--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I felt that I had to write. Even if I had…" description: "\"I felt that I had to write. Even if I had never been published, I knew that I would go on writing, enjoying it and experiencing the challenge.\" — Gwend..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f53/gwendolyn-brooks-5624_felt_i-felt-that-i-had-to-write-even-if-i-had_2600564.png" --- # I felt that I had to write. Even if I had never been… ![“I felt that I had to write. Even if I had never been published, I knew that I would go on writing, enjoying it and experiencing the challenge.” quote by Gwendolyn Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f53/gwendolyn-brooks-5624_felt_i-felt-that-i-had-to-write-even-if-i-had_2600564.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f53/gwendolyn-brooks-5624_felt_i-felt-that-i-had-to-write-even-if-i-had_2600564.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f53/gwendolyn-brooks-5624_felt_i-felt-that-i-had-to-write-even-if-i-had_2600564.png) > “I felt that I had to write. Even if I had never been published, I knew that I would go on writing, enjoying it and experiencing the challenge.” [Gwendolyn Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gwendolyn-brooks/) ## 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 compulsion that persists beyond external validation, driven by intrinsic joy and the challenge it presents. **In simple terms:** Writing is driven by inner drive, not fame. Key Takeaway Embrace writing for its own sake. Themes creativity determination self‑expression Mood reflective motivational Type inspirational philosophical When to use this quote - journaling - novel writing - academic research Key Concepts intrinsic motivation artistic discipline Questions to Reflect On - What fuels your creative urge? - How do you balance joy and challenge? A Different Perspective External pressures can stifle authenticity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Felt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/felt/) [Felt Write](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/felt-write-769941/) [Knew Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knew-writing-534748/) [Write Published](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/write-published-1940283/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Writing Enjoying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-enjoying-1940282/) ## Related quotes > [“My hero is writing while I'm enjoying it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-maiccon/my-hero-is-writing-while-i-m-enjoying-it/) [Alan Maiccon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-maiccon/) > [“Reading, Writing, and Enjoying A Creative Life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chrystal-dorsey/reading-writing-and-enjoying-a-creative-life/) [Chrystal Dorsey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chrystal-dorsey/) > [“I felt I had to write down my observations about you in a book. 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Writing a poem is discovering.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-frost/i-have-never-started-a-poem-yet-whose-end-i-knew-writing-a-poem-is/) [Robert Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-frost/) ## More by Gwendolyn Brooks > [My last defense / Is the present tense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gwendolyn-brooks/my-last-defense-is-the-present-tense/) [Gwendolyn Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gwendolyn-brooks/) > [Nothing could stop Mississippi.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gwendolyn-brooks/nothing-could-stop-mississippi/) [Gwendolyn Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gwendolyn-brooks/) > [Very early in life I became fascinated with the wonders language can achieve. And I began playing with words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gwendolyn-brooks/very-early-in-life-i-became-fascinated-with-the-wonders-language-can/) [Gwendolyn Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gwendolyn-brooks/) > [We real cool. We Left school. We Lurk late. We Strike straight. We Sing sin. We Thin gin. We Jazz June. We Die soon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gwendolyn-brooks/we-real-cool-we-left-school-we-lurk-late-we-strike-straight-we-sing/) [Gwendolyn Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gwendolyn-brooks/) > [I've always thought of myself as a reporter. When people ask why I don't stop writing, I say, 'Look at what's happening in this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gwendolyn-brooks/i-ve-always-thought-of-myself-as-a-reporter-when-people-ask-why-i-don/) [Gwendolyn Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gwendolyn-brooks/) > [She was afraid to suggest to him that to most people, nothing "happens." That most people merely live from day to day until they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gwendolyn-brooks/she-was-afraid-to-suggest-to-him-that-to-most-people-nothing-happens/) [Gwendolyn Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gwendolyn-brooks/) > [A writer should get as much education as possible, but just going to school is not enough; if it were, all owners of doctorates…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gwendolyn-brooks/a-writer-should-get-as-much-education-as-possible-but-just-going-to/) [Gwendolyn Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gwendolyn-brooks/) > [Reading is important - read between the lines. Don't swallow everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gwendolyn-brooks/reading-is-important-read-between-the-lines-don-t-swallow-everything/) [Gwendolyn Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gwendolyn-brooks/) > [No man can give me any word but Wait.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gwendolyn-brooks/no-man-can-give-me-any-word-but-wait/) [Gwendolyn Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gwendolyn-brooks/) > [The forties and fifties were years of high poet-incense; the language-flowers were thickly sweet. Those flowers whined and begged white folks to pick them,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gwendolyn-brooks/the-forties-and-fifties-were-years-of-high-poet-incense-the-language/) [Gwendolyn Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gwendolyn-brooks/) > [It frightens me to realize that, if I had died before the age of fifty, I would have died a 'Negro' fraction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gwendolyn-brooks/it-frightens-me-to-realize-that-if-i-had-died-before-the-age-of-fifty/) [Gwendolyn Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gwendolyn-brooks/) > [One reason cats are happier than people is that they have no newspapers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gwendolyn-brooks/one-reason-cats-are-happier-than-people-is-that-they-have-no/) [Gwendolyn Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gwendolyn-brooks/) > [We are each other's magnitude and bond.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gwendolyn-brooks/we-are-each-other-s-magnitude-and-bond/) [Gwendolyn Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gwendolyn-brooks/) > [What I'm fighting for now in my work... for an expression relevant to all manner of blacks, poems I could take into a tavern,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gwendolyn-brooks/what-i-m-fighting-for-now-in-my-work-for-an-expression-relevant-to/) [Gwendolyn Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gwendolyn-brooks/) > [And if sun comes / How shall we greet him? / Shall we not dread him, / Shall we not fear him / After…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gwendolyn-brooks/and-if-sun-comes-how-shall-we-greet-him-shall-we-not-dread-him-shall/) [Gwendolyn Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gwendolyn-brooks/) [Explore all 100 Gwendolyn Brooks quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gwendolyn-brooks/) ## More Felt quotes > [I put myself in the student's place and remember the frustrations, doubts, determination, and desires I felt when I was going through the initial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-martinez/i-put-myself-in-the-student-s-place-and-remember-the-frustrations/) [Ted Martinez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-martinez/) > [I wrote when I was a young teen, but I didn't put an eye on the available markets until I was seventeen. The next…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-reed/i-wrote-when-i-was-a-young-teen-but-i-didn-t-put-an-eye-on-the/) [Robert Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-reed/) > [I have long felt that the way to keep children out of trouble is to keep them interested in things. Lecturing to children is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-disney/i-have-long-felt-that-the-way-to-keep-children-out-of-trouble-is-to/) [Walt Disney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-disney/) > [I have lifted my plane . . . for perhaps a thousand flights and I have never felt her wheels glide from the Earth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/i-have-lifted-my-plane-for-perhaps-a-thousand-flights-and-i-have/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) > [Hackney gets a bit of a bad rap, but it's the only place I've ever lived that felt like a community. I know my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-horgan/hackney-gets-a-bit-of-a-bad-rap-but-it-s-the-only-place-i-ve-ever/) [Sharon Horgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-horgan/) > [I have that need in me, I want everyone to love me, but I'm embarrassed by that need, so I wanted to cover it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-jeselnik/i-have-that-need-in-me-i-want-everyone-to-love-me-but-i-m-embarrassed/) [Anthony Jeselnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-jeselnik/) > [The more I read about feeding times, sleep times and waking-up times, the more inadequate and miserable I felt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-porter/the-more-i-read-about-feeding-times-sleep-times-and-waking-up-times/) [Gail Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-porter/) > [I have touched with a sense of art some people-they felt the love and the life. 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