--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The fictioneer labors under the…" description: "\"The fictioneer labors under the constraint of plausibility; his inventions must stay within the capacity of the audience to accept and believe. God, of..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d4/donald-e-westlake-4285_accepting_the-fictioneer-labors-under-the-constrai_919554.jpg" --- # The fictioneer labors under the constraint of… ![“The fictioneer labors under the constraint of plausibility; his inventions must stay within the capacity of the audience to accept and believe. God, of course, working with facts, faces no limitation.” quote by Donald E. Westlake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d4/donald-e-westlake-4285_accepting_the-fictioneer-labors-under-the-constrai_919554.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d4/donald-e-westlake-4285_accepting_the-fictioneer-labors-under-the-constrai_919554.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d4/donald-e-westlake-4285_accepting_the-fictioneer-labors-under-the-constrai_919554.jpg) > “The fictioneer labors under the constraint of plausibility; his inventions must stay within the capacity of the audience to accept and believe. God, of course, working with facts, faces no limitation.” [Donald E. Westlake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-e-westlake/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writers must keep stories believable; they can’t exceed what readers can accept, unlike factual writing. **In simple terms:** Stories must stay believable. Key Takeaway Balance imagination with plausibility. Themes writing creativity audience Mood thoughtful creative Type analytical inspirational When to use this quote - novel writing - screenplay development Key Concepts narrative constraints suspension of disbelief Questions to Reflect On - How do you gauge audience belief limits? - When is breaking plausibility effective? A Different Perspective If audiences become more accepting, constraints shift. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Audience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/audience/) [Believe in god](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/believe-in-god/) [Faces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faces/) [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Invention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/invention/) [Labor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/labor/) [Limitation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/limitation/) [Plausibility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/plausibility/) ## Related quotes > [“Objective truth is difficult to come by, and even if you have it, what you can pass on to the next person is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-abraham/objective-truth-is-difficult-to-come-by-and-even-if-you-have-it-what/) [Daniel Abraham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-abraham/) > [“He had a suspicion of plausible answers; they were so often wrong.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-c-clarke/he-had-a-suspicion-of-plausible-answers-they-were-so-often-wrong/) [Arthur C. Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-c-clarke/) > [It is a secret from nobody that the famous random event is most likely to arise from those parts of the world where the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/it-is-a-secret-from-nobody-that-the-famous-random-event-is-most/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [There is thus a certain plausibility to Nietzsche's doctrine, though it is dynamite. He maintains in effect that the gulf separating Plato from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kaufmann/there-is-thus-a-certain-plausibility-to-nietzsche-s-doctrine-though/) [Walter Kaufmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kaufmann/) > [“Know how to rank your beliefs not according to their plausibility but by the harm they may cause.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/know-how-to-rank-your-beliefs-not-according-to-their-plausibility-but/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [“But our relationship to these infinite pasts and futures isn’t random—plausibility throws its weight around, per some freaky quantum mechanics stuff that Dr. Oda…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-stephenson/but-our-relationship-to-these-infinite-pasts-and-futures-isn-t-random/) [Neal Stephenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-stephenson/) > [“ I would like to focus on the use of the word silly for a particular people’s point of views. Everybody has what is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randal-rauser/i-would-like-to-focus-on-the-use-of-the-word-silly-for-a-particular/) Randal Rauser > [“Holding me, as it were, within the infinite hope of your plausibility.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-davis/holding-me-as-it-were-within-the-infinite-hope-of-your-plausibility/) [Peter Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-davis/) > [“Love covers a myriad of plausibility structures.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-plum-ucci/love-covers-a-myriad-of-plausibility-structures/) [Carol Plum-Ucci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-plum-ucci/) > [Perfect nonsense goes on in the world. 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We may be relatively deficient,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-gilovich/we-humans-seem-to-be-extremely-good-at-generating-ideas-theories-and/) [Thomas Gilovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-gilovich/) > [Office tends to confer a dreadful plausibility on even the most negligible of those who hold it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-lawson/office-tends-to-confer-a-dreadful-plausibility-on-even-the-most/) Mark Lawson > [“Facts and values are entangled in science. It's not because scientists are biased, not because they are partial or influenced by other kinds of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alva-noe/facts-and-values-are-entangled-in-science-it-s-not-because-scientists/) [Alva Noë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alva-noe/) ## More by Donald E. Westlake > [Science fiction is a weird category, because it's the only area of fiction I can think of where the story is not of primary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-e-westlake/science-fiction-is-a-weird-category-because-it-s-the-only-area-of/) [Donald E. Westlake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-e-westlake/) > [The other thing that I got back then - the Parker novels have never had much of anything to do with race. There have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-e-westlake/the-other-thing-that-i-got-back-then-the-parker-novels-have-never-had/) [Donald E. Westlake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-e-westlake/) > [I was writing everything. I grew up in Albany, New York, and I was never any farther west than Syracuse, and I wrote Westerns.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-e-westlake/i-was-writing-everything-i-grew-up-in-albany-new-york-and-i-was-never/) [Donald E. Westlake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-e-westlake/) > [New York doesn't exactly have neighborhoods, the way most cities do. What it has is closer to distinct and separate villages, some of them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-e-westlake/new-york-doesn-t-exactly-have-neighborhoods-the-way-most-cities-do/) [Donald E. Westlake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-e-westlake/) > [“In the cab going downtown, Doug believed he now understood the sensations felt by a person slowly sinking into the grasp of an octopus.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-e-westlake/in-the-cab-going-downtown-doug-believed-he-now-understood-the/) [Donald E. Westlake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-e-westlake/) > [What did Jesus Christ say to the Teamsters? 'Do nothing till I get back.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-e-westlake/what-did-jesus-christ-say-to-the-teamsters-do-nothing-till-i-get-back/) [Donald E. Westlake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-e-westlake/) > [“Since he’d been born rich into a family that had been a long time rich, he’d never known the need to suppress his feelings,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-e-westlake/since-he-d-been-born-rich-into-a-family-that-had-been-a-long-time/) [Donald E. Westlake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-e-westlake/) > [“Well, you might not think it to look at me,” Dortmunder told him, “but I got a family crest.” “Have you?” “Yeah. And it’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-e-westlake/well-you-might-not-think-it-to-look-at-me-dortmunder-told-him-but-i/) [Donald E. Westlake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-e-westlake/) > [“telling the jokes—was the setups. Why were that priest, that rabbi, and that minister walking down that street? Where were they headed? How had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-e-westlake/telling-the-jokes-was-the-setups-why-were-that-priest-that-rabbi-and/) [Donald E. Westlake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-e-westlake/) > [“Dortmunder followed Kelp as he carried the tray down along the bar past the regulars, where the third was now saying, “The idea of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-e-westlake/dortmunder-followed-kelp-as-he-carried-the-tray-down-along-the-bar/) [Donald E. Westlake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-e-westlake/) > [Nothing about it interested me. Or about anything else, except making up stories. If literacy weren't so nearly universal, God knows what I'd be.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-e-westlake/nothing-about-it-interested-me-or-about-anything-else-except-making/) [Donald E. Westlake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-e-westlake/) > [When Stark isn't off sulking somewhere, or whatever he's doing when he won't return my calls, I alternate between the two. That usually works…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-e-westlake/when-stark-isn-t-off-sulking-somewhere-or-whatever-he-s-doing-when-he/) [Donald E. Westlake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-e-westlake/) > [“There are no Territories to light out for, not in this century. It was no longer easy to become the new you. New or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-e-westlake/there-are-no-territories-to-light-out-for-not-in-this-century-it-was/) [Donald E. Westlake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-e-westlake/) > [“wish you would.” “Right. When I had the emerald again, I was in a cell. I guess they were afraid the rest of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-e-westlake/wish-you-would-right-when-i-had-the-emerald-again-i-was-in-a-cell-i/) [Donald E. Westlake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-e-westlake/) > [Seem to be telling this, but really telling that. Three-dimensional writing, like three-dimensional chess. Nabokov was the other master of that. You could learn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-e-westlake/seem-to-be-telling-this-but-really-telling-that-three-dimensional/) [Donald E. Westlake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-e-westlake/) [Explore all 113 Donald E. Westlake quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-e-westlake/) ## More Accepting quotes > [From Augustine down, theologians have tried to compel people to accept their special interpretation of the Scripture, and the tortures of the inquisition, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matilda-joslyn-gage/from-augustine-down-theologians-have-tried-to-compel-people-to-accept/) [Matilda Joslyn Gage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matilda-joslyn-gage/) > [Laughing, laughing, laughing, laughing! It is the jester! A voice from the Void, to cheer poor Cicero! I accept your gift, dearest Night Mother.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/laughing-laughing-laughing-laughing-it-is-the-jester-a-voice-from-the/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [This duo inside of me causes the perfect opportunity to live and learn twice as fast as those who choose to accept simplicity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tupac-shakur/this-duo-inside-of-me-causes-the-perfect-opportunity-to-live-and/) [Tupac Shakur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tupac-shakur/) > [There is something about the South that accepts the supernatural. If you don't accept it and you're having a conversation with someone who does,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-englert/there-is-something-about-the-south-that-accepts-the-supernatural-if/) [Alice Englert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-englert/) > [We only enter into the full life if our faith gives thanks. Because how else do we accept His free gift of salvation if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-voskamp/we-only-enter-into-the-full-life-if-our-faith-gives-thanks-because/) [Ann Voskamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-voskamp/) > [Don't be bitter. Everybody suffers. If you can accept your suffering then you will understand other people better. Be grateful for pain. Love life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-colbert/don-t-be-bitter-everybody-suffers-if-you-can-accept-your-suffering/) [Stephen Colbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-colbert/) > [It takes an unusually philosophic mind to accept that all one’s suffering might be to no end, really, in the larger scheme of things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-takes-an-unusually-philosophic-mind-to-accept-that-all-one-s/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [No nation being under another nation can accept gifts, and kick at the responsibility attached to those gifts, imposed by the conquering nation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/no-nation-being-under-another-nation-can-accept-gifts-and-kick-at-the/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Even with clothing naked animals, there were people who wanted to send in money. A woman in Santa Barbara, California, sent a $40,000 check.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-abel/even-with-clothing-naked-animals-there-were-people-who-wanted-to-send/) [Alan Abel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-abel/) > [Society understands the architecture of academia and knows there are relevant qualifications in different fields, and the media accepts the idea of specialisations and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-griffiths/society-understands-the-architecture-of-academia-and-knows-there-are/) [Jay Griffiths](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-griffiths/) > [Whatever your conscious mind assumes and believes to be true, your subconscious mind will accept and bring to pass. 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I totally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pirjo-honkasalo/as-my-films-are-born-at-the-moment-when-they-are-reflected-into/) [Pirjo Honkasalo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pirjo-honkasalo/) Browse all 6,788 Accepting quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The fictioneer labors under the constraint of plausibility; his inventions must stay within the capacity of the audience to accept and believe. God, of course, working with facts, faces no limitation.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Donald E. 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