--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I wrote about four novels before I wrote…" description: "\"I wrote about four novels before I wrote a word of journalism.\" — Francine Prose" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eda/francine-prose-9354_about_i-wrote-about-four-novels-before-i-wrote_2012217.jpg" --- # I wrote about four novels before I wrote a word of… ![“I wrote about four novels before I wrote a word of journalism.” quote by Francine Prose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eda/francine-prose-9354_about_i-wrote-about-four-novels-before-i-wrote_2012217.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eda/francine-prose-9354_about_i-wrote-about-four-novels-before-i-wrote_2012217.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eda/francine-prose-9354_about_i-wrote-about-four-novels-before-i-wrote_2012217.jpg) > “I wrote about four novels before I wrote a word of journalism.” [Francine Prose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francine-prose/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Creative writing precedes journalistic work for many authors. **In simple terms:** Writing fiction builds skills used in journalism. Key Takeaway Leverage storytelling in reporting. Themes writing journalism creativity career literature Mood reflective inspirational Type professional creative When to use this quote - newsrooms - creative workshops - personal essays - career transitions Key Concepts narrative technique voice development Questions to Reflect On - How does fiction inform reporting? - What skills transfer between fields? A Different Perspective Journalism also demands factual rigor. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [About](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/about/) [Before](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/before/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Four](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/four/) [Journalism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/journalism/) [Novels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novels/) [Novels Wrote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novels-wrote-1306868/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Wrote Novels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wrote-novels-420841/) [Wrote Word](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wrote-word-2389551/) ## Related quotes > [Trollope wrote so many novels and other works that they tend to crowd each other out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-smiley/trollope-wrote-so-many-novels-and-other-works-that-they-tend-to-crowd/) [Jane Smiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-smiley/) > [My first novel, 'You Must be Sisters,' was started in Pakistan. I've wrote several novels and a TV drama set or partly-set there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deborah-moggach/my-first-novel-you-must-be-sisters-was-started-in-pakistan-i-ve-wrote/) [Deborah Moggach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deborah-moggach/) > [“Superficially my war was a comfortable exercise in futility carried out in a grand Scottish hotel amongst the bridge players and swillers of easy-come-by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-white/superficially-my-war-was-a-comfortable-exercise-in-futility-carried/) [Patrick White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-white/) > [I wrote four novels, but then I realized that the world didn't need me to be a novelist, but the world could use me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-quammen/i-wrote-four-novels-but-then-i-realized-that-the-world-didn-t-need-me/) [David Quammen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-quammen/) > [“We are accustomed to believe that our world was created by God speaking the Word; but I ask, may it not rather be that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-m-coetzee/we-are-accustomed-to-believe-that-our-world-was-created-by-god/) [J.M. Coetzee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-m-coetzee/) > [I'm not embarrassed about the novels I wrote when I was younger, but I couldn't write them today because of my religion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-mensch/i-m-not-embarrassed-about-the-novels-i-wrote-when-i-was-younger-but-i/) [Louise Mensch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-mensch/) > [“I feel like shredded paper thrown to the wind, each poet took a piece of me and wrote a word or phrase...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luis-alexandre-ribeiro-branco/i-feel-like-shredded-paper-thrown-to-the-wind-each-poet-took-a-piece/) [Luis Alexandre Ribeiro Branco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luis-alexandre-ribeiro-branco/) > [I actually started trying to be a professional writer with novels, and I wrote two that exist and are around... kind of. But they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-soule/i-actually-started-trying-to-be-a-professional-writer-with-novels-and/) [Charles Soule](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-soule/) > [Of the first seven novels I wrote, numbers four and five were published. Numbers one, two, three, six, and seven, have never seen the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-grafton/of-the-first-seven-novels-i-wrote-numbers-four-and-five-were/) [Sue Grafton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-grafton/) > [I wrote the word debauchery, but when I re-read it, I thought I had written douchebaggery. Both words would work...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-wrote-the-word-debauchery-but-when-i-re-read-it-i-thought-i-had/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I wrote a whole novel before The Beach. Unpublishable. Junk. But, for some reason I stuck at novels and wrote a second. 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