--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I wrote my first two long novels and an…" description: "\"I wrote my first two long novels and an anthology of short narratives, when I was a manager of my own jazz bar. There was not enough time to write and ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2cd/haruki-murakami-21_anthology_i-wrote-my-first-two-long-novels-and-an_3156202.jpg" --- # I wrote my first two long novels and an anthology of short… ![“I wrote my first two long novels and an anthology of short narratives, when I was a manager of my own jazz bar. There was not enough time to write and I didn't know how to write novels. Therefore, I made written collages of aphorisms and rags.” quote by Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2cd/haruki-murakami-21_anthology_i-wrote-my-first-two-long-novels-and-an_3156202.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2cd/haruki-murakami-21_anthology_i-wrote-my-first-two-long-novels-and-an_3156202.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2cd/haruki-murakami-21_anthology_i-wrote-my-first-two-long-novels-and-an_3156202.jpg) > “I wrote my first two long novels and an anthology of short narratives, when I was a manager of my own jazz bar. There was not enough time to write and I didn't know how to write novels. Therefore, I made written collages of aphorisms and rags.” [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The author struggled to find time and skill to write novels, so he created collage-like works of short pieces. **In simple terms:** He made collages of short writings when he couldn't write full novels. Key Takeaway Use creative shortcuts when resources are limited. Themes creativity resourcefulness writing Mood reflective inspirational Type practical experimental When to use this quote - time constraints - creative blocks - project management Key Concepts process adaptation innovation Questions to Reflect On - What alternative methods can help when traditional writing feels impossible? - How can collage techniques enrich storytelling? A Different Perspective May undervalue the depth of collage work. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Aphorism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aphorism/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Jazz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jazz/) [Management](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/management/) [Narrative](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/narrative/) [Not enough time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/not-enough-time/) [Novel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novel/) [Storytelling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/storytelling/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [Screenwriting involves an often un-personal process. Co-writers, directors, producers, everyone has a say in what you put on a page, and stories are constantly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chiara-barzini/screenwriting-involves-an-often-un-personal-process-co-writers/) [Chiara Barzini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chiara-barzini/) > [I always write my novels with music (I don't listened to the music seriously.) Music seems to encourage me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/i-always-write-my-novels-with-music-i-don-t-listened-to-the-music/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [When I was a teenager, I thought how great it would be if only I could write novels in English. I had the feeling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/when-i-was-a-teenager-i-thought-how-great-it-would-be-if-only-i-could/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [I write my novels personally, desperately and non-negligently. When I write my novels, I think about my novels only, and never do other works.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/i-write-my-novels-personally-desperately-and-non-negligently-when-i/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [Good novels are not written by orthodoxy-sniffers, nor by people who are conscience-stricken about their own orthodoxy. Good novels are written by people who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/good-novels-are-not-written-by-orthodoxy-sniffers-nor-by-people-who/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [In two novels written forty years apart, a man and a woman tell stories of their love. . . . Taken together they provide…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-colegate/in-two-novels-written-forty-years-apart-a-man-and-a-woman-tell/) Isabel Colegate > [If I had killed Crow off I can think of least six novels I would never have written, 400,000 words' worth of very necessary experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-lumley/if-i-had-killed-crow-off-i-can-think-of-least-six-novels-i-would/) [Brian Lumley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-lumley/) > [Good novels are not written, they are rewritten. Great novels are diamonds mined from layered rewrites.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/piers-paul-read/good-novels-are-not-written-they-are-rewritten-great-novels-are/) Piers Paul Read > [“The ugly fact is books are made out of books, the novel depends for its life on the novels that have been written.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/the-ugly-fact-is-books-are-made-out-of-books-the-novel-depends-for/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [Novels are written, not wished into existence. You have to sit your ass in the chair or nothing gets done.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dufresne/novels-are-written-not-wished-into-existence-you-have-to-sit-your-ass/) [John Dufresne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dufresne/) > [“When The Journal of Words compiled its list of the one hundred best novels written in English, do you know that Pride and Prejudice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-thomas-ford/when-the-journal-of-words-compiled-its-list-of-the-one-hundred-best/) [Michael Thomas Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-thomas-ford/) > [“My novels are written in first person so you can feel the emotion of the character.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/airambooksie/my-novels-are-written-in-first-person-so-you-can-feel-the-emotion-of/) [Airambooksie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/airambooksie/) > [My early novels were written in quite a dark place. I stand by them, but I would never write them again. I think it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-haig/my-early-novels-were-written-in-quite-a-dark-place-i-stand-by-them/) [Matt Haig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-haig/) > [Good novels are not written, they're rewritten!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-crichton/good-novels-are-not-written-they-re-rewritten/) [Michael Crichton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-crichton/) > [The first drafts of my novels have all been written in longhand, and then I type them up on my old electric. I have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-ballard/the-first-drafts-of-my-novels-have-all-been-written-in-longhand-and/) [J. G. Ballard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-ballard/) ## More by Haruki Murakami > [I always feel like I'm struggling to become someone else. Like I'm trying to find a new place, grab hold of a new life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/i-always-feel-like-i-m-struggling-to-become-someone-else-like-i-m/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [If writing novels is like planting a forest, then writing short stories is more like planting a garden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/if-writing-novels-is-like-planting-a-forest-then-writing-short/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“The sad truth is that what I could recall in five seconds all too soon needed ten, then thirty, thena full minute...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/the-sad-truth-is-that-what-i-could-recall-in-five-seconds-all-too/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“Intelligent teenage girls were often instinctively theatrical, purposely eccentric, mouthing highly suggestive words to confuse people.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/intelligent-teenage-girls-were-often-instinctively-theatrical/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [Memory is like fiction; or else it's fiction that's like memory. This really came home to me once I started writing fiction, that memory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/memory-is-like-fiction-or-else-it-s-fiction-that-s-like-memory-this/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [The most dangerous creature here would have to be me. So maybe I'm just scared of my own shadow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/the-most-dangerous-creature-here-would-have-to-be-me-so-maybe-i-m/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [If you listen to the radio for a whole hour there's maybe one decent song. The rest is mass-produced garbage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/if-you-listen-to-the-radio-for-a-whole-hour-there-s-maybe-one-decent/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“that one of our problems was our inability to recognize and accept our own deformities”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/that-one-of-our-problems-was-our-inability-to-recognize-and-accept/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“When I look back at myself at age twenty, what I remember most is being alone and lonely. I had no girlfriend to warm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/when-i-look-back-at-myself-at-age-twenty-what-i-remember-most-is/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“There's not a branch of publishing or broadcasting that doesn't depend in some way on advertising. It'd be like an aquarium without water. Why,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/there-s-not-a-branch-of-publishing-or-broadcasting-that-doesn-t/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“One by one, I'll face the tasks before me and complete them as best I can. Focusing on each stride forward, but at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/one-by-one-i-ll-face-the-tasks-before-me-and-complete-them-as-best-i/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“Eleven o'clock had come and gone. I had to find a way to bring this conversation to a successful conclusion and get out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/eleven-o-clock-had-come-and-gone-i-had-to-find-a-way-to-bring-this/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“Some people get a kick out of reading railway timetables and that's all they do all day. Some people make huge model boats out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/some-people-get-a-kick-out-of-reading-railway-timetables-and-that-s/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“When the time comes, everybody’s got to end up where they belong. Only me, I didn’t have a place to call my own. It’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/when-the-time-comes-everybody-s-got-to-end-up-where-they-belong-only/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“You let something out of the bag before yourself knew what it was all about”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/you-let-something-out-of-the-bag-before-yourself-knew-what-it-was-all/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) [Explore all 2,928 Haruki Murakami quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) ## More Anthology quotes > [It's nice when you've done enough movies that you can do your own anthology.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lithgow/it-s-nice-when-you-ve-done-enough-movies-that-you-can-do-your-own/) [John Lithgow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lithgow/) > [I had the idea to do an anthology about instrument-making.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-toop/i-had-the-idea-to-do-an-anthology-about-instrument-making/) [David Toop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-toop/) > [I regret that there aren't more short stories in other magazines. But in a certain way, I think the disappearance of the short-story template…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorin-stein/i-regret-that-there-aren-t-more-short-stories-in-other-magazines-but/) [Lorin Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorin-stein/) > [Way back in 1989, I got lucky with my first published story when it was selected for the Journey Prize anthology. Then I got…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bergen/way-back-in-1989-i-got-lucky-with-my-first-published-story-when-it/) [David Bergen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bergen/) > [I once was asked to contribute to a mushroom poem anthology. I didn't have anything, and so instead ended up writing the introduction. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-hirshfield/i-once-was-asked-to-contribute-to-a-mushroom-poem-anthology-i-didn-t/) [Jane Hirshfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-hirshfield/) > [I am also working on a couple of short stories for anthologies. This is new to me and Im enjoying it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-guest/i-am-also-working-on-a-couple-of-short-stories-for-anthologies-this/) [Judith Guest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-guest/) > [No matter what, I'm never going to get an anthology from an actual publisher, though I could always score another music anthology. But if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-meltzer/no-matter-what-i-m-never-going-to-get-an-anthology-from-an-actual/) [Richard Meltzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-meltzer/) > [You apply the skills you use to produce your own book to make an anthology. Shaping. Rhythm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-apply-the-skills-you-use-to-produce-your-own-book-to-make-an/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [After my grandfather died I went down to the basement of my family house where my family kept books, anthologies and things and there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/after-my-grandfather-died-i-went-down-to-the-basement-of-my-family/) [Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/) > [Cross-pollination and "contamination" is really important to the health of fiction, and sometimes it's a literal conversation, too, in that writers who might never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-vandermeer/cross-pollination-and-contamination-is-really-important-to-the-health/) [Jeff VanderMeer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-vandermeer/) > [When I stand in a library where is all the recorded wit of the world, but none of the recording, a mere accumulated, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/when-i-stand-in-a-library-where-is-all-the-recorded-wit-of-the-world/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [I think as long as the standard of quality, the story-telling, film-making, acting etc. etc. remains consistent, then you've got a good change of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-marshall/i-think-as-long-as-the-standard-of-quality-the-story-telling-film/) [Neil Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-marshall/) > [ I've never heard of that anthology \[Vance Randolph, Pissing in the Snow\], but you can be sure I'll buy it now. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-ray-pollock/i-ve-never-heard-of-that-anthology-vance-randolph-pissing-in-the-snow/) [Donald Ray Pollock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-ray-pollock/) > [The original Greek meaning of the word anthology is a collection or gathering of flowers in bloom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-garmey/the-original-greek-meaning-of-the-word-anthology-is-a-collection-or/) Jane Garmey > [The Psalms, the anthology of the hymns of Israel, are still used by Christians.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-scott-latourette/the-psalms-the-anthology-of-the-hymns-of-israel-are-still-used-by/) [Kenneth Scott Latourette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-scott-latourette/) Browse all 129 Anthology quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I wrote my first two long novels and an anthology of short narratives, when I was a manager of my own jazz bar. 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