--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Although a novel takes place in the…" description: "\"Although a novel takes place in the larger world, there's always some drive in it that is entirely personal - even if you don't know it while you're do..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb4/joan-didion-497_although_although-a-novel-takes-place-in-the-larg_755371.jpg" --- # Although a novel takes place in the larger world, there's… ![“Although a novel takes place in the larger world, there's always some drive in it that is entirely personal - even if you don't know it while you're doing it.” quote by Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb4/joan-didion-497_although_although-a-novel-takes-place-in-the-larg_755371.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb4/joan-didion-497_although_although-a-novel-takes-place-in-the-larg_755371.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb4/joan-didion-497_although_although-a-novel-takes-place-in-the-larg_755371.jpg) > “Although a novel takes place in the larger world, there's always some drive in it that is entirely personal - even if you don't know it while you're doing it.” [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Stories reflect personal drives even when not consciously recognized **In simple terms:** Personal motives shape narratives subconsciously Key Takeaway Explore hidden personal motives in creative work Themes creativity self‑discovery storytelling Mood introspective analytical Type essay literary critique When to use this quote - writing workshops - art criticism - personal journaling Key Concepts psychology narrative theory Questions to Reflect On - What personal drive fuels your current project? - How can you uncover hidden motives in your work? A Different Perspective Self‑awareness may be limited without reflection ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Drive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/drive/) [Motivation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/motivation/) [Novel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novel/) [Personal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/personal/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [This is a fundamental view of the world. It says that when you build a thing you cannot merely build that thing in isolation,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-alexander/this-is-a-fundamental-view-of-the-world-it-says-that-when-you-build-a/) [Christopher Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-alexander/) > [...the larger world lay not across oceans but within the human mind and heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-iles/the-larger-world-lay-not-across-oceans-but-within-the-human-mind-and/) [Greg Iles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-iles/) > [Well-roundedness comes not from sitting in a classroom but from experiencing the larger world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-tabarrok/well-roundedness-comes-not-from-sitting-in-a-classroom-but-from/) [Alex Tabarrok](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-tabarrok/) > [The search for God is indeed, an entirely personal undertaking… the most audacious adventure that one can dare.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-carrel/the-search-for-god-is-indeed-an-entirely-personal-undertaking-the/) [Alexis Carrel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-carrel/) > [Thresholds of pain, indignity and incapacity are entirely personal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/polly-toynbee/thresholds-of-pain-indignity-and-incapacity-are-entirely-personal/) [Polly Toynbee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/polly-toynbee/) > [Religion is entirely a personal matter. Each one could approach his Creator as he liked.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/religion-is-entirely-a-personal-matter-each-one-could-approach-his/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [I feel no desire to write a novel that takes place in the past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/i-feel-no-desire-to-write-a-novel-that-takes-place-in-the-past/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [A novel is not a play. A novel takes one reader at a time into its confidence. It can be shockingly personal. Private, even.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-jacobson/a-novel-is-not-a-play-a-novel-takes-one-reader-at-a-time-into-its/) [Howard Jacobson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-jacobson/) > [A lyrical, brave and complex novel that takes enormous risks and pulls them all off.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-straub/a-lyrical-brave-and-complex-novel-that-takes-enormous-risks-and-pulls/) [Peter Straub](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-straub/) > [Usually, when I write a novel, it takes me about 100 pages to figure out the voice of the narrator.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colson-whitehead/usually-when-i-write-a-novel-it-takes-me-about-100-pages-to-figure/) [Colson Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colson-whitehead/) > [A novel takes place over time. It's a historical narrative, and it needs to have a series of peaks and valleys and the move…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/a-novel-takes-place-over-time-it-s-a-historical-narrative-and-it/) [Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/) > [More than a building that houses books and data, the library represents a window to a larger world, the place where we've always come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/more-than-a-building-that-houses-books-and-data-the-library/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [“I think I was always interested in the larger world, even as a kid, and my experiences as a journalist only heightened that interest.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-hamilton/i-think-i-was-always-interested-in-the-larger-world-even-as-a-kid-and/) [Masha Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-hamilton/) > [My experiences growing up - my father lived in New York, so I was going out there in the summers and meeting really interesting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahershala-ali/my-experiences-growing-up-my-father-lived-in-new-york-so-i-was-going/) [Mahershala Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahershala-ali/) > [I guess I see 'Goo' half as a really New York record because I think there are a lot of really particular New York…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-ranaldo/i-guess-i-see-goo-half-as-a-really-new-york-record-because-i-think/) [Lee Ranaldo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-ranaldo/) ## More by Joan Didion > [To shift the structure of a sentence alters the meaning of that sentence, as definitely and inflexibly as the position of a camera alters…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/to-shift-the-structure-of-a-sentence-alters-the-meaning-of-that/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [I work every day. Sometimes I don't accomplish anything every day, but if I don't work every day, I get depressed and get afraid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/i-work-every-day-sometimes-i-don-t-accomplish-anything-every-day-but/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [Style is character.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/style-is-character/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [California is a place in which a boom mentality and a sense of Chekhovian loss meet in uneasy suspension.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/california-is-a-place-in-which-a-boom-mentality-and-a-sense-of/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [“I went because I was interested in the alchemy of issues.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/i-went-because-i-was-interested-in-the-alchemy-of-issues/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [“Why did I write it down? In order to remember, of course, but exactly what was it I wanted to remember? How much of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/why-did-i-write-it-down-in-order-to-remember-of-course-but-exactly/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [I no longer want reminders of what was, what got broken, what got lost, what got wasted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/i-no-longer-want-reminders-of-what-was-what-got-broken-what-got-lost/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [My mother 'gave teas' the way other mothers breathed. Her own mother 'gave teas.' All of their friends 'gave teas,' each involving butter cookies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/my-mother-gave-teas-the-way-other-mothers-breathed-her-own-mother/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [I'm not very interested in people. I recognize it in myself - there is a basic indifference toward people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/i-m-not-very-interested-in-people-i-recognize-it-in-myself-there-is-a/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [“Was there ever in anyone's life span a point free in time, devoid of memory, a point when choice was any more than sum…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/was-there-ever-in-anyone-s-life-span-a-point-free-in-time-devoid-of/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [“Research to date has shown that, like many other stressors, grief frequently leads to changes in the endocrine, immune, autonomic nervous, and cardiovascular systems;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/research-to-date-has-shown-that-like-many-other-stressors-grief/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [“By the end of the week she was thinking constantly about where her body stopped and the air began about the exact point in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/by-the-end-of-the-week-she-was-thinking-constantly-about-where-her/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [“I just can't see the upside in this," I heard myself say by way of explanation. Later he said that if John had been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/i-just-can-t-see-the-upside-in-this-i-heard-myself-say-by-way-of/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [ I read so ravenously that I would read through whole categories. I was crazy about reading biographies. \[...\] I think biographies are very urgent… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/i-read-so-ravenously-that-i-would-read-through-whole-categories-i-was/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [To those of us who remained committed mainly to the exploration of moral distinctions and ambiguities, the feminist analysis may have seemed a particularly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/to-those-of-us-who-remained-committed-mainly-to-the-exploration-of/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) [Explore all 515 Joan Didion quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) ## More Although quotes > [Everything I write is highly personal, but put in such a way that it's not dropping everything in someone's lap. 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Although it had actually developed an iPhone-style device -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noreena-hertz/when-apple-introduced-its-game-changing-iphone-in-2007-nokia-was/) [Noreena Hertz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noreena-hertz/) > [You can't do every movie - although I do a lot of them - and the thing I'm longing to do is... it's not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lance-henriksen/you-can-t-do-every-movie-although-i-do-a-lot-of-them-and-the-thing-i/) [Lance Henriksen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lance-henriksen/) > [Although I'm perceived as very optimistic and upbeat, it comes out of being the opposite of that - feeling isolated or lonely, looking for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-mcgonigal/although-i-m-perceived-as-very-optimistic-and-upbeat-it-comes-out-of/) [Jane McGonigal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-mcgonigal/) > [I was born in Jackson, Mississippi, in 1969, in a time and place where no one was saying, 'Look how far we've come,' because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-stockett/i-was-born-in-jackson-mississippi-in-1969-in-a-time-and-place-where/) [Kathryn Stockett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathryn-stockett/) > [Although we might settle for less, Heavenly Father won't, for he sees us as the glorious beings we are capable of becoming.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-b-wirthlin/although-we-might-settle-for-less-heavenly-father-won-t-for-he-sees/) [Joseph B. Wirthlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-b-wirthlin/) > [Although it is still important to develop an HIV vaccine, we have significant tools already at our disposal that can make a major impact…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/although-it-is-still-important-to-develop-an-hiv-vaccine-we-have/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [All trembling, I reached the Falls of Niagara, and oh, what a scene! My blood shudders still, although I am not a coward, at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-james-audubon/all-trembling-i-reached-the-falls-of-niagara-and-oh-what-a-scene-my/) [John James Audubon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-james-audubon/) > [I love the little garden in the back of my family's brownstone in Brooklyn. Digging out there in the dirt is a joy for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siri-hustvedt/i-love-the-little-garden-in-the-back-of-my-family-s-brownstone-in/) [Siri Hustvedt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siri-hustvedt/) > [I knew from very early on that I wanted kids. I wasn't one of those women who goes, 'Well, if it happens, it happens.'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julianne-moore/i-knew-from-very-early-on-that-i-wanted-kids-i-wasn-t-one-of-those/) [Julianne Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julianne-moore/) > [I definitely hand myself over to the hair and makeup gods of 'Girls.' Our look on the show is very specific, and it's different…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allison-williams/i-definitely-hand-myself-over-to-the-hair-and-makeup-gods-of-girls/) [Allison Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allison-williams/) > [I'm not very well known. However, the more well known you get, the more people are going to have expectations of you. Although that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sally-hawkins/i-m-not-very-well-known-however-the-more-well-known-you-get-the-more/) [Sally Hawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sally-hawkins/) > [I would spend hours absorbing every intonation, every inflection - how the singer would convey a sentiment and how it would sound coming out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kat-edmonson/i-would-spend-hours-absorbing-every-intonation-every-inflection-how/) [Kat Edmonson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kat-edmonson/) Browse all 578 Although quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Although a novel takes place in the larger world, there's always some drive in it that is entirely personal - even if you don't know it while you're doing it.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Joan Didion" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/although-a-novel-takes-place-in-the-larger-world-there-s-always-some/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Although" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/although-a-novel-takes-place-in-the-larger-world-there-s-always-some/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb4/joan-didion-497_although_although-a-novel-takes-place-in-the-larg_755371.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb4/joan-didion-497_although_although-a-novel-takes-place-in-the-larg_755371.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb4/joan-didion-497_although_although-a-novel-takes-place-in-the-larg_755371.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Although a novel takes place in the larger world, there's always some drive in it that is entirely personal…” — Joan Didion", "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": "Joan Didion", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Although a novel takes place in...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/although-a-novel-takes-place-in-the-larger-world-there-s-always-some/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/although-a-novel-takes-place-in-the-larger-world-there-s-always-some/#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 } } ] } ```