--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What I strive to do is make my characters…" description: "\"What I strive to do is make my characters seem like real people so that the reader experiences them as people - that's something I've been working on a..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d98/jaume-cabre-27345_books_what-i-strive-to-do-is-make-my-character_9923.jpg" --- # What I strive to do is make my characters seem like real… ![“What I strive to do is make my characters seem like real people so that the reader experiences them as people - that's something I've been working on all of my life. I couldn't have written this novel at twenty or thirty, for technical reasons - I didn't have the technique then - but above all…” quote by Jaume Cabre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d98/jaume-cabre-27345_books_what-i-strive-to-do-is-make-my-character_9923.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d98/jaume-cabre-27345_books_what-i-strive-to-do-is-make-my-character_9923.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d98/jaume-cabre-27345_books_what-i-strive-to-do-is-make-my-character_9923.jpg) > “What I strive to do is make my characters seem like real people so that the reader experiences them as people - that's something I've been working on all of my life. I couldn't have written this novel at twenty or thirty, for technical reasons - I didn't have the technique then - but above all because I didn't have the life experiences I have now at sixty-seven.” [Jaume Cabre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaume-cabre/) ## 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 emphasizes that authentic characters arise from lived experience and refined craft, which only time and maturity can provide. **In simple terms:** Real characters need life experience and technique. Key Takeaway Maturity enriches storytelling. Themes authenticity experience craft age character development Mood reflective inspirational Type advice personal testimony When to use this quote - writing workshops - novel drafting - career retrospectives Key Concepts life experience technical skill Practical Applications - creative writing instruction - mentor feedback Questions to Reflect On - How does personal history shape narrative voice? - Can younger writers achieve similar depth without lived experience? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Experiences People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/experiences-people-340433/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life experience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-experience/) [Life experiences](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-experiences/) [Make Characters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/make-characters-250401/) [Novel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novel/) [Novel Thirty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novel-thirty-359630/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Real](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real/) [Real people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real-people/) [Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/) [Strive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strive/) [Written Novel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/written-novel-359629/) ## Related quotes > [For me there is a poesis, a poetics, around the trope of the road that is embedded within many life experiences of the people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-waldman/for-me-there-is-a-poesis-a-poetics-around-the-trope-of-the-road-that/) [Anne Waldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-waldman/) > [No writer, I believe, should attempt a novel before he is thirty, and not then unless he has been hopelessly and helplessly involved in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/no-writer-i-believe-should-attempt-a-novel-before-he-is-thirty-and/) [Pearl S. 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In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassadee-pope/i-have-ventured-out-and-written-about-real-life-experiences-that-i/) [Cassadee Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassadee-pope/) > [ Now I do feel like I have something to say. 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It turns out that you can.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaume-cabre/for-someone-like-you-who-s-a-british-citizen-this-might-seem-strange/) [Jaume Cabre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaume-cabre/) > [I'm interested in how memory and power come together in evil. These are obsessions of mine that appear throughout, like the theme of music.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaume-cabre/i-m-interested-in-how-memory-and-power-come-together-in-evil-these/) [Jaume Cabre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaume-cabre/) > [Research is necessary. However, you need to make sure you don't fall into its trap. You need to have time left for writing. To…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaume-cabre/research-is-necessary-however-you-need-to-make-sure-you-don-t-fall/) [Jaume Cabre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaume-cabre/) > [The essence of a novelist is to invent things and speak the truth, at the same time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaume-cabre/the-essence-of-a-novelist-is-to-invent-things-and-speak-the-truth-at/) [Jaume Cabre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaume-cabre/) > [Each year, in this world, several languages do die out. There are certain languages that have their survival assured for many years, such as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaume-cabre/each-year-in-this-world-several-languages-do-die-out-there-are/) [Jaume Cabre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaume-cabre/) > [I'm always reading, and you learn a lot by reading. 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Even if they only appear once, they still need to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaume-cabre/i-take-all-my-characters-very-seriously-the-main-secondary-and/) [Jaume Cabre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaume-cabre/) [Explore all 15 Jaume Cabre quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaume-cabre/) ## More Books quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! 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