--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I think that there must be a point of…" description: "\"I think that there must be a point of self-immersion in a story that is a point of no return. You get far enough in that the story has really touched y..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/159/helen-garner-12280_core_i-think-that-there-must-be-a-point-of-se_1247009.jpg" --- # I think that there must be a point of self-immersion in a… ![“I think that there must be a point of self-immersion in a story that is a point of no return. You get far enough in that the story has really touched you to the core and deeply troubled you and made you unhappy and fearful, and then how do you get out of that? I'm a writer, so my way of getting…” quote by Helen Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/159/helen-garner-12280_core_i-think-that-there-must-be-a-point-of-se_1247009.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/159/helen-garner-12280_core_i-think-that-there-must-be-a-point-of-se_1247009.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/159/helen-garner-12280_core_i-think-that-there-must-be-a-point-of-se_1247009.jpg) > “I think that there must be a point of self-immersion in a story that is a point of no return. You get far enough in that the story has really touched you to the core and deeply troubled you and made you unhappy and fearful, and then how do you get out of that? I'm a writer, so my way of getting out of that is to write.” [Helen Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-garner/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A story can immerse you so deeply it becomes unsettling, and the writer must confront that intensity to move forward. **In simple terms:** Deep immersion can be unsettling; writing helps process it. Key Takeaway Write to process emotional intensity. Themes storytelling emotion self‑reflection Mood introspective anxious Type reflective creative When to use this quote - authoring - creative therapy - personal growth Key Concepts psychology narrative immersion Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance immersion with emotional safety? - Can you find other outlets besides writing? A Different Perspective Writing may not fully resolve the discomfort, it merely channels it. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fearful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fearful/) [Story](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/story/) [Unhappy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unhappy/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [Now, here is the point about the self: it is insatiable. It is always, always hankering. It is what you might call rapacious to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-barthelme/now-here-is-the-point-about-the-self-it-is-insatiable-it-is-always/) [Donald Barthelme](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-barthelme/) > [Why is erasing desire seen as so important? If the subjugation of the self is the point of the self what's the point in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tibor-fischer/why-is-erasing-desire-seen-as-so-important-if-the-subjugation-of-the/) [Tibor Fischer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tibor-fischer/) > [...a point is reached where the self is so completely aligned with the still-point that it can no longer be moved, even in its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernadette-roberts/a-point-is-reached-where-the-self-is-so-completely-aligned-with-the/) [Bernadette Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernadette-roberts/) > [Everybody has their story - at some point you have to say, 'This is who I am: Now it's up to me to become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-seles/everybody-has-their-story-at-some-point-you-have-to-say-this-is-who-i/) [Monica Seles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-seles/) > [Sometimes people want to know how to write a story from the point of view of a murderer and make her sympathetic. I think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-mattison/sometimes-people-want-to-know-how-to-write-a-story-from-the-point-of/) [Alice Mattison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-mattison/) > [If the point of life is the same as the point of a story, the point of life is character transformation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-miller/if-the-point-of-life-is-the-same-as-the-point-of-a-story-the-point-of-2/) [Donald Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-miller/) > [Technology adds nothing to art. 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If I got…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-miller/if-the-point-of-life-is-the-same-as-the-point-of-a-story-the-point-of/) [Donald Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-miller/) > [If you only hear one side of the story, at some point, you have to question who the writer is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clint-smith/if-you-only-hear-one-side-of-the-story-at-some-point-you-have-to/) [Clint Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clint-smith/) > [“This story has no point but stillness itself...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-levis/this-story-has-no-point-but-stillness-itself/) [Larry Levis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-levis/) > [“How to tell a story? First find a point of view.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-mcauley/how-to-tell-a-story-first-find-a-point-of-view/) [Paul McAuley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-mcauley/) > [“A story should have a point, but a life doesn't need one. It just needs to be lived.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-sturges/a-story-should-have-a-point-but-a-life-doesn-t-need-one-it-just-needs/) [Matthew Sturges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-sturges/) ## More by Helen Garner > [Tentatively I stood a great lump of wood on the chopping block and bought the axe down on it. It flew into two perfect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-garner/tentatively-i-stood-a-great-lump-of-wood-on-the-chopping-block-and/) [Helen Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-garner/) > [To slide into the domed reading room at ten each morning, specially in summer, off the hot street outside, was a sensation as delicious…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-garner/to-slide-into-the-domed-reading-room-at-ten-each-morning-specially-in/) [Helen Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-garner/) > [“But I’ve been reading A Very Easy Death, about Simone de Beauvoir’s mother dying of cancer – it’s just brilliant. It really helped me.’…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-garner/but-i-ve-been-reading-a-very-easy-death-about-simone-de-beauvoir-s/) [Helen Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-garner/) > [“The two big cities of Australia are tonally as distinct from each other as Boston is from L.A. or Lyon from Marseilles.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-garner/the-two-big-cities-of-australia-are-tonally-as-distinct-from-each/) [Helen Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-garner/) > [It's much more interesting for me to think that taking a chunk of experience and mushing it up together with other things that are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-garner/it-s-much-more-interesting-for-me-to-think-that-taking-a-chunk-of/) [Helen Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-garner/) > [On Melbourne summer mornings the green trams go rolling in stately progress down tunnels thick with leaves: the bright air carries along the avenue…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-garner/on-melbourne-summer-mornings-the-green-trams-go-rolling-in-stately/) [Helen Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-garner/) > [It's disturbing at my age to look at a young woman's destructive behaviour and hear the echoes of it, of one's own destructiveness in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-garner/it-s-disturbing-at-my-age-to-look-at-a-young-woman-s-destructive/) [Helen Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-garner/) > [I'm very disturbed by violence against women when it is violence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-garner/i-m-very-disturbed-by-violence-against-women-when-it-is-violence/) [Helen Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-garner/) > [I just... my childhood seems, when I look back, to be largely composed of reading, lying on the bed. 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