--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: With writing, I prefer the solo effort…" description: "\"With writing, I prefer the solo effort, but when a team is working right, as it did on 'The Grifters,' boy, it's exhilarating.\" — Donald E. Westlake" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ab3/donald-e-westlake-4285_effort_with-writing-i-prefer-the-solo-effort-bu_2154579.jpg" --- # With writing, I prefer the solo effort, but when a team is… ![“With writing, I prefer the solo effort, but when a team is working right, as it did on 'The Grifters,' boy, it's exhilarating.” quote by Donald E. Westlake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ab3/donald-e-westlake-4285_effort_with-writing-i-prefer-the-solo-effort-bu_2154579.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ab3/donald-e-westlake-4285_effort_with-writing-i-prefer-the-solo-effort-bu_2154579.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ab3/donald-e-westlake-4285_effort_with-writing-i-prefer-the-solo-effort-bu_2154579.jpg) > “With writing, I prefer the solo effort, but when a team is working right, as it did on 'The Grifters,' boy, it's exhilarating.” [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. Collaboration can turn solitary work into an exciting, dynamic experience when the team clicks. **In simple terms:** Teamwork can make solo tasks thrilling. Key Takeaway Seek partners who complement your style. Themes creativity teamwork collaboration Mood energetic optimistic Type inspirational practical When to use this quote - film production - writing projects - creative brainstorming Key Concepts screenwriting group dynamics Questions to Reflect On - How do you choose collaborators? - What makes a team click? A Different Perspective Team chemistry may be fragile and require effort to maintain. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Effort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/effort/) [Exhilarating](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/exhilarating/) [Hard work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hard-work/) [Team](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/team/) [Teamwork](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teamwork/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [Now that I'm staring down the barrel of the last act of my life, I'm less excited about control and solo effort, and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-knopfler/now-that-i-m-staring-down-the-barrel-of-the-last-act-of-my-life-i-m/) [David Knopfler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-knopfler/) > [My favorite puzzle is trying to work out the parts myself, after all it is a solo effort.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrian-belew/my-favorite-puzzle-is-trying-to-work-out-the-parts-myself-after-all/) [Adrian Belew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrian-belew/) > [Strategy is not a solo sport, even if you're the CEO.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-mckeown/strategy-is-not-a-solo-sport-even-if-you-re-the-ceo/) [Max McKeown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-mckeown/) > [Jesus invested everything he had in a team. The Bible knows nothing about solo ministry, only team ministry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-sweet/jesus-invested-everything-he-had-in-a-team-the-bible-knows-nothing/) [Leonard Sweet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-sweet/) > [It's exhilarating to be alive in a time of awakening consciousness; it can also be confusing, disorienting, and painful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/it-s-exhilarating-to-be-alive-in-a-time-of-awakening-consciousness-it/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [Early love is exciting and exhilarating. It's light and bubbly. Anyone can love like that. But after three children, after a separation and a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liane-moriarty/early-love-is-exciting-and-exhilarating-it-s-light-and-bubbly-anyone/) [Liane Moriarty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liane-moriarty/) > [Killing Lincoln is a must-read historical thriller. Bill O'Reilly recounts the dramatic events of the spring of 1865 with such exhilarating immediacy that you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vince-flynn/killing-lincoln-is-a-must-read-historical-thriller-bill-o-reilly/) [Vince Flynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vince-flynn/) > [It was life, often unsatisfying, frequently cruel, usually boring, sometimes beautiful, once in a while exhilarating.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/it-was-life-often-unsatisfying-frequently-cruel-usually-boring/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [If I think back to every rehearsal process for every play I've ever worked on, there's just so much crying at home. I barely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-baker/if-i-think-back-to-every-rehearsal-process-for-every-play-i-ve-ever/) [Annie Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-baker/) > [Today's competitiveness, so much imposed from without, is exhausting, not exhilarating; is unending-a part of one's social life, one's solitude, one's sleep, one's sleeplessness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-kronenberger/today-s-competitiveness-so-much-imposed-from-without-is-exhausting/) [Louis Kronenberger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-kronenberger/) > [I think there is something exhilarating in flying amongst clouds, and always get a feeling of wanting to pit my aeroplane against them, charge…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-rumney-samson/i-think-there-is-something-exhilarating-in-flying-amongst-clouds-and/) Charles Rumney Samson > [There is no doubt that running away on a fresh, blue morning can be exhilarating.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-rhys/there-is-no-doubt-that-running-away-on-a-fresh-blue-morning-can-be/) [Jean Rhys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-rhys/) > [I would actually love to fly. I think that that would be probably the most exhilarating feeling, and as close as you can get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-larter/i-would-actually-love-to-fly-i-think-that-that-would-be-probably-the/) [Ali Larter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-larter/) > [Running! If there's any activity happier, more exhilarating, more nourishing to the imagination, I can't think of what it might be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/running-if-there-s-any-activity-happier-more-exhilarating-more/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [My first big show was with Tim McGraw and Mark Chesnutt, and that was overwhelming. There was probably 25,000 people there. I was nervous,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-ann-womack/my-first-big-show-was-with-tim-mcgraw-and-mark-chesnutt-and-that-was/) [Lee Ann Womack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-ann-womack/) ## 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. 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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. 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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 Effort quotes > [I value the experiences that come with life too much to sit by and not put my full effort into them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-miller/i-value-the-experiences-that-come-with-life-too-much-to-sit-by-and/) [Jim Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-miller/) > [An enlightened awareness is within each one of us, right at this moment. 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I also do think about our… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-ecclestone/bernie-ecclestone-is-the-commercial-rights-holder-so-the-more/) [Bernie Ecclestone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-ecclestone/) > [All efforts to render politics aesthetic culminate in one thing: war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/all-efforts-to-render-politics-aesthetic-culminate-in-one-thing-war/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [Im tired, tired of putting more effort than you do. Im tired of always having to start the conversation and if I dont, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/im-tired-tired-of-putting-more-effort-than-you-do-im-tired-of-always/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It is for the superfluous we sweat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/it-is-for-the-superfluous-we-sweat/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [Only alone can you go into eternity. Only alone can you feel the transcendental light. It is not a shared experience because if it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/only-alone-can-you-go-into-eternity-only-alone-can-you-feel-the/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [I love a pocket. I'm about helping women look as good as possible on the least amount of effort. 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