--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I've been a professional writer for 20…" description: "\"I've been a professional writer for 20 years, and there are contours in that time, crescents and troughs.\" — Graham Joyce" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c82/graham-joyce-11733_crescent_i-ve-been-a-professional-writer-for-20-y_2818016.jpg" --- # I've been a professional writer for 20 years, and there… ![“I've been a professional writer for 20 years, and there are contours in that time, crescents and troughs.” quote by Graham Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c82/graham-joyce-11733_crescent_i-ve-been-a-professional-writer-for-20-y_2818016.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c82/graham-joyce-11733_crescent_i-ve-been-a-professional-writer-for-20-y_2818016.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c82/graham-joyce-11733_crescent_i-ve-been-a-professional-writer-for-20-y_2818016.jpg) > “I've been a professional writer for 20 years, and there are contours in that time, crescents and troughs.” [Graham Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-joyce/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The writer's career has highs and lows, like waves of light and dark. **In simple terms:** Writing has ups and downs. Key Takeaway Embrace both peaks and valleys. Themes creativity career resilience Mood reflective hopeful Type inspirational philosophical When to use this quote - writing projects - career planning - mental health - creative blocks Key Concepts narrative rhythm emotional cycles Questions to Reflect On - How do you sustain motivation during low periods? - What practices help you navigate creative cycles? A Different Perspective Even during troughs, progress can be invisible. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Crescent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crescent/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [“I had been a writer all of my life, every waking second, and now that part of my life was over. I suppose the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bonnie-greer/i-had-been-a-writer-all-of-my-life-every-waking-second-and-now-that/) [Bonnie Greer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bonnie-greer/) > [“A professional writer is an amateur who never gave up.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-bach/a-professional-writer-is-an-amateur-who-never-gave-up/) [Richard Bach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-bach/) > [To practice - write each and every day if possible - then try to attend professional writer's conferences where you can learn your craft,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-dashner/to-practice-write-each-and-every-day-if-possible-then-try-to-attend/) [James Dashner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-dashner/) > [At some point if you're a professional writer, no matter what, it always comes down to you staring at the blank page by yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-guggenheim/at-some-point-if-you-re-a-professional-writer-no-matter-what-it/) [Marc Guggenheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-guggenheim/) > [Is any novelist going to recognize the moment when he or she has nothing more to say? It is a brave thing to admit.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/is-any-novelist-going-to-recognize-the-moment-when-he-or-she-has/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [The life of the professional writer - like that of any freelance, whether she be a plumber or a podiatrist - is predicated on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/the-life-of-the-professional-writer-like-that-of-any-freelance/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [My personal opinion is that, if you're a professional writer, that you do have quotas. So every day I do try to write 800-1,200…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-bohjalian/my-personal-opinion-is-that-if-you-re-a-professional-writer-that-you/) [Chris Bohjalian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-bohjalian/) > [Here's the bottom line; writers write. Sometimes words flow easily. Sometimes it's like sloughing through mud. Either way a professional writer keeps writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-c-cast-2/here-s-the-bottom-line-writers-write-sometimes-words-flow-easily/) [P. C. Cast](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-c-cast-2/) > [“Do you know how you can tell a professional writer from an amateur?" "No." "An amateur worries about the work before starting. A professional…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/avi/do-you-know-how-you-can-tell-a-professional-writer-from-an-amateur-no/) [Avi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/avi/) > [When I first started doing stand-up back in Philadelphia, the idea of being a professional writer was completely beyond me. It didn't even occur…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-f-tompkins/when-i-first-started-doing-stand-up-back-in-philadelphia-the-idea-of/) [Paul F. Tompkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-f-tompkins/) > [“Most people probably didn't think I'd make it as a professional writer. But I couldn't follow their advice.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/most-people-probably-didn-t-think-i-d-make-it-as-a-professional/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [It is perfectly possible to be a professional director or a professional writer and not to be an artist: merely a sort of executor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrei-tarkovsky/it-is-perfectly-possible-to-be-a-professional-director-or-a/) [Andrei Tarkovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrei-tarkovsky/) > [In the usual way I submitted manuscripts to publishers. This was not so much a feeling that I should be published as a wish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tanith-lee/in-the-usual-way-i-submitted-manuscripts-to-publishers-this-was-not/) [Tanith Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tanith-lee/) > [I'm not the most talented writer in the world. I know that. But I also know that I'm disciplined, that I work my butt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-b-coe/i-m-not-the-most-talented-writer-in-the-world-i-know-that-but-i-also/) [David B. Coe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-b-coe/) > [I never intended to be a professional writer; as the story developed, the one thing I had in my hopes was that this would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-a-salvatore-2/i-never-intended-to-be-a-professional-writer-as-the-story-developed/) [R. A. Salvatore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-a-salvatore-2/) ## More by Graham Joyce > [“He looked like a once-green leaf that had begun to dry and to reveal the structure of its veins.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-joyce/he-looked-like-a-once-green-leaf-that-had-begun-to-dry-and-to-reveal/) [Graham Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-joyce/) > [Why can’t our job here on earth be simply to inspire each other?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-joyce/why-can-t-our-job-here-on-earth-be-simply-to-inspire-each-other/) [Graham Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-joyce/) > [Perhaps living souls had greater phantom powers than the dead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-joyce/perhaps-living-souls-had-greater-phantom-powers-than-the-dead/) [Graham Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-joyce/) > [“The most extraordinary thing about it all was how simple it was just to carry on. There were meals to be prepared and eaten;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-joyce/the-most-extraordinary-thing-about-it-all-was-how-simple-it-was-just/) [Graham Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-joyce/) > [“Someone said that thirty was a significant birthday, and everyone around the table agreed. Someone else said it was the first time you heard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-joyce/someone-said-that-thirty-was-a-significant-birthday-and-everyone/) [Graham Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-joyce/) > [The blood in my veins is frozen but it sings of love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-joyce/the-blood-in-my-veins-is-frozen-but-it-sings-of-love/) [Graham Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-joyce/) > [If critics of 'readable fiction' want literature to change the ways people dream, they need first to come down from the mountain and speak…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-joyce/if-critics-of-readable-fiction-want-literature-to-change-the-ways/) [Graham Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-joyce/) > [“And there was Tara, again with that shy half-smile and her burgundy lips slightly puckered, that shy kink, an incomplete curlicue at the corner…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-joyce/and-there-was-tara-again-with-that-shy-half-smile-and-her-burgundy/) [Graham Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-joyce/) > [“The sun was up and I want to say that it was golden, but it wasn't golden, it was the color of treacle. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-joyce/the-sun-was-up-and-i-want-to-say-that-it-was-golden-but-it-wasn-t/) [Graham Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-joyce/) > [The mist hung in the air like a prancing unicorn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-joyce/the-mist-hung-in-the-air-like-a-prancing-unicorn/) [Graham Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-joyce/) > [“There is no "mid" about it. Life is a crisis from the cradle to the grave.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-joyce/there-is-no-mid-about-it-life-is-a-crisis-from-the-cradle-to-the-grave/) [Graham Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-joyce/) > [The overintellectualization of surrealism can be a bromide. A dream interpreted is a deflated dream.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-joyce/the-overintellectualization-of-surrealism-can-be-a-bromide-a-dream/) [Graham Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-joyce/) > [I have to get out once a week and speak with people or I start thinking I'm the emperor of Abyssinia.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-joyce/i-have-to-get-out-once-a-week-and-speak-with-people-or-i-start/) [Graham Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-joyce/) > [Because two people in love don't make a hive mind. Neither should they want to be a hive mind, to think the same, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-joyce/because-two-people-in-love-don-t-make-a-hive-mind-neither-should-they/) [Graham Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-joyce/) > [What I mean is this: you meet someone, you think about them. You're already changing because of the way you think about them. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-joyce/what-i-mean-is-this-you-meet-someone-you-think-about-them-you-re/) [Graham Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-joyce/) [Explore all 58 Graham Joyce quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-joyce/) ## More Crescent quotes > [In the Middle East, bread is so essential to everyday life that word for it in Egyptian Arabic is aish, which means life. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annia-ciezadlo/in-the-middle-east-bread-is-so-essential-to-everyday-life-that-word/) [Annia Ciezadlo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annia-ciezadlo/) > [Patience does not mean to passively endure. It means to be farsighted enough to trust the end result of a process. What does patience…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/patience-does-not-mean-to-passively-endure-it-means-to-be-farsighted/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“In the crook of the crescent moon sits the Holy Lady, with strong muscles and a merciful heart. She kicks her her splendid legs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-wells/in-the-crook-of-the-crescent-moon-sits-the-holy-lady-with-strong/) [Rebecca Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-wells/) > [National boundaries are not evident when we view the Earth from space. Fanatical ethnic or religious or national chauvinisms are a little difficult to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/national-boundaries-are-not-evident-when-we-view-the-earth-from-space/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [“There is a unique bond between the land and the people in the Crescent City. Everyone here came from somewhere else, the muddy brown…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-caskey/there-is-a-unique-bond-between-the-land-and-the-people-in-the/) [James Caskey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-caskey/) > [Each that we lose takes a part of us; A crescent still abides, Which like the moon, some turbid night, Is summoned by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/each-that-we-lose-takes-a-part-of-us-a-crescent-still-abides-which/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Everywhere we look, ideology slouches along the freeways and autoroutes, sometimes carrying a cross, sometimes a sickle, sometimes a crescent, but always busy doing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-todd-carroll/everywhere-we-look-ideology-slouches-along-the-freeways-and/) [Robert Todd Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-todd-carroll/) > [Here is something you have to understand about stories: They point you in the right direction but they can't take you all the way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-abu-jaber/here-is-something-you-have-to-understand-about-stories-they-point-you/) [Diana Abu-Jaber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-abu-jaber/) > [There was just one moon. That familiar, yellow, solitary moon. The same moon that silently floated over fields of pampas grass, the moon that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/there-was-just-one-moon-that-familiar-yellow-solitary-moon-the-same/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [I wish to cry. Yet, I laugh, and my lipstick leaves a red stain like a bloody crescent moon on top of the beer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-wish-to-cry-yet-i-laugh-and-my-lipstick-leaves-a-red-stain-like-a/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [In my own worst seasons I've come back from the colorless world of despair by forcing myself to look hard, for a long time,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/in-my-own-worst-seasons-i-ve-come-back-from-the-colorless-world-of/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [The lovers of God never run out of patience, for they know that time is needed for the crescent moon to become full.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/the-lovers-of-god-never-run-out-of-patience-for-they-know-that-time/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [Counting stars by candlelight all are dim but one is bright; the spiral light of Venus rising first and shining best, from the northwest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hunter/counting-stars-by-candlelight-all-are-dim-but-one-is-bright-the/) [Robert Hunter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hunter/) > [Islam lays great emphasis on the social side of things. Every day, the rich and the poor, the great and the small living in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muhammad-ali-jinnah/islam-lays-great-emphasis-on-the-social-side-of-things-every-day-the/) [Muhammad Ali Jinnah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muhammad-ali-jinnah/) > [But the last one: the baby who trails her scent like a flag of surrender through your life when there will be no more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/but-the-last-one-the-baby-who-trails-her-scent-like-a-flag-of/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) [Browse all 49 Crescent quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crescent/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I've been a professional writer for 20 years, and there are contours in that time, crescents and troughs.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Graham Joyce" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-joyce/i-ve-been-a-professional-writer-for-20-years-and-there-are-contours/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Crescent" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-joyce/i-ve-been-a-professional-writer-for-20-years-and-there-are-contours/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c82/graham-joyce-11733_crescent_i-ve-been-a-professional-writer-for-20-y_2818016.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c82/graham-joyce-11733_crescent_i-ve-been-a-professional-writer-for-20-y_2818016.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c82/graham-joyce-11733_crescent_i-ve-been-a-professional-writer-for-20-y_2818016.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I've been a professional writer for 20 years, and there are contours in that time, crescents and troughs.” — Graham Joyce", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Graham Joyce", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-joyce/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I've been a professional writer for...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-joyce/i-ve-been-a-professional-writer-for-20-years-and-there-are-contours/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-joyce/i-ve-been-a-professional-writer-for-20-years-and-there-are-contours/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```