--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A lot of people work really diligently to…" description: "\"A lot of people work really diligently to maintain a \"profile\" in the writing world, but that's so hard, and so boring most of the time. So you just ke..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/162/dan-chaon-2729_boring_a-lot-of-people-work-really-diligently-t_980385.png" --- # A lot of people work really diligently to maintain a… ![“A lot of people work really diligently to maintain a "profile" in the writing world, but that's so hard, and so boring most of the time. So you just keep doing what you like to do, I guess, and try to enjoy it.” quote by Dan Chaon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/162/dan-chaon-2729_boring_a-lot-of-people-work-really-diligently-t_980385.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/162/dan-chaon-2729_boring_a-lot-of-people-work-really-diligently-t_980385.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/162/dan-chaon-2729_boring_a-lot-of-people-work-really-diligently-t_980385.png) > “A lot of people work really diligently to maintain a "profile" in the writing world, but that's so hard, and so boring most of the time. So you just keep doing what you like to do, I guess, and try to enjoy it.” [Dan Chaon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-chaon/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Maintaining a polished writer persona is exhausting and dull; better to focus on personal passion and enjoyment of the craft. **In simple terms:** Writer personas are tiring; follow your passion. Key Takeaway Prioritize joy over image. Themes authorship creativity authenticity Mood reflective determined Type advice inspirational When to use this quote - writing daily - networking events - self‑promotion - creative blocks Key Concepts personal branding intrinsic motivation Questions to Reflect On - What aspects of your writing bring you joy? - How can you balance authenticity with professional visibility? A Different Perspective Neglecting market expectations can limit opportunities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Boring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boring/) [Doing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doing/) [Enjoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enjoy/) [Hard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hard/) [Maintain Profile](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/maintain-profile-1941891/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Profile](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/profile/) [Profile Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/profile-writing-1941890/) [So boring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/so-boring/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Trying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trying/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Writing World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-world-1164587/) ## Related quotes > [The danger in writing about a world you don't know very well is that you can get lost in it, and sometimes I'll end…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-chaon/the-danger-in-writing-about-a-world-you-don-t-know-very-well-is-that/) [Dan Chaon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-chaon/) > [Newspapers are so boring. How can you read a newspaper that starts with a 51-word lead sentence?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmy-breslin/newspapers-are-so-boring-how-can-you-read-a-newspaper-that-starts/) [Jimmy Breslin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimmy-breslin/) > [Some people are so boring that they make you waste an entire day in five minutes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jules-renard/some-people-are-so-boring-that-they-make-you-waste-an-entire-day-in/) [Jules Renard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jules-renard/) > [I'd hate to die twice. It's so boring.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-d-hate-to-die-twice-it-s-so-boring/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [One of the reasons so many nonfiction books are so boring is because what they've done, very diligently, is fulfill the terms of their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoff-dyer/one-of-the-reasons-so-many-nonfiction-books-are-so-boring-is-because/) [Geoff Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoff-dyer/) > [Advertising agencies don't care about a better world in the end. They are servants of their client: what the client wants is what they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliviero-toscani/advertising-agencies-don-t-care-about-a-better-world-in-the-end-they/) [Oliviero Toscani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliviero-toscani/) > [To learn bad dialogue is so difficult and so boring, and to work with a stupid director who tells you to do the wrong…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/omar-sharif/to-learn-bad-dialogue-is-so-difficult-and-so-boring-and-to-work-with/) [Omar Sharif](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/omar-sharif/) > [Everything intelligent is so boring.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/everything-intelligent-is-so-boring/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [I couldn't imagine playing someone young now; it would be so boring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francesca-annis/i-couldn-t-imagine-playing-someone-young-now-it-would-be-so-boring/) [Francesca Annis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francesca-annis/) > [Looking at somebody looking good is so... boring.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaby-hoffmann/looking-at-somebody-looking-good-is-so-boring/) [Gaby Hoffmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaby-hoffmann/) > [In order to be as free as I possibly can, in my own imagination, I can't take positions that are closed. Everything I've ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/in-order-to-be-as-free-as-i-possibly-can-in-my-own-imagination-i-can/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [When you get immersed in whatever you're writing, the world does suddenly get so filtered through what you're writing. And then of course what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-alison/when-you-get-immersed-in-whatever-you-re-writing-the-world-does/) [Jane Alison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-alison/) > [I go through periods of not writing. Until there's something I can't find in the world that I need, so I write.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-gottlieb/i-go-through-periods-of-not-writing-until-there-s-something-i-can-t/) [Daphne Gottlieb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-gottlieb/) > [I think writing for a world one has invented can be infinitely more interesting than writing for the world we've all inherited.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rupert-holmes/i-think-writing-for-a-world-one-has-invented-can-be-infinitely-more/) [Rupert Holmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rupert-holmes/) > [I think you want to be writing about the world that we live in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-chibnall/i-think-you-want-to-be-writing-about-the-world-that-we-live-in/) [Chris Chibnall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-chibnall/) ## More by Dan Chaon > [“Maybe love, like suffering, is relative. ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-chaon/maybe-love-like-suffering-is-relative/) [Dan Chaon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-chaon/) > [Even when our death is imminent, we carry the image of ourselves moving forward, alive, into the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-chaon/even-when-our-death-is-imminent-we-carry-the-image-of-ourselves/) [Dan Chaon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-chaon/) > [For the last few years I've tried to force myself to write at least one page every day, which doesn't sound like much but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-chaon/for-the-last-few-years-i-ve-tried-to-force-myself-to-write-at-least/) [Dan Chaon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-chaon/) > [“It's hard to believe that this is how it's done. That this is how we get here into the world, by accident or design,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-chaon/it-s-hard-to-believe-that-this-is-how-it-s-done-that-this-is-how-we/) [Dan Chaon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-chaon/) > [I also have just my own limits about stuff. I'm not interested in writing graphically about sexual assault for example. I feel like the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-chaon/i-also-have-just-my-own-limits-about-stuff-i-m-not-interested-in/) [Dan Chaon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-chaon/) > [“I have to admit that most of the time I read in the same way that I smoke and chew gum and jiggle my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-chaon/i-have-to-admit-that-most-of-the-time-i-read-in-the-same-way-that-i/) [Dan Chaon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-chaon/) > [“Outside, the sleet had gotten thicker. You could hear it pebbling against the large glass windows, you could see it swirling wildly through the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-chaon/outside-the-sleet-had-gotten-thicker-you-could-hear-it-pebbling/) [Dan Chaon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-chaon/) > [I was worried that, as a college teacher, if I wrote too much about intergenerational sex my students would be creeped out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-chaon/i-was-worried-that-as-a-college-teacher-if-i-wrote-too-much-about/) [Dan Chaon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-chaon/) > [Plot and scene are still the hardest things for me, though I think they're the building blocks of what makes a story work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-chaon/plot-and-scene-are-still-the-hardest-things-for-me-though-i-think/) [Dan Chaon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-chaon/) > [“I've been talking to myself a lot lately. I don't know what that's about, but my mother was the same way. She hated to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-chaon/i-ve-been-talking-to-myself-a-lot-lately-i-don-t-know-what-that-s/) [Dan Chaon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-chaon/) > [“Your Mom's Car. Think about that. Try to wrap your brain around the supernatural and spiritual implications that the name bears down you. Your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-chaon/your-mom-s-car-think-about-that-try-to-wrap-your-brain-around-the/) [Dan Chaon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-chaon/) > [“He pictures amputated human arms flopping like fish down the center of the road; syringes floating on beds of liposuctioned fat; gelatinous human eyeballs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-chaon/he-pictures-amputated-human-arms-flopping-like-fish-down-the-center/) [Dan Chaon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-chaon/) > [“In the basement of Sydney's new house is a little room that is about the size and shape of a coffin.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-chaon/in-the-basement-of-sydney-s-new-house-is-a-little-room-that-is-about/) [Dan Chaon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-chaon/) > [“It’s called apophenia. It’s the tendency we humans have to find meaning in disconnected information. For example, some people believe in what’s called the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-chaon/it-s-called-apophenia-it-s-the-tendency-we-humans-have-to-find/) [Dan Chaon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-chaon/) > [I would say that all short stories have mystery naturally built into them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-chaon/i-would-say-that-all-short-stories-have-mystery-naturally-built-into/) [Dan Chaon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-chaon/) [Explore all 152 Dan Chaon quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-chaon/) ## More Boring quotes > [Normal is so Boring!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/normal-is-so-boring/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I don't want easy success. It's boring.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sudeep/i-don-t-want-easy-success-it-s-boring/) [Sudeep](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sudeep/) > [I'd be very controversial if I said why, and I don't do controversial anymore. That's too passé. So last year. Being controversial is boring…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-i-a/i-d-be-very-controversial-if-i-said-why-and-i-don-t-do-controversial/) [M.I.A](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-i-a/) > [The word 'mundane' has come to mean 'boring' and 'dull', and it really shouldn't - it should mean the opposite. Because it comes from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/the-word-mundane-has-come-to-mean-boring-and-dull-and-it-really/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Life is what you make it¦If one refuses to use ones imagination..it will be boring.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-what-you-make-it-if-one-refuses-to-use-ones-imagination-it/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I had sort of had a 21st birthday when I was 17, 18 years old living in Japan. I had all of that stuff…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-wright/i-had-sort-of-had-a-21st-birthday-when-i-was-17-18-years-old-living/) [Sarah Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-wright/) > [Balance is the ability to be happy in the midst of the most chaotic or even boring or transient circumstance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/balance-is-the-ability-to-be-happy-in-the-midst-of-the-most-chaotic/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [I'm bored of being bored because being bored is very boring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sachithra/i-m-bored-of-being-bored-because-being-bored-is-very-boring/) [Sachithra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sachithra/) > [The films I find boring are the ones that have no space for the audience's misconceptions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josephine-decker/the-films-i-find-boring-are-the-ones-that-have-no-space-for-the/) [Josephine Decker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josephine-decker/) > [It is an interesting law of romance that a truly strong woman will choose a strong man who disagrees with her over a weak…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ebert/it-is-an-interesting-law-of-romance-that-a-truly-strong-woman-will/) [Roger Ebert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ebert/) > [I've always felt that dark lyrics with dark music is pretty useless. Maybe that's a strong statement - not useless, but for me, it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-bird/i-ve-always-felt-that-dark-lyrics-with-dark-music-is-pretty-useless/) [Andrew Bird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-bird/) > [Something is wrong if workers do not look around each day, find things that are tedious or boring, and then rewrite the procedures. Even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taiichi-ohno/something-is-wrong-if-workers-do-not-look-around-each-day-find-things/) [Taiichi Ohno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taiichi-ohno/) > [Plumbing is usually boring.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-berenson/plumbing-is-usually-boring/) [Alex Berenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-berenson/) > [If something is boring after two minutes, try it for four. If still boring, then eight. Then sixteen. Then thirty-two. Eventually one discovers that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cage/if-something-is-boring-after-two-minutes-try-it-for-four-if-still/) [John Cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cage/) > [Acting is an escape from the boring person that I am in real life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-shawn/acting-is-an-escape-from-the-boring-person-that-i-am-in-real-life/) [Wallace Shawn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-shawn/) [Browse all 3,123 Boring quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boring/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A lot of people work really diligently to maintain a \"profile\" in the writing world, but that's so hard, and so boring most of the time. 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