--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: That's how I work, whether with stories…" description: "\"That's how I work, whether with stories or novels - they start with an image that comes to me in a daydream, and a lot of times I'm walking around with..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/53e/dan-chaon-2729_books_that-s-how-i-work-whether-with-stories-o_1869336.jpg" --- # That's how I work, whether with stories or novels - they… ![“That's how I work, whether with stories or novels - they start with an image that comes to me in a daydream, and a lot of times I'm walking around with these pictures in my head for awhile before I start writing.” quote by Dan Chaon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/53e/dan-chaon-2729_books_that-s-how-i-work-whether-with-stories-o_1869336.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/53e/dan-chaon-2729_books_that-s-how-i-work-whether-with-stories-o_1869336.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/53e/dan-chaon-2729_books_that-s-how-i-work-whether-with-stories-o_1869336.jpg) > “That's how I work, whether with stories or novels - they start with an image that comes to me in a daydream, and a lot of times I'm walking around with these pictures in my head for awhile before I start writing.” [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. Creative ideas often begin as vivid mental images that linger before being translated into written form. **In simple terms:** Stories start as mental pictures. Key Takeaway Capture and develop visual ideas promptly. Themes creativity imagination writing process Mood inspirational practical Type process creative When to use this quote - novel writing - screenwriting - storyboarding - daily journaling Key Concepts visualization idea incubation Questions to Reflect On - How do you preserve fleeting images? - What techniques help transform images into narrative? A Different Perspective Not everyone can visualize ideas clearly; some need external prompts. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Comes Daydream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comes-daydream-2569073/) [Daydream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/daydream/) [Daydream Lot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/daydream-lot-2569074/) [Daydreaming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/daydreaming/) [Image Comes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/image-comes-760543/) [Novel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novel/) [Pictures Head](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pictures-head-314199/) [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Walking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/walking/) [Walking around](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/walking-around/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [“I am a daydreamer.. I daydream a lot, and thus is when my wicked imagination emerges to bleed upon my paper...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamie-edson-opielski/i-am-a-daydreamer-i-daydream-a-lot-and-thus-is-when-my-wicked/) [Jamie Edson Opielski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamie-edson-opielski/) > [I daydream a LOT. Like I make up scenarios in my head then I come back to reality like WTF.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-daydream-a-lot-like-i-make-up-scenarios-in-my-head-then-i-come-back/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Fill your head with the right pictures of me. Fill your head with the ones you'd hang on the wall.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/fill-your-head-with-the-right-pictures-of-me-fill-your-head-with-the/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) > [“Yes! Ha ha ha ha! Yes!” All I saw were the pictures in my head. I was in the pictures, and I was part…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-roberts/yes-ha-ha-ha-ha-yes-all-i-saw-were-the-pictures-in-my-head-i-was-in/) [Richard Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-roberts/) > [Cultures render their icons in their own image. Which comes down to vanity, in some sense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-edgerton/cultures-render-their-icons-in-their-own-image-which-comes-down-to/) [Joel Edgerton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-edgerton/) > [“As a kid, I never was the type to color in the lines. I used to wonder, why do the lines even exist? When…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-wetch/as-a-kid-i-never-was-the-type-to-color-in-the-lines-i-used-to-wonder/) [Justin Wetch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-wetch/) > [There's a generative material relationship between the material and the image that comes up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walead-beshty/there-s-a-generative-material-relationship-between-the-material-and/) [Walead Beshty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walead-beshty/) > [Now I love the act of creating a new image. When everything comes together, it feels like ecstasy. It's like a climax.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-sorrenti/now-i-love-the-act-of-creating-a-new-image-when-everything-comes/) [Mario Sorrenti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-sorrenti/) > [“I don't speak well as the pictures in my head do. I can't... fully... the possibilities... It's too much to explain all at once.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liz-braswell/i-don-t-speak-well-as-the-pictures-in-my-head-do-i-can-t-fully-the/) [Liz Braswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liz-braswell/) > [The problem is that rap is so often a caricature of its own image. Nobody comes to the table with the seriousness of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/k-naan/the-problem-is-that-rap-is-so-often-a-caricature-of-its-own-image/) [K'naan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/k-naan/) > [I daydream just like everybody else. I just do it with my body facing the field, so everybody thinks I'm paying attention.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-maddux/i-daydream-just-like-everybody-else-i-just-do-it-with-my-body-facing/) [Greg Maddux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-maddux/) > [I wake up around noon, light a cigarette, get a cup of coffee, sit in the bathtub for an hour and daydream, and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-zimmer/i-wake-up-around-noon-light-a-cigarette-get-a-cup-of-coffee-sit-in/) [Hans Zimmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-zimmer/) > [If your vision doesn't cost you something, it's a daydream.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-c-maxwell/if-your-vision-doesn-t-cost-you-something-it-s-a-daydream/) [John C. Maxwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-c-maxwell/) > [I daydream about a high school where everybody plays the harmonica: the students, the teachers, the principal, the janitor and the cook in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-brautigan/i-daydream-about-a-high-school-where-everybody-plays-the-harmonica/) [Richard Brautigan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-brautigan/) > [The real thing, when done right , is always better than a daydream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-harmon/the-real-thing-when-done-right-is-always-better-than-a-daydream/) [Amy Harmon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-harmon/) ## 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 Books quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [“Within the pages of books, I've journeyed to Mandalay, the Milky Way and Santa Fe, without once having to leave my armchair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-ansbro/within-the-pages-of-books-i-ve-journeyed-to-mandalay-the-milky-way/) [Kevin Ansbro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-ansbro/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [“Tacitus did not write a most dangerous book. His readers made it so.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-k-krebs/tacitus-did-not-write-a-most-dangerous-book-his-readers-made-it-so/) [Christopher K. Krebs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-k-krebs/) > [“Take some books and read; that’s an immense help; and books are always good company if you have the right sort.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louisa-may-alcott/take-some-books-and-read-that-s-an-immense-help-and-books-are-always/) [Louisa May Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louisa-may-alcott/) > [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 have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [“Be careful about reading health books. 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](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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": "That's how I work, whether with stories or novels - they start with an image that comes to me in a daydream, and a lot of times I'm walking around with these pictures in my head for awhile before I start writing.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Dan Chaon" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-chaon/that-s-how-i-work-whether-with-stories-or-novels-they-start-with-an/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Books" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-chaon/that-s-how-i-work-whether-with-stories-or-novels-they-start-with-an/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/53e/dan-chaon-2729_books_that-s-how-i-work-whether-with-stories-o_1869336.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/53e/dan-chaon-2729_books_that-s-how-i-work-whether-with-stories-o_1869336.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/53e/dan-chaon-2729_books_that-s-how-i-work-whether-with-stories-o_1869336.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“That's how I work, whether with stories or novels - they start with an image that comes to me in a daydream…” — Dan Chaon", "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": "Dan Chaon", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-chaon/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "That's how I work, whether with...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-chaon/that-s-how-i-work-whether-with-stories-or-novels-they-start-with-an/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-chaon/that-s-how-i-work-whether-with-stories-or-novels-they-start-with-an/#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 } } ] } ```