--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: All novelists must form their personal…" description: "\"All novelists must form their personal pacts in some way with the slowness of their craft. There are some who demand of themselves a 'rate of productio..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/368/graham-swift-8547_book_all-novelists-must-form-their-personal-p_1015337.jpg" --- # All novelists must form their personal pacts in some way… ![“All novelists must form their personal pacts in some way with the slowness of their craft. There are some who demand of themselves a 'rate of production,' for whom it's a matter of pride to complete, say, a book every year.” quote by Graham Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/368/graham-swift-8547_book_all-novelists-must-form-their-personal-p_1015337.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/368/graham-swift-8547_book_all-novelists-must-form-their-personal-p_1015337.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/368/graham-swift-8547_book_all-novelists-must-form-their-personal-p_1015337.jpg) > “All novelists must form their personal pacts in some way with the slowness of their craft. There are some who demand of themselves a 'rate of production,' for whom it's a matter of pride to complete, say, a book every year.” [Graham Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-swift/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writers must accept the slow nature of their craft, resisting pressure to produce quickly **In simple terms:** Writing is slow; don’t rush it Key Takeaway Embrace deliberate pacing in writing Themes patience craft discipline Mood contemplative inspirational Type advice literary When to use this quote - novel deadlines - publishing pressure - self‑imposed schedules Key Concepts creative rhythm authorial contracts Questions to Reflect On - How does pace affect your creative output? - Can you set realistic production goals? A Different Perspective Speed can compromise depth and quality ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Crafts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crafts/) [Demand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/demand/) [Form](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/form/) [Matter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/matter/) [Novelists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novelists/) [Novelists Form](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novelists-form-2230152/) [Pact](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pact/) [Personal Pacts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/personal-pacts-2230154/) [Pride](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pride/) [Rate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rate/) [Slowness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slowness/) [Slowness Craft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slowness-craft-2230153/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years/) ## Related quotes > [It can be dismaying, all the same, for a novelist to compare the slowness of the writing with the speed of the reading. Novels…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-swift/it-can-be-dismaying-all-the-same-for-a-novelist-to-compare-the/) [Graham Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-swift/) > [As a novelist, I suppose I can say that I'm highly articulate. But I know, as a person, in other ways, I'm not always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-swift/as-a-novelist-i-suppose-i-can-say-that-i-m-highly-articulate-but-i/) [Graham Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-swift/) > [One of the chief inhibitions to human progress arises because of the extreme slowness with which the advances in knowledge become translated into action…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-andrews-millikan/one-of-the-chief-inhibitions-to-human-progress-arises-because-of-the/) [Robert Andrews Millikan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-andrews-millikan/) > [We, in our Province, are beginning to realize and appreciate that our slowness in keeping up with our North American neighbours may well have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-campbell/we-in-our-province-are-beginning-to-realize-and-appreciate-that-our/) [Alex Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-campbell/) > [If you want to please the critics, don't play too loud, too soft, too fast, too slow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arturo-toscanini/if-you-want-to-please-the-critics-don-t-play-too-loud-too-soft-too/) [Arturo Toscanini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arturo-toscanini/) > [“When I was sixteen I read ten books a week: E.E. Cummings, William Faulkner, Henry James, Hart Crane, John Steinbeck. I thought I progressed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-hall/when-i-was-sixteen-i-read-ten-books-a-week-e-e-cummings-william/) [Donald Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-hall/) > [In fact, the early demographer Thomas Malthus believes that the only way the human population would ever check itself was by running headlong into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annalee-newitz/in-fact-the-early-demographer-thomas-malthus-believes-that-the-only/) [Annalee Newitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annalee-newitz/) > [Today, luxury resides in everything that is becoming rare: communion with nature, silence, meditation, slowness rediscovered, the pleasure of living out of step with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pascal-bruckner/today-luxury-resides-in-everything-that-is-becoming-rare-communion/) [Pascal Bruckner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pascal-bruckner/) > [“Part of me thinks the slowness is on your side.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kiera-cass/part-of-me-thinks-the-slowness-is-on-your-side/) [Kiera Cass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kiera-cass/) > [No," I said finally. "Slowness in Answering," she said into the handheld. "When's the last time you slept?" "1940" I said promptly, which is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/connie-willis/no-i-said-finally-slowness-in-answering-she-said-into-the-handheld/) [Connie Willis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/connie-willis/) > [Sir, the slowness of genius is hard to bear, but the slowness of mediocrity is insufferable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-thomas-buckle/sir-the-slowness-of-genius-is-hard-to-bear-but-the-slowness-of/) [Henry Thomas Buckle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-thomas-buckle/) > [Those who are slow to know suppose that slowness is the essence of knowledge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/those-who-are-slow-to-know-suppose-that-slowness-is-the-essence-of/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [what I love is slowness. Slow people, slow reading, slow traveling, slow eggs, and slow love. Everything good comes slow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-sharon-schwartz/what-i-love-is-slowness-slow-people-slow-reading-slow-traveling-slow/) [Lynne Sharon Schwartz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-sharon-schwartz/) > [“I was being cured of soldiering on endlessly: my job was now to be still, which had become almost easy at last.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/i-was-being-cured-of-soldiering-on-endlessly-my-job-was-now-to-be/) [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) > [“Half the ingratitude and complacency in the world down to how slowly and imperceptibly most good and bad things unfold.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/half-the-ingratitude-and-complacency-in-the-world-down-to-how-slowly/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) ## More by Graham Swift > [I like the world we've got. If there is anything special and magical, I have to find it in the ordinary stuff.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-swift/i-like-the-world-we-ve-got-if-there-is-anything-special-and-magical-i/) [Graham Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-swift/) > [The idea of stopping is not unmeaningful to me. I think there might be a time when, in theory at least, you'd say, 'Well…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-swift/the-idea-of-stopping-is-not-unmeaningful-to-me-i-think-there-might-be/) [Graham Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-swift/) > [There has always been, for me, this other world, this second world to fall back on--a more reliable world in so far as it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-swift/there-has-always-been-for-me-this-other-world-this-second-world-to/) [Graham Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-swift/) > [My upbringing was absolutely not the archetypal writer's upbringing. Even, arguably, the opposite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-swift/my-upbringing-was-absolutely-not-the-archetypal-writer-s-upbringing/) [Graham Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-swift/) > [As a novelist, I suppose I can say that I'm highly articulate. But I know, as a person, in other ways, I'm not always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-swift/as-a-novelist-i-suppose-i-can-say-that-i-m-highly-articulate-but-i/) [Graham Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-swift/) > [“There’s this thing called progress. But it doesn’t progress, it doesn’t go anywhere. Because as progress progresses the world can slip away. It’s progress…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-swift/there-s-this-thing-called-progress-but-it-doesn-t-progress-it-doesn-t/) [Graham Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-swift/) > [“And books, she knew by then, were one of the necessities, the rocks of her life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-swift/and-books-she-knew-by-then-were-one-of-the-necessities-the-rocks-of/) [Graham Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-swift/) > [Structure that really pays off is all based on emotion. I don't write down an elaborate plan. It's really done by feel. It's one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-swift/structure-that-really-pays-off-is-all-based-on-emotion-i-don-t-write/) [Graham Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-swift/) > [The novel that's contemporary in the sense of being wholly 'of now' is an impossibility, if only because novels may take years to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-swift/the-novel-that-s-contemporary-in-the-sense-of-being-wholly-of-now-is/) [Graham Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-swift/) > [“But this would have been to ignore the young man of only twenty-five, who, for all his, by now, increasing and debilitating proneness to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-swift/but-this-would-have-been-to-ignore-the-young-man-of-only-twenty-five/) [Graham Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-swift/) > [Literature is the voice of the human heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-swift/literature-is-the-voice-of-the-human-heart/) [Graham Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-swift/) > [In my work you often get an abrupt shift in time, a jolt. But the emotional logic will take the reader on. I hope.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-swift/in-my-work-you-often-get-an-abrupt-shift-in-time-a-jolt-but-the/) [Graham Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-swift/) > [London is like no other city I know in its ability to become beautiful. You can suddenly turn a corner and there are odd…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-swift/london-is-like-no-other-city-i-know-in-its-ability-to-become/) [Graham Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-swift/) > [When people aren't expecting to be seen, they look their truest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-swift/when-people-aren-t-expecting-to-be-seen-they-look-their-truest/) [Graham Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-swift/) > [And I didn't know I loved her till I'd dreamt of her. I didn't know it was the real thing until an illusion had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-swift/and-i-didn-t-know-i-loved-her-till-i-d-dreamt-of-her-i-didn-t-know-it/) [Graham Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-swift/) [Explore all 79 Graham Swift quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-swift/) ## More Book quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [I have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [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/) > [I don't think I have made as much of my life as I should have. I should have written more books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-m-schlesinger-jr/i-don-t-think-i-have-made-as-much-of-my-life-as-i-should-have-i/) [Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-m-schlesinger-jr/) > [Some books are not read in the right way because they have skipped a stage of opinion, assume a crystallization of information in society…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/some-books-are-not-read-in-the-right-way-because-they-have-skipped-a/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [“People talk about books that write themselves, and it's a lie. Books don't write themselves. It takes thought and research and a backache and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/people-talk-about-books-that-write-themselves-and-it-s-a-lie-books/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [There are great books in this world and great worlds in books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-bronte/there-are-great-books-in-this-world-and-great-worlds-in-books/) [Anne Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-bronte/) > [The purpose of this book is to supply, in the form suitable for laymen, guidance in the adoption and execution of an investment policy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/the-purpose-of-this-book-is-to-supply-in-the-form-suitable-for-laymen/) [Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/) > [But I think that of all the literature that I studied, the book that did more than any other to fire my enthusiasm was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kwame-nkrumah/but-i-think-that-of-all-the-literature-that-i-studied-the-book-that/) [Kwame Nkrumah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kwame-nkrumah/) > [It's amazing to see things that are suggested in the book fully developed and so brilliantly realized through the artistry of the designers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-collins/it-s-amazing-to-see-things-that-are-suggested-in-the-book-fully/) [Suzanne Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-collins/) > [“But I’ve developed a great reputation for wisdom by ordering more books than I ever had time to read, and reading more books, by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/but-i-ve-developed-a-great-reputation-for-wisdom-by-ordering-more/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) [Browse all 29,378 Book quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "All novelists must form their personal pacts in some way with the slowness of their craft. 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