--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There are writers who draw immediate…" description: "\"There are writers who draw immediate attention to the fact that it's fiction. And I like some of that, but it doesn't really have the power.\" — Ethan C..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d39/ethan-canin-27277_attention_there-are-writers-who-draw-immediate-att_1087908.png" --- # There are writers who draw immediate attention to the fact… ![“There are writers who draw immediate attention to the fact that it's fiction. And I like some of that, but it doesn't really have the power.” quote by Ethan Canin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d39/ethan-canin-27277_attention_there-are-writers-who-draw-immediate-att_1087908.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d39/ethan-canin-27277_attention_there-are-writers-who-draw-immediate-att_1087908.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d39/ethan-canin-27277_attention_there-are-writers-who-draw-immediate-att_1087908.png) > “There are writers who draw immediate attention to the fact that it's fiction. And I like some of that, but it doesn't really have the power.” [Ethan Canin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ethan-canin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Fiction that hides its fictional nature can lose emotional impact, limiting its resonance. **In simple terms:** Fiction must be honest to move readers. Key Takeaway Embrace authenticity in storytelling. Themes literature authenticity impact Mood thoughtful reflective Type literary analytical When to use this quote - writing workshops - editing drafts - publishing essays - teaching creative writing Key Concepts meta-fiction reader trust Questions to Reflect On - Do you prefer transparent or self-referential stories? - How does honesty affect emotional connection? A Different Perspective Some readers enjoy self-aware fiction. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Attention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attention/) [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [I've always liked a guy who can really power the ball in the 2-hole.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-maddon/i-ve-always-liked-a-guy-who-can-really-power-the-ball-in-the-2-hole/) [Joe Maddon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-maddon/) > [I don't really get into the power sufficiently, and that's also a problem for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-geok-lin-lim/i-don-t-really-get-into-the-power-sufficiently-and-that-s-also-a/) [Shirley Geok-lin Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-geok-lin-lim/) > [I need fiction like you need to eat or exercise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/i-need-fiction-like-you-need-to-eat-or-exercise/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [Science fiction is like a blender - you can put in any historical experience and take influences from everything you see, read or experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joss-whedon/science-fiction-is-like-a-blender-you-can-put-in-any-historical/) [Joss Whedon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joss-whedon/) > [I read a lot of short fiction, like Kurt Vonnegut and Raymond Carver and Wells Tower.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorde/i-read-a-lot-of-short-fiction-like-kurt-vonnegut-and-raymond-carver/) [Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorde/) > [Max Allan Collins blends fact and fiction like no other writer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-vachss/max-allan-collins-blends-fact-and-fiction-like-no-other-writer/) [Andrew Vachss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-vachss/) > [In a brilliant fusion of fact and fiction, Jayne Anne Phillips has written the novel of the year. It's the story of a serial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/in-a-brilliant-fusion-of-fact-and-fiction-jayne-anne-phillips-has/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [I feel that entertainment happens when fact and fiction is balanced.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fahadh-faasil/i-feel-that-entertainment-happens-when-fact-and-fiction-is-balanced/) [Fahadh Faasil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fahadh-faasil/) > [“Write non-fiction like fiction, so the reader is constantly turning the page to find out what happens next, and write fiction like non-fiction, so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-robinson/write-non-fiction-like-fiction-so-the-reader-is-constantly-turning/) [Jeffrey Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-robinson/) > [“Fiction is like a spider's web, attached ever so lightly perhaps, but still attached to life at all four corners.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/fiction-is-like-a-spider-s-web-attached-ever-so-lightly-perhaps-but-2/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [Memory is like fiction; or else it's fiction that's like memory.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/memory-is-like-fiction-or-else-it-s-fiction-that-s-like-memory/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [Writing fiction is like remembering what never happened.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siri-hustvedt/writing-fiction-is-like-remembering-what-never-happened/) [Siri Hustvedt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siri-hustvedt/) > [Writing fiction is like music. You have to keep it moving. You can have slow movements but there has to be a sense of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/writing-fiction-is-like-music-you-have-to-keep-it-moving-you-can-have/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [The fiction is like the art, in making stuff out of nothing, in creating a hyper-reality to have an experience. If it's strong enough,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/watkin-tudor-jones/the-fiction-is-like-the-art-in-making-stuff-out-of-nothing-in/) [Watkin Tudor Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/watkin-tudor-jones/) > [Fiction is like a spider's web, attached ever so slightly perhaps, but still attached to life at all four corners. Often the attachment is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/fiction-is-like-a-spider-s-web-attached-ever-so-slightly-perhaps-but/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) ## More by Ethan Canin > [Art is so personal. I'm very comforted by the fact that certain movies that I love, other people hate. Certain books that I love,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ethan-canin/art-is-so-personal-i-m-very-comforted-by-the-fact-that-certain-movies/) [Ethan Canin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ethan-canin/) > [I work with wood a lot. I like building. I think of building. I would love to buy land on some water somewhere and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ethan-canin/i-work-with-wood-a-lot-i-like-building-i-think-of-building-i-would/) [Ethan Canin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ethan-canin/) > [You have to be smart enough to see the world for yourself and honest. The whole book-publicity thing is not really honest, at base.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ethan-canin/you-have-to-be-smart-enough-to-see-the-world-for-yourself-and-honest/) [Ethan Canin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ethan-canin/) > [“The forgotten of this country have a consistent history of turning on their champions, and I suppose the way working men and women have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ethan-canin/the-forgotten-of-this-country-have-a-consistent-history-of-turning-on/) [Ethan Canin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ethan-canin/) > [Don't write about a character. Become that character, and then write your story.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ethan-canin/don-t-write-about-a-character-become-that-character-and-then-write/) [Ethan Canin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ethan-canin/) > [If someone doesn't like your fiction, it's really insulting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ethan-canin/if-someone-doesn-t-like-your-fiction-it-s-really-insulting/) [Ethan Canin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ethan-canin/) > [You're never so alive as after you thought you were going to die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ethan-canin/you-re-never-so-alive-as-after-you-thought-you-were-going-to-die/) [Ethan Canin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ethan-canin/) > [I've written five books, a book every three years. I'm fairly lazy and it doesn't take that much...people who are not lazy are Isaac…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ethan-canin/i-ve-written-five-books-a-book-every-three-years-i-m-fairly-lazy-and/) [Ethan Canin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ethan-canin/) > [There are some advantages to being a writer: you do generally get better as you get older. I think I understand things better. When…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ethan-canin/there-are-some-advantages-to-being-a-writer-you-do-generally-get/) [Ethan Canin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ethan-canin/) > [To have too much time is not good, you have to force yourself. And human beings aren't meant for true freedom. I've learned that,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ethan-canin/to-have-too-much-time-is-not-good-you-have-to-force-yourself-and/) [Ethan Canin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ethan-canin/) > [I think talent has a huge amount to do with concentration, concentration rather than the athletic ability of your neurons. If you can concentrate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ethan-canin/i-think-talent-has-a-huge-amount-to-do-with-concentration/) [Ethan Canin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ethan-canin/) > [“Now she was smiling. “And while you’re at it,” she said, “here’s another one for you. Theodicy. That’s another word Leibniz used. As long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ethan-canin/now-she-was-smiling-and-while-you-re-at-it-she-said-here-s-another/) [Ethan Canin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ethan-canin/) > [Writing a book is like an unknown abyss, every time. Every book is different. Contrary to what unpublished writers think, it's horrible to have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ethan-canin/writing-a-book-is-like-an-unknown-abyss-every-time-every-book-is/) [Ethan Canin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ethan-canin/) > [You can tell within a sentence if something is fiction or non-fiction. You can tell in the artifice of the language or the care…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ethan-canin/you-can-tell-within-a-sentence-if-something-is-fiction-or-non-fiction/) [Ethan Canin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ethan-canin/) > [“One of the hallmarks of our politics now is that we tend to elect those who can campaign over those who can lead;”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ethan-canin/one-of-the-hallmarks-of-our-politics-now-is-that-we-tend-to-elect/) [Ethan Canin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ethan-canin/) [Explore all 20 Ethan Canin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ethan-canin/) ## More Attention quotes > [It appears to me that one great cause of our difference in opinion on subjects which we often discuss is that you have always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-ricardo/it-appears-to-me-that-one-great-cause-of-our-difference-in-opinion-on/) [David Ricardo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-ricardo/) > [People pay far too much attention to the television and they're quite literal in some ways. 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They are but improved means to an unimproved end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/our-inventions-are-wont-to-be-pretty-toys-which-distract-our/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [What people don't normally know about us is the hustle is very real, and it's sorely driven a lot by how we consider ourselves.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lzzy-hale/what-people-don-t-normally-know-about-us-is-the-hustle-is-very-real/) [Lzzy Hale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lzzy-hale/) > [For me, the term "psychotherapy" is limiting. It implies that we work with mind and emotions, but excludes the body and pays scant attention…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jed-diamond/for-me-the-term-psychotherapy-is-limiting-it-implies-that-we-work/) [Jed Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jed-diamond/) > [When you approach something to photograph it, first be still with yourself until the object of your attention affirms your presence. 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And we we went to this mosque in Philly, and… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahershala-ali/i-went-to-a-mosque-in-philadelphia-with-my-wife-in-december-24-1999/) [Mahershala Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahershala-ali/) > [The Harvard Business Review recently had an article called 'The Human Moment,' about how to make real contact with a person at work: ...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-goleman/the-harvard-business-review-recently-had-an-article-called-the-human/) [Daniel Goleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-goleman/) > [Let us thank God heartily as often as we pray that we have His Spirit in us to teach us to pray. 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