--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I think writers are very anxious." description: "\"I think writers are very anxious.\" — Helen Garner" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ca/helen-garner-12280_anxiety_i-think-writers-are-very-anxious-2219560_2219560.jpg" --- # I think writers are very anxious. ![“I think writers are very anxious.” quote by Helen Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ca/helen-garner-12280_anxiety_i-think-writers-are-very-anxious-2219560_2219560.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ca/helen-garner-12280_anxiety_i-think-writers-are-very-anxious-2219560_2219560.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ca/helen-garner-12280_anxiety_i-think-writers-are-very-anxious-2219560_2219560.jpg) > “I think writers are very anxious.” [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. Writers often experience heightened anxiety due to creative pressures and self‑criticism. **In simple terms:** Writing can be a nervous, anxious process. Key Takeaway Accept anxiety as part of creative work. Themes creativity anxiety self‑criticism Mood thoughtful introspective Type advice inspirational When to use this quote - writing sessions - deadline pressure - creative blocks Key Concepts psychology artistic process Questions to Reflect On - How do you channel nervous energy into writing? - What strategies reduce creative anxiety? A Different Perspective Anxiety can hinder productivity if unmanaged. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Anxiety](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anxiety/) [Anxious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anxious/) [Think](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/think/) [Think Writers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/think-writers/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writers/) [Writers Anxious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writers-anxious-1340824/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [In the study of management, unfortunately, many writers have been so anxious to articulate a theory in the form of, "If you do this,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clayton-christensen/in-the-study-of-management-unfortunately-many-writers-have-been-so/) [Clayton Christensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clayton-christensen/) > [Writers are always anxious, always on the run--from the telephone, from responsibilities, from the distractions of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-o-brien/writers-are-always-anxious-always-on-the-run-from-the-telephone-from/) [Edna O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-o-brien/) > [To any writer: Teach yourself to work in uncertainty. Many writers are anxious when they begin, or try something new. Even Matisse painted some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-malamud/to-any-writer-teach-yourself-to-work-in-uncertainty-many-writers-are/) [Bernard Malamud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-malamud/) > [Even though I think writers can sometimes thrive from being misread. It can give them something to push off of.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-specktor/even-though-i-think-writers-can-sometimes-thrive-from-being-misread/) [Matthew Specktor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-specktor/) > [I think a writer's job is to provoke questions. I like to think that if someone's read a book of mine, they've had -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/i-think-a-writer-s-job-is-to-provoke-questions-i-like-to-think-that/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [I do not think writers ought ever to sit down and think they must write about some cause, or theme, or something. If they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/i-do-not-think-writers-ought-ever-to-sit-down-and-think-they-must/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [I think writers have become hypnotised by the number of jokes on the page at the expense of character.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherwood-schwartz/i-think-writers-have-become-hypnotised-by-the-number-of-jokes-on-the/) [Sherwood Schwartz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherwood-schwartz/) > [I think some writers should wait for something to say.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-orner/i-think-some-writers-should-wait-for-something-to-say/) [Peter Orner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-orner/) > [I don’t think writers compete, I think they’re all doing separate things in their own style.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elmore-leonard/i-don-t-think-writers-compete-i-think-they-re-all-doing-separate/) [Elmore Leonard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elmore-leonard/) > [I think writers are the most narcissistic people. Well, I musn't say this, I like many of them, a great many of my friends…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-think-writers-are-the-most-narcissistic-people-well-i-musn-t-say/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“You're lucky to have within your grasp something that everyone envies. You can't act as though that didn't exist, as though it wasn't part…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/delphine-de-vigan/you-re-lucky-to-have-within-your-grasp-something-that-everyone-envies/) [Delphine de Vigan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/delphine-de-vigan/) > [We aren't suggesting that mental instability or unhappiness makes one a better poet, or a poet at all; and contrary to the romantic notion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorianne-laux/we-aren-t-suggesting-that-mental-instability-or-unhappiness-makes-one/) [Dorianne Laux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorianne-laux/) > [I think that if writers don't speak about real life, it's because they don't know it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-houellebecq/i-think-that-if-writers-don-t-speak-about-real-life-it-s-because-they/) [Michel Houellebecq](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-houellebecq/) > [Even speed, when we are anxious, seems like delay.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/publilius-syrus/even-speed-when-we-are-anxious-seems-like-delay/) [Publilius Syrus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/publilius-syrus/) > [“Do Not Be Anxious 25 e “Therefore I tell you,  f do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/do-not-be-anxious-25-e-therefore-i-tell-you-f-do-not-be-anxious-about/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## 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. I mean, my mother was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-garner/i-just-my-childhood-seems-when-i-look-back-to-be-largely-composed-of/) [Helen Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-garner/) > [I'm full of restlessness. Not lonely, exactly - my head is racing with ideas. But it is that old treacherous feeling that real life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-garner/i-m-full-of-restlessness-not-lonely-exactly-my-head-is-racing-with/) [Helen Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-garner/) > [“I realised I had a stream of thoughts about him which ran for the most part below conscious level. I noticed jets spurting up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-garner/i-realised-i-had-a-stream-of-thoughts-about-him-which-ran-for-the/) [Helen Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-garner/) > [“It was early summer. And everything, as it always does, began to heave and change.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-garner/it-was-early-summer-and-everything-as-it-always-does-began-to-heave/) [Helen Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-garner/) > [Maybe this is pathetic, but I still dread producing a book that doesn't earn back its advance. I hate obligations that are financially foggy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-garner/maybe-this-is-pathetic-but-i-still-dread-producing-a-book-that-doesn/) [Helen Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-garner/) > [At the time it seemed like a natural development of my interest in what was going on around me in society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-garner/at-the-time-it-seemed-like-a-natural-development-of-my-interest-in/) [Helen Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-garner/) > [Courts are supposed to be places of reason. But this, of course, is a fantasy. I mean, there is reason being used as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-garner/courts-are-supposed-to-be-places-of-reason-but-this-of-course-is-a/) [Helen Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-garner/) [Explore all 55 Helen Garner quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-garner/) ## More Anxiety quotes > [“Anything that you find yourself worrying about regularly may find you suddenly wanting unrealistic changes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nagisa-tatsumi/anything-that-you-find-yourself-worrying-about-regularly-may-find-you/) [Nagisa Tatsumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nagisa-tatsumi/) > [Bein Crazy is the least of my worries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/bein-crazy-is-the-least-of-my-worries/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [The answer to deep anxiety is the deep adoration of God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-voskamp/the-answer-to-deep-anxiety-is-the-deep-adoration-of-god/) [Ann Voskamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-voskamp/) > [“Fear of seeing a police car pull into the drive. Fear of falling asleep at night. Fear of not falling asleep. Fear of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-carver/fear-of-seeing-a-police-car-pull-into-the-drive-fear-of-falling/) [Raymond Carver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-carver/) > [I get nervous when I don't get nervous. If I'm nervous I know I'm going to have a good show.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beyonce-knowles/i-get-nervous-when-i-don-t-get-nervous-if-i-m-nervous-i-know-i-m/) [Beyonce Knowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beyonce-knowles/) > [“Every invention comes through anxiousness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rakesh-wadhwani/every-invention-comes-through-anxiousness/) [Rakesh Wadhwani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rakesh-wadhwani/) > [“Do Not Be Anxious 25 e “Therefore I tell you,  f do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/do-not-be-anxious-25-e-therefore-i-tell-you-f-do-not-be-anxious-about/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Nothing happens on its own, you have to make things happen. If you really want to come out of your stressful situation than you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/subodh-gupta/nothing-happens-on-its-own-you-have-to-make-things-happen-if-you/) [Subodh Gupta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/subodh-gupta/) > [“I guess if we're talking about my anxiety, the even truthier truth is it started way before that.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kerry-winfrey/i-guess-if-we-re-talking-about-my-anxiety-the-even-truthier-truth-is/) [Kerry Winfrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kerry-winfrey/) > [I was a very good student. Procrastinating gives me anxiety, and getting a B really ticked me off. Sure, I didn't always want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josie-loren/i-was-a-very-good-student-procrastinating-gives-me-anxiety-and/) [Josie Loren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josie-loren/) > [“The suspense: the fearful, acute suspense: of standing idly by while the life of one we dearly love, is trembling in the balance; the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/the-suspense-the-fearful-acute-suspense-of-standing-idly-by-while-the/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [The party in Alobar’s head, which agitation and anxiety were throwing, now was crashed by a notion: existence can be rearranged.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/the-party-in-alobar-s-head-which-agitation-and-anxiety-were-throwing/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [As you know, I have been very open about my struggle with social anxiety.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/summer-walker/as-you-know-i-have-been-very-open-about-my-struggle-with-social/) [Summer Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/summer-walker/) > [Anxiety is not to be managed it is a sin that needs to be repented of](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-driscoll/anxiety-is-not-to-be-managed-it-is-a-sin-that-needs-to-be-repented-of/) [Mark Driscoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-driscoll/) > [“I’ve always seen this in you, ever since you were a little girl — this hunger to love other people into their highest selves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-elisabeth/i-ve-always-seen-this-in-you-ever-since-you-were-a-little-girl-this/) [Jennifer Elisabeth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-elisabeth/) [Browse all 4,944 Anxiety quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anxiety/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I think writers are very anxious.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Helen Garner" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-garner/i-think-writers-are-very-anxious/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Anxiety" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-garner/i-think-writers-are-very-anxious/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ca/helen-garner-12280_anxiety_i-think-writers-are-very-anxious-2219560_2219560.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ca/helen-garner-12280_anxiety_i-think-writers-are-very-anxious-2219560_2219560.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ca/helen-garner-12280_anxiety_i-think-writers-are-very-anxious-2219560_2219560.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I think writers are very anxious.” — Helen Garner", "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": "Helen Garner", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-garner/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I think writers are very anxious.", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-garner/i-think-writers-are-very-anxious/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-garner/i-think-writers-are-very-anxious/#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 } } ] } ```