--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There were several points where I would…" description: "\"There were several points where I would kind of turn to the book and say, \"Get thee behind me.\" I don't think real novelists do that. But I make a dist..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/785/george-saunders-317_behinds_there-were-several-points-where-i-would_665975.jpg" --- # There were several points where I would kind of turn to… ![“There were several points where I would kind of turn to the book and say, "Get thee behind me." I don't think real novelists do that. But I make a distinction between prose that's very efficiency-minded (like, the minimum I can get away with), versus loosening the screws and letting the words…” quote by George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/785/george-saunders-317_behinds_there-were-several-points-where-i-would_665975.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/785/george-saunders-317_behinds_there-were-several-points-where-i-would_665975.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/785/george-saunders-317_behinds_there-were-several-points-where-i-would_665975.jpg) > “There were several points where I would kind of turn to the book and say, "Get thee behind me." I don't think real novelists do that. But I make a distinction between prose that's very efficiency-minded (like, the minimum I can get away with), versus loosening the screws and letting the words spill out beautifully and so on.” [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He contrasts minimalist, efficiency‑driven prose with richer, more expressive writing, suggesting true art requires letting language flow. **In simple terms:** Good writing balances efficiency and beauty. Key Takeaway Allow words to breathe, not just serve function. Themes writing creativity efficiency Mood contemplative inspired Type literary reflective When to use this quote - novel writing - editing - creative workshops Key Concepts literary craft expressiveness artistic freedom Questions to Reflect On - When does editing become harmful? - How can you nurture expressive prose? A Different Perspective Over‑editing can strip a work of its soul. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Behinds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/behinds/) [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Distinction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/distinction/) [Distinction Prose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/distinction-prose-5297420/) [Efficiency](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/efficiency/) [Get away](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/get-away/) [I can](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/i-can/) [Kind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kind/) [Letting Words](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/letting-words-426616/) [Minimum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/minimum/) [Novelists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novelists/) [Novelists Make](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novelists-make-521308/) [Prose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prose/) [Prose Efficiency](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prose-efficiency-5297419/) [Real](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real/) [Screws](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/screws/) [Spills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spills/) [Thee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thee/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Turns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/turns/) [Versus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/versus/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [God gets the great stories. 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It may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/letting-words-get-to-you-won-t-get-you-anywhere-if-someone-s-giving/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [For me, the monologue was the favorite thing I had done in radio. It was based on writing, but in the end it was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garrison-keillor/for-me-the-monologue-was-the-favorite-thing-i-had-done-in-radio-it/) [Garrison Keillor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garrison-keillor/) > [I am not as concerned about choosing the right words as I am in letting the words flow naturally.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerry-spence/i-am-not-as-concerned-about-choosing-the-right-words-as-i-am-in/) [Gerry Spence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerry-spence/) > [Writing for me always requires trickery. Tricking myself into sitting down, letting words tumble out until you find the good ones. 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All the normal noises of life were gone, leaving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-d-wilson/after-a-few-mouthfuls-of-moon-flavored-air-even-the-stubbornly-drowsy/) [N.D. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-d-wilson/) [Browse all 6,789 Behinds quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/behinds/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There were several points where I would kind of turn to the book and say, \"Get thee behind me.\" I don't think real novelists do that. 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