--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I couldn't think about novels at all. It…" description: "\"I couldn't think about novels at all. It seemed the only writing that was appropriate to that horrendous event was journalism, reportage. And, in fact,..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca3/ian-mcewan-494_appropriate_i-couldn-t-think-about-novels-at-all-it_87104.png" --- # I couldn't think about novels at all. It seemed the only… ![“I couldn't think about novels at all. It seemed the only writing that was appropriate to that horrendous event was journalism, reportage. And, in fact, I think the profession rose quite honorably to the task. Novelists require a slower turnover, I mean, in time.” quote by Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca3/ian-mcewan-494_appropriate_i-couldn-t-think-about-novels-at-all-it_87104.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca3/ian-mcewan-494_appropriate_i-couldn-t-think-about-novels-at-all-it_87104.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca3/ian-mcewan-494_appropriate_i-couldn-t-think-about-novels-at-all-it_87104.png) > “I couldn't think about novels at all. It seemed the only writing that was appropriate to that horrendous event was journalism, reportage. And, in fact, I think the profession rose quite honorably to the task. Novelists require a slower turnover, I mean, in time.” [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. In crisis, journalism becomes the appropriate medium; fiction’s slower pace is less suitable. **In simple terms:** Journalism suits urgent events Key Takeaway Rapid reporting outweighs narrative depth in emergencies Themes Crisis Response Journalism Fiction vs Non‑fiction Temporal Urgency Ethics Mood Serious Thoughtful Type Reflection Statement When to use this quote - War reporting - Natural disaster coverage - Pandemic documentation Key Concepts Media Role Time Sensitivity Practical Applications - News reporting - Historical record Questions to Reflect On - How does speed affect truth? - What is lost when narrative depth is sacrificed? A Different Perspective Fiction can also process trauma, offering long‑term reflection. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Events](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/events/) [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Journalism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/journalism/) [Novel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novel/) [Novelists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novelists/) [Profession](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/profession/) [Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rose/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [I think of novels in architectural terms. You have to enter at the gate, and this gate must be constructed in such a way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/i-think-of-novels-in-architectural-terms-you-have-to-enter-at-the/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [When I write my novels, I'm not writing them to make political points. I'm writing them because I passionately love monsters and the weird…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/china-mi-ville/when-i-write-my-novels-i-m-not-writing-them-to-make-political-points/) [China Mieville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/china-mi-ville/) > [“Producing works of art doesn't often count as appropriate intellectual work in an arts department: yet the equivalent in a science department, doing physics…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-robinson/producing-works-of-art-doesn-t-often-count-as-appropriate/) [Ken Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-robinson/) > [I can't be reading novels when I'm writing a novel, because somebody's voice creeps in. The hardest thing to do is keep the tone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-c-boyle/i-can-t-be-reading-novels-when-i-m-writing-a-novel-because-somebody-s/) [T.C. Boyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-c-boyle/) > [You do not learn how to write novels in a writing program. You learn how by leading an interesting life. Open yourself up to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/you-do-not-learn-how-to-write-novels-in-a-writing-program-you-learn/) [Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/) > [ “People without hope do not write novels … \[Writing fiction\] is a plunge into reality and it’s very shocking to the system. If the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/people-without-hope-do-not-write-novels-writing-fiction-is-a-plunge/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [I won't read novels while writing novels.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wally-lamb/i-won-t-read-novels-while-writing-novels/) [Wally Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wally-lamb/) > [You learn by writing short stories. Keep writing short stories. The money's in novels, but writing short stories keeps your writing lean and pointed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-niven/you-learn-by-writing-short-stories-keep-writing-short-stories-the/) [Larry Niven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-niven/) > [I love doing the research for the novels. For me, the writing is hard work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-cussler/i-love-doing-the-research-for-the-novels-for-me-the-writing-is-hard/) [Clive Cussler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-cussler/) > [I'm a professional. So before I published any novels, I'd always been writing stories.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jess-walter/i-m-a-professional-so-before-i-published-any-novels-i-d-always-been/) [Jess Walter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jess-walter/) > [ “\[...\]i’m not a leftist trying to smuggle in my evil message by the nefarious means of fantasy novels. I’m a science fiction and fantasy… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/china-mi-ville/i-m-not-a-leftist-trying-to-smuggle-in-my-evil-message-by-the/) [China Miéville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/china-mi-ville/) > [I do think novels are overlooked. I did write one some years ago that I think is quite good, called 'The End of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-davis/i-do-think-novels-are-overlooked-i-did-write-one-some-years-ago-that/) [Lydia Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-davis/) > [I think that novels are one of the best means that we have to communicate both with the past and with the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-barton/i-think-that-novels-are-one-of-the-best-means-that-we-have-to/) [Emily Barton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-barton/) > [I do not think novels are necessarily more worthwhile than games. A novel can be a trivial waste of time, and a game can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allegra-goodman/i-do-not-think-novels-are-necessarily-more-worthwhile-than-games-a/) [Allegra Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allegra-goodman/) > [I think of novels as houses. You live in them over the course of a long period, both as a reader and as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/i-think-of-novels-as-houses-you-live-in-them-over-the-course-of-a/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) ## More by Ian Mcewan > [“As you will see, we do not believe that artists have an obligation to strike up attitudes to the war. Indeed, they are wise…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/as-you-will-see-we-do-not-believe-that-artists-have-an-obligation-to/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [You could say that all novels are spy novels and all novelists are spy masters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/you-could-say-that-all-novels-are-spy-novels-and-all-novelists-are/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [I've never had a moment's doubt. I love you. I believe in you completely. You are my dearest one. My reason for life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/i-ve-never-had-a-moment-s-doubt-i-love-you-i-believe-in-you/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“It is shaming sometimes, how the body will not, or cannot, lie about emotions.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/it-is-shaming-sometimes-how-the-body-will-not-or-cannot-lie-about/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“While my friends struggled and calculated, I reached a solution by a set of floating steps that were partly visual, partly just a feeling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/while-my-friends-struggled-and-calculated-i-reached-a-solution-by-a/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“Once, on a walk by a river- Eskdale in low reddish sunlight, with a dusting of snow- his daughter quoted to him an opening…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/once-on-a-walk-by-a-river-eskdale-in-low-reddish-sunlight-with-a/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“Perhaps it's one of those cases of a microcosm giving you the whole world. Like a spode dinner plate. Or a single cell. Or,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/perhaps-it-s-one-of-those-cases-of-a-microcosm-giving-you-the-whole/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [Who you get, and how it works out- there's so much luck involved, as well as the million branching consequences of your conscious choice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/who-you-get-and-how-it-works-out-there-s-so-much-luck-involved-as/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“On Chesil Beach he could have called out to Florence, he could have gone after her. He did not know, or would not have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/on-chesil-beach-he-could-have-called-out-to-florence-he-could-have/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [It was always the view of my parents...that hot weather encouraged loose morals among young people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/it-was-always-the-view-of-my-parents-that-hot-weather-encouraged/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [I apologize for being obvious, but every time I watch the curtain come down on even a halfway decent production of a Shakespeare play…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/i-apologize-for-being-obvious-but-every-time-i-watch-the-curtain-come/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [I would rather be physically disabled obviously than mentally. I would rather be paraplegic than nuts. And it is a terrifying prospect and actually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/i-would-rather-be-physically-disabled-obviously-than-mentally-i-would/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“Words, as I'm beginning to appreciate, can make things true.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/words-as-i-m-beginning-to-appreciate-can-make-things-true/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [I did not kill my father, but I sometimes felt I had helped him on his way. 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I don't think that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-edwards/i-would-not-under-any-circumstances-try-to-impose-my-personal-faith/) [John Edwards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-edwards/) > [I have no policy, for or against: only a personal style. Which is to say, I use them when I think it's appropriate to;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-stross/i-have-no-policy-for-or-against-only-a-personal-style-which-is-to-say/) [Charles Stross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-stross/) > [While the intelligence profession oftentimes demands secrecy, it is critically important that there be a full and open discourse on intelligence matters with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-o-brennan/while-the-intelligence-profession-oftentimes-demands-secrecy-it-is/) [John O. 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