writers-have-no-business-writin_1302049.png) > “Actually, writers have no business writing about their own works. They either wax conceited, saying things like: 'My brilliance is possibly most apparent in my dazzling short story, "The Cookiepants Hypotenuse."' Or else they get unbearably cutesy: 'My cat Ootsywootums has given me all my best ideas, hasn't oo, squeezums?” [Connie Willis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/connie-willis/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. She argues writers should avoid self‑referential or overly cute self‑promotion, which can appear conceited or frivolous. **In simple terms:** Writers should not write about themselves in a boastful or cutesy way. Key Takeaway Focus on genuine storytelling, not ego. Themes writing humility authenticity Mood cautionary witty Type advice literary When to use this quote - author interviews - creative workshops - literary magazines Key Concepts self‑awareness literary criticism Questions to Reflect On - How can writers balance self‑expression with humility? - What alternatives exist to self‑promotion? A Different Perspective May dismiss sincere personal reflection. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Brilliance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brilliance/) [Business](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/business/) [Business writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/business-writing/) [Cat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cat/) [Criticism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/criticism/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Short story](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/short-story/) [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writers/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [I am not sure that I exist, actually. I am all the writers that I have read, all the people that I have met,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-luis-borges/i-am-not-sure-that-i-exist-actually-i-am-all-the-writers-that-i-have/) [Jorge Luis Borges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-luis-borges/) > [Why would they have gone to the trouble to hire the best comedy writers in the business to write funny material for us to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/burt-ward/why-would-they-have-gone-to-the-trouble-to-hire-the-best-comedy/) [Burt Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/burt-ward/) > [You can make anything into a play for the simple reason that the human mind is one of the best writers in the business.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/morgan-freeman/you-can-make-anything-into-a-play-for-the-simple-reason-that-the/) [Morgan Freeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/morgan-freeman/) > [ 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/) > [Good writers are in the business of leaving signposts saying, Tour my world, see and feel it through my eyes; I am your guide.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/good-writers-are-in-the-business-of-leaving-signposts-saying-tour-my/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I often use humor as a tool in my writing, and sometimes that works and sometimes it sits alone just as a funny line.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannes-holm/i-often-use-humor-as-a-tool-in-my-writing-and-sometimes-that-works/) [Hannes Holm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannes-holm/) > [The problem with literature, with writing, is that it works sometimes in terms of correction of social ills. 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Other times, it just does not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/the-problem-with-literature-with-writing-is-that-it-works-sometimes/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [Publishing is a business. Writing may be art, but publishing, when all is said and done, comes down to dollars.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-sparks/publishing-is-a-business-writing-may-be-art-but-publishing-when-all/) [Nicholas Sparks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-sparks/) > [“In the business of writing, what one accumulates is not experience but uncertainties.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-brodsky/in-the-business-of-writing-what-one-accumulates-is-not-experience-but/) [Joseph Brodsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-brodsky/) ## More by Connie Willis > [“Cyril had staked out his claim and refused to move. "Move over!" I said, freeing one hand from holding the cat to push. 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"I didn't mean to inflict my rantings on you, even though we are destined to spend the rest of our lives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/connie-willis/sorry-he-apologized-i-didn-t-mean-to-inflict-my-rantings-on-you-even/) [connie willis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/connie-willis/) > [A Grand Design we couldn't see because we were part of it. A Grand Design we only got occasional, fleeting glimpses of. A Grand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/connie-willis/a-grand-design-we-couldn-t-see-because-we-were-part-of-it-a-grand/) [Connie Willis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/connie-willis/) > [“Well, at least she’s asserting herself, and you don’t have to worry about her having ‘squelched girl syndrome,’ ” she said. Mary Clare ignored that.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/connie-willis/well-at-least-she-s-asserting-herself-and-you-don-t-have-to-worry/) [Connie Willis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/connie-willis/) > [“Show tunes are great. Stephen Sondheim. Rodgers and Hammerstein. Wicked. Rent. The Music Man. Almost any musical will do. Except Cats.” “Why? Doesn’t it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/connie-willis/show-tunes-are-great-stephen-sondheim-rodgers-and-hammerstein-wicked/) [Connie Willis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/connie-willis/) > [No," I said finally. "Slowness in Answering," she said into the handheld. "When's the last time you slept?" "1940" I said promptly, which is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/connie-willis/no-i-said-finally-slowness-in-answering-she-said-into-the-handheld/) [Connie Willis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/connie-willis/) > [When you're a writer, the question people always ask you is, "Where do you get your ideas?" Writers hate this question. It's like asking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/connie-willis/when-you-re-a-writer-the-question-people-always-ask-you-is-where-do/) [Connie Willis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/connie-willis/) > [“We live in hope that the good we do here on earth will be rewarded in heaven. We also hope to win the war.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/connie-willis/we-live-in-hope-that-the-good-we-do-here-on-earth-will-be-rewarded-in/) [Connie Willis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/connie-willis/) > [“You can't go yet, not without telling us what all's happened to you since we saw you last." I faked amnesia, nearly killed Alan…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/connie-willis/you-can-t-go-yet-not-without-telling-us-what-all-s-happened-to-you/) [Connie Willis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/connie-willis/) > [And kissed her for a hundred and sixty-nine years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/connie-willis/and-kissed-her-for-a-hundred-and-sixty-nine-years/) [Connie Willis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/connie-willis/) > [Management cares about only one thing. Paperwork. They will forgive almost anything else - cost overruns, gross incompetence, criminal indictments - as long as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/connie-willis/management-cares-about-only-one-thing-paperwork-they-will-forgive/) [Connie Willis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/connie-willis/) > [And every place and time an author writes about is imaginary, from Oz to Raymond Chandler's L.A. to Dickens's London.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/connie-willis/and-every-place-and-time-an-author-writes-about-is-imaginary-from-oz/) [Connie Willis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/connie-willis/) > [“1. Optimize potential. 2. Facilitate empowerment. 3. Implement visioning. 4. Strategize priorities. 5. Augment core structures.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/connie-willis/1-optimize-potential-2-facilitate-empowerment-3-implement-visioning-4/) [Connie Willis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/connie-willis/) [Explore all 100 Connie Willis quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/connie-willis/) ## More Brilliance quotes > [Asanas bring perfection in body, beauty in form, grace, strength, compactness, and the hardness and brilliance of a diamond.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patanjali/asanas-bring-perfection-in-body-beauty-in-form-grace-strength/) [Patanjali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patanjali/) > [Evil may mar the divine image and cloud its brilliance, but it cannot destroy it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-c-sproul/evil-may-mar-the-divine-image-and-cloud-its-brilliance-but-it-cannot/) [R. C. Sproul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-c-sproul/) > [Knowledge is merely brilliance in organization of ideas and not wisdom. The truly wise person goes beyond knowledge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/confucius/knowledge-is-merely-brilliance-in-organization-of-ideas-and-not/) [Confucius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/confucius/) > [Sensual pleasures have the fleeting brilliance of a comet; a happy marriage has the tranquillity of a lovely sunset.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-landers/sensual-pleasures-have-the-fleeting-brilliance-of-a-comet-a-happy/) [Ann Landers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-landers/) > [What is writing, no matter how lavish the pieces, if it says nothing of the truth, cares little for the heart, and is merely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muriel-barbery/what-is-writing-no-matter-how-lavish-the-pieces-if-it-says-nothing-of/) [Muriel Barbery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muriel-barbery/) > [I love the idea of a movie hero in a thriller who is able to get ahead by just his brilliance, and not with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danny-strong/i-love-the-idea-of-a-movie-hero-in-a-thriller-who-is-able-to-get/) [Danny Strong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danny-strong/) > [Most brilliance arises from ordinary people working together in extraordinary ways.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-von-oech/most-brilliance-arises-from-ordinary-people-working-together-in/) [Roger von Oech](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-von-oech/) > [A man doesn't need brilliance or genius, all he needs is energy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-m-greenfield/a-man-doesn-t-need-brilliance-or-genius-all-he-needs-is-energy/) Albert M. Greenfield > [We aren't suggesting that mental instability or unhappiness makes one a better poet, or a poet at all; and contrary to the romantic notion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorianne-laux/we-aren-t-suggesting-that-mental-instability-or-unhappiness-makes-one/) [Dorianne Laux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorianne-laux/) > [Enlightenment is like witnessing the brilliant sun for the first time in the morning. It is like seeing the beautiful flowers that grow in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chogyam-trungpa/enlightenment-is-like-witnessing-the-brilliant-sun-for-the-first-time/) [Chogyam Trungpa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chogyam-trungpa/) > [Too much brilliance has its disadvantages, and misplaced wit may raise a laugh, but often beheads a topic of profound interest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margot-asquith/too-much-brilliance-has-its-disadvantages-and-misplaced-wit-may-raise/) [Margot Asquith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margot-asquith/) > [It is not brilliance or facility that is necessary, but the determination to bear and even enjoy the dull process of wading into one's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stewart-o-nan/it-is-not-brilliance-or-facility-that-is-necessary-but-the/) [Stewart O'Nan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stewart-o-nan/) > [Our humanity is trapped by moral adolescents. We have too many men of science, too few men of God. 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