--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It can be dismaying, all the same, for a…" description: "\"It can be dismaying, all the same, for a novelist to compare the slowness of the writing with the speed of the reading. Novels are read in a matter of ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c95/graham-swift-8547_barely_it-can-be-dismaying-all-the-same-for-a-n_1611842.jpg" --- # It can be dismaying, all the same, for a novelist to… ![“It can be dismaying, all the same, for a novelist to compare the slowness of the writing with the speed of the reading. Novels are read in a matter of days, even hours. A writer may labor for weeks over a particular passage that will have its effect on a reader for an instant - and that effect may…” quote by Graham Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c95/graham-swift-8547_barely_it-can-be-dismaying-all-the-same-for-a-n_1611842.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c95/graham-swift-8547_barely_it-can-be-dismaying-all-the-same-for-a-n_1611842.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c95/graham-swift-8547_barely_it-can-be-dismaying-all-the-same-for-a-n_1611842.jpg) > “It can be dismaying, all the same, for a novelist to compare the slowness of the writing with the speed of the reading. Novels are read in a matter of days, even hours. A writer may labor for weeks over a particular passage that will have its effect on a reader for an instant - and that effect may be subliminal or barely noticed.” [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. Writing is a slow, deliberate process, while reading is fast, creating a mismatch between effort and immediate impact. **In simple terms:** Writing takes time, reading is quick. Key Takeaway Accept the lag between creation and reception. Themes creativity patience perception Mood thoughtful critical Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - authorial work - reader experience - publishing timelines Key Concepts process vs. consumption artistic labor Questions to Reflect On - How can writers convey the depth of their effort? - Do readers appreciate the time invested in a text? A Different Perspective Readers may overlook the writer’s labor, undervaluing the craft. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Labor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/labor/) [Novelist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novelist/) [Novels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novels/) [Reading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading/) [Reading novels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading-novels/) [Speed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/speed/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [Sometimes writing a novel is not unlike having a baby. You'd have to ask a female novelist to compare the pain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/sometimes-writing-a-novel-is-not-unlike-having-a-baby-you-d-have-to/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [Exams should be given on either Facebook or on phone instead of sheets, ccuz today's students have more typing speed than writing speed!..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/exams-should-be-given-on-either-facebook-or-on-phone-instead-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [All novelists must form their personal pacts in some way with the slowness of their craft. There are some who demand of themselves a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-swift/all-novelists-must-form-their-personal-pacts-in-some-way-with-the/) [Graham Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-swift/) > [“People listening to songs are like people reading novels: for a few minutes, for a few hours, someone else gets to come in and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/people-listening-to-songs-are-like-people-reading-novels-for-a-few/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [“There is quite enough sorrow and shame and suffering and baseness in real life and there is no need for meeting it unnecessarily in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/there-is-quite-enough-sorrow-and-shame-and-suffering-and-baseness-in/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [“What am I to give the housemaids here? and do you object to my reading novels, if Lady Eskdale says there is no harm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-eden/what-am-i-to-give-the-housemaids-here-and-do-you-object-to-my-reading/) [Emily Eden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-eden/) > [Radio is the medium that most closely approximates the experience of reading. As a novelist, I find it very exciting to be able to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-alarcon/radio-is-the-medium-that-most-closely-approximates-the-experience-of/) [Daniel Alarcon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-alarcon/) > [I think reading the novels definitely was a good source for me to study from.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-vandervoort/i-think-reading-the-novels-definitely-was-a-good-source-for-me-to/) [Laura Vandervoort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-vandervoort/) > [People are so used to reading novels now, they just read a poem straight through to get the meaning. And that's something totally different…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-oswald/people-are-so-used-to-reading-novels-now-they-just-read-a-poem/) [Alice Oswald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-oswald/) > [People lose it when I say this, but I'm a novelist who doesn't read novels. There are lots of good reasons for not reading…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-traviss/people-lose-it-when-i-say-this-but-i-m-a-novelist-who-doesn-t-read/) [Karen Traviss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-traviss/) > [“It's because of the way you are. It's why you're happy reading novels. You're only comfortable with a piece of the world that you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lan-samantha-chang/it-s-because-of-the-way-you-are-it-s-why-you-re-happy-reading-novels/) [Lan Samantha Chang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lan-samantha-chang/) > [I used to go with my parents and loved it, I was in school plays, and I started reading plays before I started reading…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-marber/i-used-to-go-with-my-parents-and-loved-it-i-was-in-school-plays-and-i/) [Patrick Marber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-marber/) > [ “I often feel happier, after putting down some of my own experiences \[in my journal\], than I do in reading much. Novels, even if… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abigail-may-alcott/i-often-feel-happier-after-putting-down-some-of-my-own-experiences-in/) Abigail May Alcott > [If your heart takes more pleasure in reading novels, or watching TV, or going to the movies, or talking to friends, rather than just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-green/if-your-heart-takes-more-pleasure-in-reading-novels-or-watching-tv-or/) [Keith Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-green/) > [As a kid, I dreamt of becoming a writer. My most exciting pastime was reading novels; in fact, I would read anything I could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maryam-mirzakhani/as-a-kid-i-dreamt-of-becoming-a-writer-my-most-exciting-pastime-was/) [Maryam Mirzakhani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maryam-mirzakhani/) ## 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 Barely quotes > [I barely knew I had skin before I met you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-waters/i-barely-knew-i-had-skin-before-i-met-you/) [Sarah Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-waters/) > [There's very little about being in a functional-M.R.I. scanner that is natural: you are flat on your back, absolutely still, with your head immobilized…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-marantz-henig/there-s-very-little-about-being-in-a-functional-m-r-i-scanner-that-is/) [Robin Marantz Henig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-marantz-henig/) > [I can barely recall a single holiday when my father didn't make a scene or create some kind of chaos. We were always walking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dominique-moceanu/i-can-barely-recall-a-single-holiday-when-my-father-didn-t-make-a/) [Dominique Moceanu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dominique-moceanu/) > [I'm barely at home enough to enjoy the simple lifestyle that I want to live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-vernon/i-m-barely-at-home-enough-to-enjoy-the-simple-lifestyle-that-i-want/) [Justin Vernon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-vernon/) > [On the ground, Johny Hendricks won. He beat GSP up. In the rounds Georges won, he barely won.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-hughes/on-the-ground-johny-hendricks-won-he-beat-gsp-up-in-the-rounds/) [Matt Hughes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-hughes/) > [Had Elizabeth Bennet known how wildly Darcy's heart beat for her, 'Pride and Prejudice' would barely have made it into a short story. Their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mariella-frostrup/had-elizabeth-bennet-known-how-wildly-darcy-s-heart-beat-for-her/) [Mariella Frostrup](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mariella-frostrup/) > [I had barely turned 12 when my parents packed me off to Doon School. I was transported to a world of confusion with 600…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jyotiraditya-madhavrao-scindia/i-had-barely-turned-12-when-my-parents-packed-me-off-to-doon-school-i/) [Jyotiraditya Madhavrao Scindia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jyotiraditya-madhavrao-scindia/) > [“I can barely conceive a type of beauty in which there is no melancholy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/i-can-barely-conceive-a-type-of-beauty-in-which-there-is-no-melancholy/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [Today, barely 5 percent of all containers coming into the United States through our ports are scanned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alcee-hastings/today-barely-5-percent-of-all-containers-coming-into-the-united/) [Alcee Hastings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alcee-hastings/) > [Whatever the reasons may be, I was very much affected by events of the 1930s - the Spanish Civil War, for example, though I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/whatever-the-reasons-may-be-i-was-very-much-affected-by-events-of-the/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [The discoloration is very minimal. I have not turned blue. The extent of skin discoloration is not even remotely near what the news media…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stan-jones/the-discoloration-is-very-minimal-i-have-not-turned-blue-the-extent/) [Stan Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stan-jones/) > [Our society, where we are right now, our minds are junkyards. We watch TV and sit on the computer all day and barely have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melissa-etheridge/our-society-where-we-are-right-now-our-minds-are-junkyards-we-watch/) [Melissa Etheridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melissa-etheridge/) > [I'm barely reading the 'New York Times!' But I do try to keep abreast of things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-diamantopoulos/i-m-barely-reading-the-new-york-times-but-i-do-try-to-keep-abreast-of/) [Chris Diamantopoulos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-diamantopoulos/) > [Even though we barely talk, I still wonder how you're doing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/even-though-we-barely-talk-i-still-wonder-how-you-re-doing/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I spend a lot of money on shoes and barely any on clothes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gus-dapperton/i-spend-a-lot-of-money-on-shoes-and-barely-any-on-clothes/) [Gus Dapperton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gus-dapperton/) Browse all 187 Barely quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It can be dismaying, all the same, for a novelist to compare the slowness of the writing with the speed of the reading. Novels are read in a matter of days, even hours. A writer may labor for weeks over a particular passage that will have its effect on a reader for an instant - and that effect may be subliminal or barely noticed.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Graham Swift" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-swift/it-can-be-dismaying-all-the-same-for-a-novelist-to-compare-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Barely" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-swift/it-can-be-dismaying-all-the-same-for-a-novelist-to-compare-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c95/graham-swift-8547_barely_it-can-be-dismaying-all-the-same-for-a-n_1611842.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c95/graham-swift-8547_barely_it-can-be-dismaying-all-the-same-for-a-n_1611842.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c95/graham-swift-8547_barely_it-can-be-dismaying-all-the-same-for-a-n_1611842.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It can be dismaying, all the same, for a novelist to compare the slowness of the writing with the speed of…” — Graham Swift", "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 Swift", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-swift/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "It can be dismaying, all the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-swift/it-can-be-dismaying-all-the-same-for-a-novelist-to-compare-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-swift/it-can-be-dismaying-all-the-same-for-a-novelist-to-compare-the/#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 } } ] } ```