--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If you try to nail anything down, in the…" description: "\"If you try to nail anything down, in the novel, either it kills the novel, or the novel gets up and walks away with the nail.\" — D. H. Lawrence" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ea3/d-h-lawrence-426_books_if-you-try-to-nail-anything-down-in-the_2772298.png" --- # If you try to nail anything down, in the novel, either it… ![“If you try to nail anything down, in the novel, either it kills the novel, or the novel gets up and walks away with the nail.” quote by D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ea3/d-h-lawrence-426_books_if-you-try-to-nail-anything-down-in-the_2772298.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ea3/d-h-lawrence-426_books_if-you-try-to-nail-anything-down-in-the_2772298.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ea3/d-h-lawrence-426_books_if-you-try-to-nail-anything-down-in-the_2772298.png) > “If you try to nail anything down, in the novel, either it kills the novel, or the novel gets up and walks away with the nail.” [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Attempting to fix a story too tightly can destroy its vitality, causing it to escape the author’s control. **In simple terms:** Over‑controlling a story kills its life. Key Takeaway Let narratives breathe and evolve. Themes creativity control literature Mood reflective intellectual Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - writing workshops - editing processes - creative writing courses Key Concepts authorial intent narrative freedom metafiction Questions to Reflect On - How much control should an author retain? - When does editing become harmful? A Different Perspective Risk of losing intended meaning. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Novel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novel/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [A memoir is always the most authentic telling of a situation, but a novel gets to different places.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-donoghue/a-memoir-is-always-the-most-authentic-telling-of-a-situation-but-a/) [Emma Donoghue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-donoghue/) > [You have to understand, writing a novel gets very weird and invisible-friend-from-childhood-ish. Then you kill that thing, which was never really alive except in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/you-have-to-understand-writing-a-novel-gets-very-weird-and-invisible/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [Once a novel gets going and I know it is viable, I don't then worry about plot or themes. These things will come in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chinua-achebe/once-a-novel-gets-going-and-i-know-it-is-viable-i-don-t-then-worry/) [Chinua Achebe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chinua-achebe/) > [An image often propels the novel, gets it started. For me, it's an image that has a lot of emotion connected to it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-hobbs/an-image-often-propels-the-novel-gets-it-started-for-me-it-s-an-image/) [Will Hobbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-hobbs/) > [In the end, for me, the sole single goal is to write the best novel that I can. Whether or not it gets made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-sparks/in-the-end-for-me-the-sole-single-goal-is-to-write-the-best-novel/) [Nicholas Sparks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-sparks/) > [The good nail will do its job regardless what kind of hammer comes its way and what kind of surface it sits on.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rita-zahara/the-good-nail-will-do-its-job-regardless-what-kind-of-hammer-comes/) [Rita Zahara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rita-zahara/) > [Nude nail polish wins hands down over intricate nail art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashley-madekwe/nude-nail-polish-wins-hands-down-over-intricate-nail-art/) [Ashley Madekwe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashley-madekwe/) > [I am not metrosexual. I am not macho. I am normal. I don't even wear nail paint.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arjun-rampal/i-am-not-metrosexual-i-am-not-macho-i-am-normal-i-don-t-even-wear/) [Arjun Rampal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arjun-rampal/) > [Nail polish is like the icing on the beauty cake.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-helen-bowers/nail-polish-is-like-the-icing-on-the-beauty-cake/) [Mary Helen Bowers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-helen-bowers/) > [As the saying goes, when you're a hammer, everything looks like a nail.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-todd/as-the-saying-goes-when-you-re-a-hammer-everything-looks-like-a-nail/) [Chuck Todd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-todd/) > [If my only tool is a hammer, then every problem is a nail.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sholem-asch/if-my-only-tool-is-a-hammer-then-every-problem-is-a-nail/) [Sholem Asch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sholem-asch/) > [When we hit a nail with a hammer the whole of the shock received by the large head of the nail passes into a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-weil/when-we-hit-a-nail-with-a-hammer-the-whole-of-the-shock-received-by/) [Simone Weil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-weil/) > [The hotel I'm in has a lovely closet. A nail.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henny-youngman/the-hotel-i-m-in-has-a-lovely-closet-a-nail/) [Henny Youngman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henny-youngman/) > [As a technology, the book is like a hammer. That is to say, it is perfect: a tool ideally suited to its task. Hammers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-gleick/as-a-technology-the-book-is-like-a-hammer-that-is-to-say-it-is/) [James Gleick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-gleick/) > [I haven't frequented a nail salon in a long time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hope-davis/i-haven-t-frequented-a-nail-salon-in-a-long-time/) [Hope Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hope-davis/) ## More by D. H. Lawrence > [Not I, not I, but the wind that blows through me! A fine wind is blowing the new direction of Time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/not-i-not-i-but-the-wind-that-blows-through-me-a-fine-wind-is-blowing/) [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) > [and Venus among the fishes skips and is a she-dolphin she is the gay, delighted porpoise sporting with love and the sea she is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/and-venus-among-the-fishes-skips-and-is-a-she-dolphin-she-is-the-gay/) [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) > [If I had my way, I would build a lethal chamber as big as the Crystal Palace, with a military band playing softly, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/if-i-had-my-way-i-would-build-a-lethal-chamber-as-big-as-the-crystal/) [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) > [Now it is autumn and the falling fruit and the long journey towards oblivion. The apples falling like great drops of dew to bruise…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/now-it-is-autumn-and-the-falling-fruit-and-the-long-journey-towards/) [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) > [We have to hate our immediate predecessors to get free of their authority.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/we-have-to-hate-our-immediate-predecessors-to-get-free-of-their/) [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) > [Reach me a gentian, give me a torch! Let me guide myself with the blue, forked torch of a flower down the darker and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/reach-me-a-gentian-give-me-a-torch-let-me-guide-myself-with-the-blue/) [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) > [The war is dreadful. It is the business of the artist to follow it home to the heart of the individual fighters - not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/the-war-is-dreadful-it-is-the-business-of-the-artist-to-follow-it/) [D. H. 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Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) > [If a woman's got nothing but her fair fame to feed on, why, it's thin tack, and a donkey would die of it!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/if-a-woman-s-got-nothing-but-her-fair-fame-to-feed-on-why-it-s-thin/) [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) [Explore all 570 D. H. 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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 > [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": "If you try to nail anything down, in the novel, either it kills the novel, or the novel gets up and walks away with the nail.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "D. H. 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