--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Once I had started, I discovered the…" description: "\"Once I had started, I discovered the secret pleasure of writing a novel. It's such an immersive, deep commitment. With short stories, you're continuall..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/049/debra-dean-17204_books_once-i-had-started-i-discovered-the-secr_2159343.jpg" --- # Once I had started, I discovered the secret pleasure of… ![“Once I had started, I discovered the secret pleasure of writing a novel. It's such an immersive, deep commitment. With short stories, you're continually having to start again from scratch, but with a novel you only need one good idea every few years.” quote by Debra Dean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/049/debra-dean-17204_books_once-i-had-started-i-discovered-the-secr_2159343.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/049/debra-dean-17204_books_once-i-had-started-i-discovered-the-secr_2159343.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/049/debra-dean-17204_books_once-i-had-started-i-discovered-the-secr_2159343.jpg) > “Once I had started, I discovered the secret pleasure of writing a novel. It's such an immersive, deep commitment. With short stories, you're continually having to start again from scratch, but with a novel you only need one good idea every few years.” [Debra Dean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debra-dean/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writing a novel offers deep immersion and sustained focus, unlike short stories which require frequent fresh starts. **In simple terms:** Novels demand deep, ongoing commitment; short stories need repeated beginnings. Key Takeaway Choose projects that match your desired depth. Themes creativity writing commitment Mood inspirational thoughtful Type creative motivational When to use this quote - authoring a novel - writing workshops - story planning Key Concepts narrative immersion creative process Questions to Reflect On - What draws you to long-form writing? - How do you balance depth with momentum? A Different Perspective Short stories can also foster versatility. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Commitment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/commitment/) [Good ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-ideas/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Novel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novel/) [Pleasure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pleasure/) [Secret](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/secret/) [Short stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/short-stories/) [Short story](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/short-story/) [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [“To write a novel, you need an iron butt.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-m-nixon/to-write-a-novel-you-need-an-iron-butt/) [Richard M. Nixon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-m-nixon/) > [The great pleasure for me in writing short stories is the fierce, elegant challenge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-bloom/the-great-pleasure-for-me-in-writing-short-stories-is-the-fierce/) [Amy Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-bloom/) > [I think most fiction writers naturally start by writing short stories, but some of us don't. When I first started writing, I just started…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-barrett/i-think-most-fiction-writers-naturally-start-by-writing-short-stories/) [Andrea Barrett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-barrett/) > [I can't be reading novels when I'm writing a novel, because somebody's voice creeps in. The hardest thing to do is keep the tone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-c-boyle/i-can-t-be-reading-novels-when-i-m-writing-a-novel-because-somebody-s/) [T.C. Boyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-c-boyle/) > [While working on my first five books, I kept wishing I was writing a novel. I thought until you wrote a novel, you weren't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/while-working-on-my-first-five-books-i-kept-wishing-i-was-writing-a/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [A short story I have written long ago would barge into my house in the middle of the night, shake me awake and shout,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/a-short-story-i-have-written-long-ago-would-barge-into-my-house-in/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [I do write a lot of prose. It's not disciplined enough yet that it's actually become stories, or short stories. 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It was rejected all over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debra-dean/i-kept-writing-short-stories-and-sending-out-my-manuscript-and-it/) [Debra Dean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debra-dean/) > [I'm not asking you to describe the rain falling the night the archangel arrived; I'm demanding that you get me wet. Make up your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eduardo-galeano/i-m-not-asking-you-to-describe-the-rain-falling-the-night-the/) [Eduardo Galeano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eduardo-galeano/) > [“I continued working without a break, but in the middle of the third story...I felt myself tiring more than if I had been working…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/i-continued-working-without-a-break-but-in-the-middle-of-the-third/) [Gabriel García Márquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/) > [I closed my own jazz bar so I could be a man who can write novels as I like. I was pleased about that.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/i-closed-my-own-jazz-bar-so-i-could-be-a-man-who-can-write-novels-as/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) ## More by Debra Dean > [“Whatever we know as children, this is the world, eaten whole and without question.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debra-dean/whatever-we-know-as-children-this-is-the-world-eaten-whole-and/) [Debra Dean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debra-dean/) > [“What is heartbreaking is that there is still beauty in the world.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debra-dean/what-is-heartbreaking-is-that-there-is-still-beauty-in-the-world/) [Debra Dean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debra-dean/) > [I kept writing short stories and sending out my manuscript, and it kept coming back like a bad penny. It was rejected all over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debra-dean/i-kept-writing-short-stories-and-sending-out-my-manuscript-and-it/) [Debra Dean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debra-dean/) > [That requires quite an imaginative leap because it's hard for me to imagine that my biography would be of much interest to anyone, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debra-dean/that-requires-quite-an-imaginative-leap-because-it-s-hard-for-me-to/) [Debra Dean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debra-dean/) > [“Whatever is eating her brain consumes only the fresher memories, the unripe moments”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debra-dean/whatever-is-eating-her-brain-consumes-only-the-fresher-memories-the/) [Debra Dean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debra-dean/) > [With the historical fictions, I was already doing so much research, and so much of the stories was anchored by historical truth that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debra-dean/with-the-historical-fictions-i-was-already-doing-so-much-research-and/) [Debra Dean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debra-dean/) > [Whatever one may say about the perils of workshops, they help writers internalize an awareness of audience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debra-dean/whatever-one-may-say-about-the-perils-of-workshops-they-help-writers/) [Debra Dean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debra-dean/) > [Peculiar as I was, and remain, I was trained to be practical. I'm still amazed at the radical temerity of my friends, you included,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debra-dean/peculiar-as-i-was-and-remain-i-was-trained-to-be-practical-i-m-still/) [Debra Dean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debra-dean/) > [Unless you're Stephen King or Joyce Carol Oates, no one's going to recognize you on the street, and you're promoting your book, not yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debra-dean/unless-you-re-stephen-king-or-joyce-carol-oates-no-one-s-going-to/) [Debra Dean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debra-dean/) > [I tell my students, if you're interested in marine biology or llama farming, follow that string. 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She…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debra-dean/each-day-the-world-is-made-fresh-again-holy-and-she-takes-it-in-in/) [Debra Dean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debra-dean/) > [Practicality continues to be a challenge for me - it's at odds with being an artist. I actually had a career on stage in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debra-dean/practicality-continues-to-be-a-challenge-for-me-it-s-at-odds-with/) [Debra Dean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debra-dean/) > [“is eating her brain consumes only the fresher memories, the unripe moments. Her distant past is preserved, better than preserved. Moments that occurred in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debra-dean/is-eating-her-brain-consumes-only-the-fresher-memories-the-unripe/) [Debra Dean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debra-dean/) [Explore all 37 Debra Dean quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debra-dean/) ## 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. 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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": "Once I had started, I discovered the secret pleasure of writing a novel. It's such an immersive, deep commitment. 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