--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I will probably write an hour a day and…" description: "\"I will probably write an hour a day and spend eight hours a day biting my knuckle and worrying about not writing.\" — David Foster Wallace" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4b7/david-foster-wallace-161_biting_i-will-probably-write-an-hour-a-day-and_2577404.jpg" --- # I will probably write an hour a day and spend eight hours… ![“I will probably write an hour a day and spend eight hours a day biting my knuckle and worrying about not writing.” quote by David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4b7/david-foster-wallace-161_biting_i-will-probably-write-an-hour-a-day-and_2577404.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4b7/david-foster-wallace-161_biting_i-will-probably-write-an-hour-a-day-and_2577404.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4b7/david-foster-wallace-161_biting_i-will-probably-write-an-hour-a-day-and_2577404.jpg) > “I will probably write an hour a day and spend eight hours a day biting my knuckle and worrying about not writing.” [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He anticipates spending most of his day worrying instead of writing, highlighting procrastination and self‑doubt. **In simple terms:** Worry hinders work. Key Takeaway Commit to consistent writing time. Themes procrastination self‑criticism creativity Mood anxious reflective Type advice personal When to use this quote - writing routine - creative projects - self‑reflection Key Concepts psychology habit formation Questions to Reflect On - How can you turn anxiety into productive focus? - What small step can break the worry cycle? A Different Perspective Worry can become a habit that blocks productivity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Biting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biting/) [Day Biting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/day-biting-1746790/) [Eight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eight/) [Hours](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hours/) [Knuckles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knuckles/) [Probably Write](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/probably-write-336911/) [Worry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/worry/) [Worrying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/worrying/) [Worrying Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/worrying-writing-1746788/) [Write Hour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/write-hour-1746789/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [It's often a matter of sitting in front of the computer and worrying. It's what writing comes down to--worrying that things aren't going to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/it-s-often-a-matter-of-sitting-in-front-of-the-computer-and-worrying/) [Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) > [People always ask me about the role models that I'm providing for kids, and I say I can't be concerned with that. I'm not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-cormier/people-always-ask-me-about-the-role-models-that-i-m-providing-for/) [Robert Cormier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-cormier/) > [Aim to write for an hour per day. I used to be a teacher, and an hour a day before school was all it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-lawrence/aim-to-write-for-an-hour-per-day-i-used-to-be-a-teacher-and-an-hour-a/) [Caroline Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-lawrence/) > [I wake up fairly early every day, by 8, for sure. Sunday is a lighter writing day than the weekdays, but I still wake…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/i-wake-up-fairly-early-every-day-by-8-for-sure-sunday-is-a-lighter/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [Every hour you spend writing is an hour you don't spend worrying about your writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-scott-bell/every-hour-you-spend-writing-is-an-hour-you-don-t-spend-worrying/) [James Scott Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-scott-bell/) > [The most common misperception about me is that I write fast. I just write often. Every hour that I can.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/the-most-common-misperception-about-me-is-that-i-write-fast-i-just/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [I'm not biting my fingernails. I'm biting my knuckles. I finished the fingernails months ago.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-l-mankiewicz/i-m-not-biting-my-fingernails-i-m-biting-my-knuckles-i-finished-the/) [Joseph L. Mankiewicz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-l-mankiewicz/) > [I probably write a poem every 50 years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-pacino/i-probably-write-a-poem-every-50-years/) [Al Pacino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-pacino/) > [Don't break a girls heart, because she'll probably write a bestselling album about you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/don-t-break-a-girls-heart-because-she-ll-probably-write-a-bestselling/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I drink coffee. Without coffee, I probably couldnt write.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-ames/i-drink-coffee-without-coffee-i-probably-couldnt-write/) [Jonathan Ames](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-ames/) > [I've realized that I will probably write about teenagers and that time in people's lives - I'll probably come back to it a lot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-forsman/i-ve-realized-that-i-will-probably-write-about-teenagers-and-that/) [Charles Forsman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-forsman/) > [It's a sort of philosophy you cook up for yourself. You probably write things the same as everybody else, but it's your own personal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-capaldi/it-s-a-sort-of-philosophy-you-cook-up-for-yourself-you-probably-write/) [Jim Capaldi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-capaldi/) > [I write songs on a course of time that's comfortable for me. I would probably never write a song from start to finish in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-vincent-mcmorrow/i-write-songs-on-a-course-of-time-that-s-comfortable-for-me-i-would/) [James Vincent McMorrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-vincent-mcmorrow/) > [I have ideas that I will probably never write now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/i-have-ideas-that-i-will-probably-never-write-now/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [I don't finish every story, but I probably write and send out three out of five of them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-sheckley/i-don-t-finish-every-story-but-i-probably-write-and-send-out-three/) [Robert Sheckley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-sheckley/) ## More by David Foster Wallace > [“I felt more solidly composed, now that I was horizontal. I was impossible to knock down.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/i-felt-more-solidly-composed-now-that-i-was-horizontal-i-was/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“We all have our little solipsistic delusions, ghastly intuitions of utter singularity: that we are the only one in the house who ever fills…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/we-all-have-our-little-solipsistic-delusions-ghastly-intuitions-of/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“It's no accident that in a bureaucracy getting fired is called 'termination,' as in ontological erasure.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/it-s-no-accident-that-in-a-bureaucracy-getting-fired-is-called/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [Footnote: 79) The anchor is gigantic and must weigh a hundred tons, and -- delightfully -- it really is anchor-shaped, i.e. the same shape…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/footnote-79-the-anchor-is-gigantic-and-must-weigh-a-hundred-tons-and/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“The paradoxical intercourse of audience and celebrity. 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Why we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/to-me-at-least-in-retrospect-the-really-interesting-question-is-why/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“If you’re subjected to enough great salesmen and salespitches and marketing concepts for long enough—like from your earliest Saturday-morning cartoons, let’s say—it is only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/if-you-re-subjected-to-enough-great-salesmen-and-salespitches-and/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“Why is the truth usually not just un- but anti-interesting?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/why-is-the-truth-usually-not-just-un-but-anti-interesting/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“She almost reminds the engineer of certain types in high school whom everyone adored because you sensed it made no difference to them whether…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/she-almost-reminds-the-engineer-of-certain-types-in-high-school-whom/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [To be, in a word, unborable… It is the key to modern life. If you are immune to boredom, there is literally nothing you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/to-be-in-a-word-unborable-it-is-the-key-to-modern-life-if-you-are/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“It is within your power to experience a crowded, loud, slow, consumer-hell-type situation as not only meaningful but sacred, on fire with the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/it-is-within-your-power-to-experience-a-crowded-loud-slow-consumer/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“The happy pleasure of the person alone, yes?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/the-happy-pleasure-of-the-person-alone-yes/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [There is such a thing as raw, unalloyed, agendaless kindness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/there-is-such-a-thing-as-raw-unalloyed-agendaless-kindness/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) [Explore all 999 David Foster Wallace quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) ## More Biting quotes > [Summer explodes into Portland. In early June the heat was there but not the color--the green were still pale and tentative, the morning had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/summer-explodes-into-portland-in-early-june-the-heat-was-there-but/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [\*BEFORE YOU KISS A GIRL\* - Grab her waist. - Pull her close to you. - Look into her eyes. - Look at her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/before-you-kiss-a-girl-grab-her-waist-pull-her-close-to-you-look-into/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [A scent that disturbs me and delights me. 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Indian gatherings are marked by laughter and jokes, many directed at the horrors of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-gunn-allen/humor-is-widely-used-by-indians-to-deal-with-life-indian-gatherings/) [Paula Gunn Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-gunn-allen/) > [I assume the same problem exists in Australia as in America of back-biting and jealousy and parochialism among disciplines - there are the scientists,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-lewontin/i-assume-the-same-problem-exists-in-australia-as-in-america-of-back/) [Richard Lewontin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-lewontin/) > [“I could see her biting the inside of her cheek hollow while she said that last bit. It was easier to ache than grieve.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-larnerd/i-could-see-her-biting-the-inside-of-her-cheek-hollow-while-she-said/) [Frank Larnerd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-larnerd/) > [Eating meat is the most disgusting thing I can think of. 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