--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: As a writer, I find it a literal…" description: "\"As a writer, I find it a literal impossibility to disengage from whatever the location might be, given how everything that eventually transpires as par..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f6/jack-driscoll-30323_cease-to-exist_as-a-writer-i-find-it-a-literal-impossib_483902.jpg" --- # As a writer, I find it a literal impossibility to… ![“As a writer, I find it a literal impossibility to disengage from whatever the location might be, given how everything that eventually transpires as part of the ongoing narrative is informed by it. In other words, try relocating the stories elsewhere, and what's the effect? They almost immediately…” quote by Jack Driscoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f6/jack-driscoll-30323_cease-to-exist_as-a-writer-i-find-it-a-literal-impossib_483902.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f6/jack-driscoll-30323_cease-to-exist_as-a-writer-i-find-it-a-literal-impossib_483902.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f6/jack-driscoll-30323_cease-to-exist_as-a-writer-i-find-it-a-literal-impossib_483902.jpg) > “As a writer, I find it a literal impossibility to disengage from whatever the location might be, given how everything that eventually transpires as part of the ongoing narrative is informed by it. In other words, try relocating the stories elsewhere, and what's the effect? They almost immediately cease to exist.” [Jack Driscoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-driscoll/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A writer's setting shapes every element of the story; moving it erases the narrative's foundation. **In simple terms:** Setting determines story; change it, story collapses. Key Takeaway Respect and fully develop the setting. Themes writing setting creativity Mood reflective thoughtful Type analytical inspirational When to use this quote - novel drafting - screenwriting - worldbuilding - roleplaying games - creative workshops Key Concepts Narrative theory environmental determinism Questions to Reflect On - How does your environment influence your ideas? - Can you write a scene in an unfamiliar place? A Different Perspective Changing setting may disrupt plot but can also inspire new perspectives. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cease to exist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cease-to-exist/) [Impossibility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/impossibility/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [“They put forth as little effort as possible and then step it up when you try to disengage.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jackson-mackenzie/they-put-forth-as-little-effort-as-possible-and-then-step-it-up-when/) [Jackson MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jackson-mackenzie/) > [“He thought walking away was a good thing to do. A mature, manly thing to do. To disengage and give her time to calm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liane-moriarty/he-thought-walking-away-was-a-good-thing-to-do-a-mature-manly-thing/) [Liane Moriarty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liane-moriarty/) > [“According to a Gallup poll conducted in 2013 called “State of the American Workplace,” when our bosses completely ignore us, 40 percent of us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-sinek/according-to-a-gallup-poll-conducted-in-2013-called-state-of-the/) [Simon Sinek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-sinek/) > [“This sort of intuition can only occur when you disengage the logic circuits from the problem and give the deep mind the opportunity to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henepola-gunaratana/this-sort-of-intuition-can-only-occur-when-you-disengage-the-logic/) [Henepola Gunaratana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henepola-gunaratana/) > [Imagine your shadow burning off the page / As the dear world and the dead word disengage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-paterson/imagine-your-shadow-burning-off-the-page-as-the-dear-world-and-the/) [Don Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-paterson/) > [You can't disengage yourself from that game if you are completely unaware of what people out there might be doing, you're just going to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-greene/you-can-t-disengage-yourself-from-that-game-if-you-are-completely/) [Robert Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-greene/) > [“Exploration means we disengage from a current focus to search for new possibilities, and allows flexibility, discovery,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-goleman/exploration-means-we-disengage-from-a-current-focus-to-search-for-new/) [Daniel Goleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-goleman/) > [“To remember is to disengage from the present.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-stein/to-remember-is-to-disengage-from-the-present/) [Garth Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-stein/) > [Nothing is more bothersome to me than retiring. Weird things happen when you disengage; first you get negative, then you start telling people about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-r-swindoll/nothing-is-more-bothersome-to-me-than-retiring-weird-things-happen/) [Charles R. Swindoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-r-swindoll/) > [“memory is time folding back on itself. To remember is to disengage from the present.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-stein/memory-is-time-folding-back-on-itself-to-remember-is-to-disengage/) [Garth Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-stein/) > [People tend to believe that to be modern you have to disengage from your heritage, but it's not true.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mozah-bint-nasser-al-missned/people-tend-to-believe-that-to-be-modern-you-have-to-disengage-from/) [Mozah bint Nasser Al Missned](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mozah-bint-nasser-al-missned/) > [“Disengagement is the issue underlying the majority of problems I see in families, schools, communities, and organizations and it takes many forms, including the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bren-brown/disengagement-is-the-issue-underlying-the-majority-of-problems-i-see/) [Brené Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bren-brown/) > [It is for little souls, that truckle under the weight of affairs, not to know how clearly to disengage themselves, and not to know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/it-is-for-little-souls-that-truckle-under-the-weight-of-affairs-not/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [“we perish because we follow other men's examples: we should be cured of this if we were to disengage ourselves from the herd;”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca/we-perish-because-we-follow-other-men-s-examples-we-should-be-cured/) [Seneca](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca/) > [ \[M\]emory is time folding back on itself. To remember is to disengage from the present. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-stein/m-emory-is-time-folding-back-on-itself-to-remember-is-to-disengage/) [Garth Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-stein/) ## More by Jack Driscoll > [Jose Ortega y Gasset says, "Tell me the landscape in which you live, and I will tell you who you are." Asserting that character/community…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-driscoll/jose-ortega-y-gasset-says-tell-me-the-landscape-in-which-you-live-and/) [Jack Driscoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-driscoll/) > [I joke sometimes that I live a protracted adolescence, that a part of me will always be twelve years old.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-driscoll/i-joke-sometimes-that-i-live-a-protracted-adolescence-that-a-part-of/) [Jack Driscoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-driscoll/) > [Actors! They travel the world and all they see is a mirror.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-driscoll/actors-they-travel-the-world-and-all-they-see-is-a-mirror/) [Jack Driscoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-driscoll/) > [Once a poet always a poet, and even though I haven't written poems for a long time, I can nonetheless say that everything I've…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-driscoll/once-a-poet-always-a-poet-and-even-though-i-haven-t-written-poems-for/) [Jack Driscoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-driscoll/) > [As David Roderick says about writing, "It's not the tale that pleases, it's the telling," and I could not agree more.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-driscoll/as-david-roderick-says-about-writing-it-s-not-the-tale-that-pleases/) [Jack Driscoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-driscoll/) > [I'm always looking for poetry's place in the prose. For that moment, let's say, that arrests time, or that sentence in which the musical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-driscoll/i-m-always-looking-for-poetry-s-place-in-the-prose-for-that-moment/) [Jack Driscoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-driscoll/) > [I can't really recreate or reconstruct exactly how or from where any of my characters originate, young or old, though chances are at least…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-driscoll/i-can-t-really-recreate-or-reconstruct-exactly-how-or-from-where-any/) [Jack Driscoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-driscoll/) > [Nothing is more fatiguing than winter, the extreme and unrelenting snow and below zero temperatures, and the seemingly unbearable sameness of the days without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-driscoll/nothing-is-more-fatiguing-than-winter-the-extreme-and-unrelenting/) [Jack Driscoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-driscoll/) > [I began as a poet, moved to short fiction, then to novel writing, and, for the past twelve years, back to stories. I sometimes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-driscoll/i-began-as-a-poet-moved-to-short-fiction-then-to-novel-writing-and/) [Jack Driscoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-driscoll/) > [I am by nature not a list-keeper, but I do keep lists of names and add at least one or two every single day…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-driscoll/i-am-by-nature-not-a-list-keeper-but-i-do-keep-lists-of-names-and-add/) [Jack Driscoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-driscoll/) > [When Robert Bly visited Interlochen Center for the Arts so many years ago, he spoke to the creative writing majors and said, "The eye…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-driscoll/when-robert-bly-visited-interlochen-center-for-the-arts-so-many-years/) [Jack Driscoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-driscoll/) > [If I don't read, I get lonely. If I don't write, I forget who I am.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-driscoll/if-i-don-t-read-i-get-lonely-if-i-don-t-write-i-forget-who-i-am/) [Jack Driscoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-driscoll/) > [I was once referred to in a Kirkus review as a "northern Michigan version of Andre Dubus." My editor called me after the review…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-driscoll/i-was-once-referred-to-in-a-kirkus-review-as-a-northern-michigan/) [Jack Driscoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-driscoll/) > [First of all, I don't think of myself as a northern Michigan writer. I think of myself as an American writer who happens -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-driscoll/first-of-all-i-don-t-think-of-myself-as-a-northern-michigan-writer-i/) [Jack Driscoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-driscoll/) > [Compassion is the belief that things might improve, and even when there's little, if anything, to sustain and engender that belief. It's the place…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-driscoll/compassion-is-the-belief-that-things-might-improve-and-even-when/) [Jack Driscoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-driscoll/) [Explore all 17 Jack Driscoll quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-driscoll/) ## More Cease to exist quotes > [“In the end, we are left with this painful conundrum: we only need DEI initiatives because we don’t truly have a society that values…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-yako/in-the-end-we-are-left-with-this-painful-conundrum-we-only-need-dei/) [Louis Yako](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-yako/) > [There has always been war. War is raging throughout the world at the present moment. And there is little reason to believe that war…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-nachtwey/there-has-always-been-war-war-is-raging-throughout-the-world-at-the/) [James Nachtwey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-nachtwey/) > [“The eyes are one of the most powerful tools a woman can have. With one look, she can relay the most intimate message. After…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-salaiz/the-eyes-are-one-of-the-most-powerful-tools-a-woman-can-have-with-one/) [Jennifer Salaiz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-salaiz/) > [The Democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-democracy-will-cease-to-exist-when-you-take-away-from-those-who/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Let me say only that these vehicles float a few inches off the ground. No animals draw them. No steam or chemical fuels them.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-k-jemisin/let-me-say-only-that-these-vehicles-float-a-few-inches-off-the-ground/) [N.K. Jemisin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-k-jemisin/) > [“could change the past and … cease to exist.” “But that’s the nature of risk, isn’t it? You gamble everything on the slenderest of hopes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-kate/could-change-the-past-and-cease-to-exist-but-that-s-the-nature-of/) [Lauren Kate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-kate/) > [Honesty is the cornerstone of all success, without which confidence and ability to perform shall cease to exist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-kay-ash/honesty-is-the-cornerstone-of-all-success-without-which-confidence/) [Mary Kay Ash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-kay-ash/) > [ “Tags \[distinctive agent features observable by other agents\] almost always define the network by delimiting the critical interactions, the major connections. Tags acquire this… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-h-holland/tags-distinctive-agent-features-observable-by-other-agents-almost/) John H. Holland > [If we one day cease to exist, what will be remarkable is that we were ever here at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-harkaway/if-we-one-day-cease-to-exist-what-will-be-remarkable-is-that-we-were/) [Nick Harkaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-harkaway/) > [“...Juliana. Should you cease to exist, so would I.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-collins/juliana-should-you-cease-to-exist-so-would-i/) [Kathleen Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-collins/) > [Religion, ideology, resources, land, spite, love or just because¦ No matter how pathetic the reason, its enough to start war. War will never cease…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/religion-ideology-resources-land-spite-love-or-just-because-no-matter/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The Charcoal Sky Sometimes you go to the wrong place, but the right way comes and finds you. It might make you trip over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-zusak/the-charcoal-sky-sometimes-you-go-to-the-wrong-place-but-the-right/) [Markus Zusak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/markus-zusak/) > [“The Dusk follows you as you go through it. If it touches you, you cease to exist, so one wrong turn down a dead-end,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/the-dusk-follows-you-as-you-go-through-it-if-it-touches-you-you-cease/) [David Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) > [“She was too compelling to look at directly. Bright like the sun, bright and terrible. Only one other being could look upon her, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shana-abe/she-was-too-compelling-to-look-at-directly-bright-like-the-sun-bright/) [Shana Abe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shana-abe/) > [There are in France some fifty thousand young men of good birth and fairly well off who are encouraged to live a life of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-de-maupassant/there-are-in-france-some-fifty-thousand-young-men-of-good-birth-and/) [Guy de Maupassant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-de-maupassant/) [Browse all 215 Cease to exist quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cease-to-exist/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "As a writer, I find it a literal impossibility to disengage from whatever the location might be, given how everything that eventually transpires as part of the ongoing narrative is informed by it. In other words, try relocating the stories elsewhere, and what's the effect? 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