--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The writer can choose what he writes…" description: "\"“The writer can choose what he writes about but he cannot choose what he is able to make live, and so far as he is concerned, a living deformed charact..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/418/flannery-o-connor-639_writer_the-writer-can-choose-what-he-writes-abo_279542.png" --- # The writer can choose what he writes about but he cannot… ![“The writer can choose what he writes about but he cannot choose what he is able to make live, and so far as he is concerned, a living deformed character is acceptable and a dead whole one is not.” quote by Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/418/flannery-o-connor-639_writer_the-writer-can-choose-what-he-writes-abo_279542.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/418/flannery-o-connor-639_writer_the-writer-can-choose-what-he-writes-abo_279542.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/418/flannery-o-connor-639_writer_the-writer-can-choose-what-he-writes-abo_279542.png) > ““The writer can choose what he writes about but he cannot choose what he is able to make live, and so far as he is concerned, a living deformed character is acceptable and a dead whole one is not.”” [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writers can only fully animate characters they can understand; dead or incomplete characters lack authenticity. **In simple terms:** Writers must give life to characters they can grasp. Key Takeaway Focus on fully realized characters. Themes writing character development authenticity literature Mood reflective inquisitive Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - novel writing - screenwriting - teaching creative writing Key Concepts narrative craft psychology of creation storytelling ethics Questions to Reflect On - What makes a character feel alive? - How do writers confront their own limitations? A Different Perspective A character may be compelling but still lack depth if not fully understood. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Character Acceptable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character-acceptable-2715284/) [Choose Writes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/choose-writes-619462/) [Deformed Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deformed-character-2715283/) [Living Deformed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/living-deformed-2715285/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writer Choose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer-choose-818301/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [The writer can choose what he writes about but he cannot choose what he is able to make live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/the-writer-can-choose-what-he-writes-about-but-he-cannot-choose-what-2/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [One cannot choose what he writes - one can only choose to face it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luigi-pirandello/one-cannot-choose-what-he-writes-one-can-only-choose-to-face-it/) [Luigi Pirandello](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luigi-pirandello/) > [As Flannery O'Connor says, a person can choose what she writes but she can't choose what she makes live. Some people are really acoustic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/as-flannery-o-connor-says-a-person-can-choose-what-she-writes-but-she/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [The truth about being a writer is you do not choose the stories you tell, but stories choose you. You do not choose, therefore,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosa-montero/the-truth-about-being-a-writer-is-you-do-not-choose-the-stories-you/) [Rosa Montero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosa-montero/) > [As the writer, you can choose the word that seems best in terms of meaning, nuance, sound, etc. As the translator you are unlikely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-goldstein/as-the-writer-you-can-choose-the-word-that-seems-best-in-terms-of/) [Ann Goldstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-goldstein/) > [As the writer, I may choose to ignore the emotional heart of the matter, and focus on details, and trust that the heart of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-davis/as-the-writer-i-may-choose-to-ignore-the-emotional-heart-of-the/) [Lydia Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-davis/) > [Words are the basic tools, if you are a writer. But why? Why do you choose one set of tools rather than another?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-d-houston/words-are-the-basic-tools-if-you-are-a-writer-but-why-why-do-you/) [James D. Houston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-d-houston/) > [If you could have a famous writer, dead or alive, write an obituary for you and really puff you up to have been something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/padgett-powell/if-you-could-have-a-famous-writer-dead-or-alive-write-an-obituary-for/) [Padgett Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/padgett-powell/) > [“For the fiction writer himself the whole story is the meaning, because it is an experience, not an abstraction.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/for-the-fiction-writer-himself-the-whole-story-is-the-meaning-because/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [If I don't know who I'm writing for, I make it up and pick somebody I'm writing for. 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Krebs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-k-krebs/) > [Regardless of the criticisms I receive from the left, the right and the middle, I think it's important to maintain a prolific writing jab,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ishmael-reed/regardless-of-the-criticisms-i-receive-from-the-left-the-right-and/) [Ishmael Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ishmael-reed/) > [I wrote when I was a young teen, but I didn't put an eye on the available markets until I was seventeen. The next…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-reed/i-wrote-when-i-was-a-young-teen-but-i-didn-t-put-an-eye-on-the/) [Robert Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-reed/) > [“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/) ## More by Flannery O'Connor > [“Wait here, wait here!" he cried and jumped up and began to run for help toward a cluster of lights he saw in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/wait-here-wait-here-he-cried-and-jumped-up-and-began-to-run-for-help/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [... the man in the violent situation reveals those qualities least dispensable in his personality, those qualities which are all he will have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/the-man-in-the-violent-situation-reveals-those-qualities-least/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [“I don’t know how to cure the source-itis except to tell you that I can discover a good many possible sources myself for Wise…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/i-don-t-know-how-to-cure-the-source-itis-except-to-tell-you-that-i/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [“For the fiction writer himself the whole story is the meaning, because it is an experience, not an abstraction.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/for-the-fiction-writer-himself-the-whole-story-is-the-meaning-because/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [Everything that gave her pleasure was small and depressed him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/everything-that-gave-her-pleasure-was-small-and-depressed-him/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [To the hard of hearing you shout, and for the almost blind you draw large and startling figures.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/to-the-hard-of-hearing-you-shout-and-for-the-almost-blind-you-draw/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [“He felt his hunger no longer as a pain but as a tide. 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She thought the word Jesus should be kept inside the church building like other words inside the bedroom.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/mrs-may-winced-she-thought-the-word-jesus-should-be-kept-inside-the/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [I feel that discussing story-writing in terms of plot, character, and theme is like trying to describe the expression on a face by saying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/i-feel-that-discussing-story-writing-in-terms-of-plot-character-and/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [She had observed that the more education they got, the less they could do. 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The next…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-reed/i-wrote-when-i-was-a-young-teen-but-i-didn-t-put-an-eye-on-the/) [Robert Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-reed/) > [Regardless of the criticisms I receive from the left, the right and the middle, I think it's important to maintain a prolific writing jab,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ishmael-reed/regardless-of-the-criticisms-i-receive-from-the-left-the-right-and/) [Ishmael Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ishmael-reed/) > [“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. Krebs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-k-krebs/) > [“Take some books and read; that’s an immense help; and books are always good company if you have the right sort.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louisa-may-alcott/take-some-books-and-read-that-s-an-immense-help-and-books-are-always/) [Louisa May Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louisa-may-alcott/) > [If I don't know who I'm writing for, I make it up and pick somebody I'm writing for. That's really the only way to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-mazin/if-i-don-t-know-who-i-m-writing-for-i-make-it-up-and-pick-somebody-i/) [Craig Mazin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-mazin/) > [At the very beginning, I was a page at Letterman, and I freelanced for any place that would let me write any word. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-schwartz/at-the-very-beginning-i-was-a-page-at-letterman-and-i-freelanced-for/) [Ben Schwartz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-schwartz/) > [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [It took me 20 years to buy an electric typewriter, because I was afraid it would be too sensitive. 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