--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I scrubbed the filth from my keyboard…" description: "\"“I scrubbed the filth from my keyboard, and placed a coffee coaster strategically on the desk. My schedule was relatively clear, and I was free to writ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/102/hannah-kent-4646_write_i-scrubbed-the-filth-from-my-keyboard-an_2993754.png" --- # I scrubbed the filth from my keyboard, and placed a coffee… ![“I scrubbed the filth from my keyboard, and placed a coffee coaster strategically on the desk. My schedule was relatively clear, and I was free to write each day. But for how long? And what about? Should I start from the beginning of the story and write in a linear fashion, or write the scenes that…” quote by Hannah Kent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/102/hannah-kent-4646_write_i-scrubbed-the-filth-from-my-keyboard-an_2993754.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/102/hannah-kent-4646_write_i-scrubbed-the-filth-from-my-keyboard-an_2993754.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/102/hannah-kent-4646_write_i-scrubbed-the-filth-from-my-keyboard-an_2993754.png) > ““I scrubbed the filth from my keyboard, and placed a coffee coaster strategically on the desk. My schedule was relatively clear, and I was free to write each day. But for how long? And what about? Should I start from the beginning of the story and write in a linear fashion, or write the scenes that jumped to mind first? What do writers actually do when they say they write full-time? Is it nine to five? How many words constitute a productive day? Should I start smoking? Will that help? Do they sit there and look out the window, and does that count?”” [Hannah Kent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-kent/) ## 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 wrestles with structure, productivity, and creative habits, questioning norms of full‑time writing. **In simple terms:** Writers struggle with routine, structure, and productivity. Key Takeaway Find a personal workflow that balances structure and spontaneity. Themes creativity productivity discipline Mood curious thoughtful Type reflective inspirational When to use this quote - novel writing - daily writing practice - creative blocks - time management Key Concepts writing process habit formation creative flow Questions to Reflect On - What writing routine feels most natural to you? - How do you measure creative progress? A Different Perspective Productivity metrics vary; no single formula works for everyone. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Nine To Five](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nine-to-five/) [Productive Day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/productive-day/) [Say Write](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/say-write/) [Write](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/write/) [Write Day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/write-day/) [Write Scenes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/write-scenes-257829/) [Write Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/write-time-866657/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [So one can say that I write all the time, that goes for the lyrics as well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-sherwood/so-one-can-say-that-i-write-all-the-time-that-goes-for-the-lyrics-as/) [Billy Sherwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-sherwood/) > [Oh yeah - you have to write every day. Or every weekday. Because writing is a job. It's not eureka moments over and over.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-schafer/oh-yeah-you-have-to-write-every-day-or-every-weekday-because-writing/) [Tim Schafer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-schafer/) > [Inexperienced fiction and creative nonfiction writers are often told to show, not tell - to write scenes, dramatize, cut exposition, cut summary - but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-alberts/inexperienced-fiction-and-creative-nonfiction-writers-are-often-told/) [Laurie Alberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-alberts/) > [If you gather a lot of stuff, then you write it, write in scenes with dialogue. Somewhere in the middle, rising from all this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmy-breslin/if-you-gather-a-lot-of-stuff-then-you-write-it-write-in-scenes-with/) [Jimmy Breslin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimmy-breslin/) > [I like to write scenes in the middle of the night. We could change every word of 'Family Ties' between Monday and Friday.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-like-to-write-scenes-in-the-middle-of-the-night-we-could-change/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I write scenes - often quite long scenes - mainly because I still get seduced into writing six lines where one and a half…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/i-write-scenes-often-quite-long-scenes-mainly-because-i-still-get/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [I think I was always writing books that had very clear scenic structures. I do tend to write in scenes. I do tend to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-perrotta/i-think-i-was-always-writing-books-that-had-very-clear-scenic/) [Tom Perrotta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-perrotta/) > [I don't write scenes where one person is right and one person is wrong. It's very much by design that everyone has a point…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/courtney-a-kemp/i-don-t-write-scenes-where-one-person-is-right-and-one-person-is/) [Courtney A. Kemp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/courtney-a-kemp/) > [I don't write shows with dialogue where actors have to memorize dialogue. I write the scenes where we know everything that's going to happen.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-david/i-don-t-write-shows-with-dialogue-where-actors-have-to-memorize/) [Larry David](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-david/) > [You have to write scenes and design scenes that are scary and horrific, but that are also watchable. I didn't want people to just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eli-roth/you-have-to-write-scenes-and-design-scenes-that-are-scary-and/) [Eli Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eli-roth/) > [It is horrible to sit in front of the keyboard and write those scenes because you're losing too. You lose somebody you enjoy working…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-m-gimple/it-is-horrible-to-sit-in-front-of-the-keyboard-and-write-those-scenes/) [Scott M. Gimple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-m-gimple/) > [Some of my earliest work was in comics. I tend to think in pictures and always like to write scenes possessing the dynamic you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-moorcock/some-of-my-earliest-work-was-in-comics-i-tend-to-think-in-pictures/) [Michael Moorcock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-moorcock/) > [I write with music. I write scenes in movies that hopefully can earn the use of some songs that are powerful to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cameron-crowe/i-write-with-music-i-write-scenes-in-movies-that-hopefully-can-earn/) [Cameron Crowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cameron-crowe/) > [With TV-writing, you write scenes and those scenes pretty much stay as they are when you come to filming them. Sometimes you might change…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-jones/with-tv-writing-you-write-scenes-and-those-scenes-pretty-much-stay-as/) [Ruth Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-jones/) > [I don't write a play from beginning to end. I don't write an outline. I write scenes and moments as they occur to me.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-greenberg/i-don-t-write-a-play-from-beginning-to-end-i-don-t-write-an-outline-i/) [Richard Greenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-greenberg/) ## More by Hannah Kent > [“I prefer a story to a prayer.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-kent/i-prefer-a-story-to-a-prayer/) [Hannah Kent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-kent/) > [“Of all the names, one is a mistake. One is a nightmare. The stair you miss in the darkness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-kent/of-all-the-names-one-is-a-mistake-one-is-a-nightmare-the-stair-you/) [Hannah Kent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-kent/) > [I applied for funding to embark on an overseas field trip in Iceland, and spent six weeks there happily holed up in the national…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-kent/i-applied-for-funding-to-embark-on-an-overseas-field-trip-in-iceland/) [Hannah Kent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-kent/) > [“Those who are not being dragged to their deaths cannot understand how the heart grows hard and sharp, until it is a nest of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-kent/those-who-are-not-being-dragged-to-their-deaths-cannot-understand-how/) [Hannah Kent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-kent/) > [“I might have starved to death. I would be mud-slick, stuffed to the guts with cold and hopelessness, and my body might know it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-kent/i-might-have-starved-to-death-i-would-be-mud-slick-stuffed-to-the/) [Hannah Kent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-kent/) > [“Illugastadir, the farm by the sea, where the soft air rings with the clang of the smithy, and gulls caw, and seals roll over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-kent/illugastadir-the-farm-by-the-sea-where-the-soft-air-rings-with-the/) [Hannah Kent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-kent/) > [“The thunder kills the unhatched birds in their eggs.’ ‘Peg”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-kent/the-thunder-kills-the-unhatched-birds-in-their-eggs-peg/) [Hannah Kent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-kent/) > [“cradling dead bodies in its cage of burnt beams.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-kent/cradling-dead-bodies-in-its-cage-of-burnt-beams/) [Hannah Kent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-kent/) > [The treachery of a friend is worse than that of a foe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-kent/the-treachery-of-a-friend-is-worse-than-that-of-a-foe/) [Hannah Kent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-kent/) > [I really hate the term 'historical novel' - it reminds me of bodice-rippers. But I'm hooked on research, and I really, really enjoy it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-kent/i-really-hate-the-term-historical-novel-it-reminds-me-of-bodice/) [Hannah Kent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-kent/) > [“Some folks are born different, Nance. They are born on the outside of things, with skin a little a thinner, eyes a little keener…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-kent/some-folks-are-born-different-nance-they-are-born-on-the-outside-of/) [Hannah Kent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-kent/) > [“It was not hard to believe a beautiful woman capable of murder, Margret thought.As it says in the sagas, Opt er flago i fogru…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-kent/it-was-not-hard-to-believe-a-beautiful-woman-capable-of-murder/) [Hannah Kent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-kent/) > [My dad would tell me bedtime stories, and he used to always leave them open-ended and finish at a crucial point with the words,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-kent/my-dad-would-tell-me-bedtime-stories-and-he-used-to-always-leave-them/) [Hannah Kent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-kent/) > [So lonely I make friends with the ravens that prey on lambs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-kent/so-lonely-i-make-friends-with-the-ravens-that-prey-on-lambs/) [Hannah Kent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-kent/) > [You know you're going to have a good day when your morning begins with breakfast in the same room as Carrie Tiffany, David Vann…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-kent/you-know-you-re-going-to-have-a-good-day-when-your-morning-begins/) [Hannah Kent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-kent/) [Explore all 108 Hannah Kent quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-kent/) ## More Write quotes > [I feel like the future is unwritten. So many of the things that we write now haven't been about educating people on the environment,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-flansburgh/i-feel-like-the-future-is-unwritten-so-many-of-the-things-that-we/) [John Flansburgh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-flansburgh/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [At the very beginning, I was a page at Letterman, and I freelanced for any place that would let me write any word. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-schwartz/at-the-very-beginning-i-was-a-page-at-letterman-and-i-freelanced-for/) [Ben Schwartz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-schwartz/) > [I might, by chance, write something just as shoddy; But then I wouldn't show it to everybody.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moliere/i-might-by-chance-write-something-just-as-shoddy-but-then-i-wouldn-t/) [Moliere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moliere/) > [“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/) > [I write about presidents. That means I write about guys - so far. I'm interested in the people closest to them, the people they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-kearns-goodwin/i-write-about-presidents-that-means-i-write-about-guys-so-far-i-m/) [Doris Kearns Goodwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-kearns-goodwin/) > [It's a shame that when you've actually lived some life and have something to write about, they're saying you're too old to come out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kt-tunstall/it-s-a-shame-that-when-you-ve-actually-lived-some-life-and-have/) [KT Tunstall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kt-tunstall/) > [I think I need the demons in order to write, but the demons have gone. It bothers me a lot. I've tried and tried,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-wilson/i-think-i-need-the-demons-in-order-to-write-but-the-demons-have-gone/) [Brian Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-wilson/) > [I'm writing about real things. Real people. Real characters. You have to believe what I write about is true or you wouldn't pay any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lou-reed/i-m-writing-about-real-things-real-people-real-characters-you-have-to/) [Lou Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lou-reed/) > [Everything I write is highly personal, but put in such a way that it's not dropping everything in someone's lap. Although sometimes I think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-siberry/everything-i-write-is-highly-personal-but-put-in-such-a-way-that-it-s/) [Jane Siberry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-siberry/) > [You make me want to write bad poetry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-make-me-want-to-write-bad-poetry/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I wish that I had known back then that a mastery of process would lead to a product. Then I probably wouldn't have found…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-george/i-wish-that-i-had-known-back-then-that-a-mastery-of-process-would/) [Elizabeth George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-george/) > [If I wanted to change the world, the last thing I would do is write a play.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/if-i-wanted-to-change-the-world-the-last-thing-i-would-do-is-write-a/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [I write my story in my books, It show that your name filled in my books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-write-my-story-in-my-books-it-show-that-your-name-filled-in-my-books/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The midwest is great because it hasn't been entirely claimed. There's more room to write about it; it's harder to write about New York,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gillian-flynn/the-midwest-is-great-because-it-hasn-t-been-entirely-claimed-there-s/) [Gillian Flynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gillian-flynn/) [Browse all 9,848 Write quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/write/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I scrubbed the filth from my keyboard, and placed a coffee coaster strategically on the desk. My schedule was relatively clear, and I was free to write each day. But for how long? And what about? Should I start from the beginning of the story and write in a linear fashion, or write the scenes that jumped to mind first? What do writers actually do when they say they write full-time? Is it nine to five? How many words constitute a productive day? Should I start smoking? Will that help? 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