--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: As a writer, even as a child, long before…" description: "\"As a writer, even as a child, long before what I wrote began to be published, I developed a sense that meaning itself was resident in the rhythms of wo..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d2/joan-didion-497_children_as-a-writer-even-as-a-child-long-before_394925.jpg" --- # As a writer, even as a child, long before what I wrote… ![“As a writer, even as a child, long before what I wrote began to be published, I developed a sense that meaning itself was resident in the rhythms of words and sentences and paragraphs...The way I write is who I am, or have become...” quote by Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d2/joan-didion-497_children_as-a-writer-even-as-a-child-long-before_394925.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d2/joan-didion-497_children_as-a-writer-even-as-a-child-long-before_394925.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d2/joan-didion-497_children_as-a-writer-even-as-a-child-long-before_394925.jpg) > “As a writer, even as a child, long before what I wrote began to be published, I developed a sense that meaning itself was resident in the rhythms of words and sentences and paragraphs...The way I write is who I am, or have become...” [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. Writing reflects personal identity and meaning, shaped by rhythm and structure. **In simple terms:** Writing reveals who you are through its rhythm. Key Takeaway Use writing to explore and express self. Themes creativity identity language Mood reflective introspective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - journaling - creative writing - teaching - therapy Key Concepts narrative rhythm self‑reflection Questions to Reflect On - How does your writing style mirror your life? - What rhythms help you think clearly? A Different Perspective Over‑analysis can stifle spontaneity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Rhythm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rhythm/) [Who i am](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/who-i-am/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [“This is my attempt to make sense of the period that followed, weeks and then months that cut loose any fixed idea I had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/this-is-my-attempt-to-make-sense-of-the-period-that-followed-weeks/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [“The neon orange orb sat low in the sky, slowly breaking free of the horizon like the waking memory of a dream. The salty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/the-neon-orange-orb-sat-low-in-the-sky-slowly-breaking-free-of-the/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) > [It was only as I wrote about it that I began to find paths of access to feelings that were intolerable to me then.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/it-was-only-as-i-wrote-about-it-that-i-began-to-find-paths-of-access/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [Because music is a language unto itself, when I'm writing, I need silence. I need to hear the music and the rhythms of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-wiggins/because-music-is-a-language-unto-itself-when-i-m-writing-i-need/) [Marianne Wiggins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-wiggins/) > [The sounds and rhythms of words are really important to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-almond/the-sounds-and-rhythms-of-words-are-really-important-to-me/) [David Almond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-almond/) > [I have a more developed sense of my priorities. Life has so much more meaning now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mariska-hargitay/i-have-a-more-developed-sense-of-my-priorities-life-has-so-much-more/) [Mariska Hargitay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mariska-hargitay/) > [“my sense of social decency has been more developed than my sense of death. For”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/my-sense-of-social-decency-has-been-more-developed-than-my-sense-of/) [Gabriel García Márquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/) > [I have a very highly developed sense of denial.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gwyneth-paltrow/i-have-a-very-highly-developed-sense-of-denial/) [Gwyneth Paltrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gwyneth-paltrow/) > [“I tell myself now, that ever since I was little my sense of social decency has been more developed than my sense of death.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/i-tell-myself-now-that-ever-since-i-was-little-my-sense-of-social/) [Gabriel García Márquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/) > [Touch is our most highly developed sense when we are born, and it remains a fundamental mode of communication throughout a baby's first year…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-mlodinow/touch-is-our-most-highly-developed-sense-when-we-are-born-and-it/) [Leonard Mlodinow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-mlodinow/) > [A well-developed sense of self is a necessary if not sufficient condition of your well-being. Its presence does not guarantee fulfillment, but its absence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-branden/a-well-developed-sense-of-self-is-a-necessary-if-not-sufficient/) [Nathaniel Branden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-branden/) > [Dramatic. A well developed sense of the dramatic has values beyond what people usually imagine. One of these is to realise the limitations of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idries-shah/dramatic-a-well-developed-sense-of-the-dramatic-has-values-beyond/) [Idries Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idries-shah/) > [What we've learned is there's no right way to write a song.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-tedeschi/what-we-ve-learned-is-there-s-no-right-way-to-write-a-song/) [Susan Tedeschi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-tedeschi/) > [I fortunately have a good memor, and that helps a lot in the way I write.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruskin-bond/i-fortunately-have-a-good-memor-and-that-helps-a-lot-in-the-way-i/) [Ruskin Bond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruskin-bond/) > [Hemingway said the only way to write about a place is to leave it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-guterson/hemingway-said-the-only-way-to-write-about-a-place-is-to-leave-it/) [David Guterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-guterson/) ## 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 Children quotes > [I am certain that children always know more than they are able to tell, and that makes the big difference between them and adults,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lusseyran/i-am-certain-that-children-always-know-more-than-they-are-able-to/) [Jacques Lusseyran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lusseyran/) > [Behind every successful child is an adult who believed in him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-warren/behind-every-successful-child-is-an-adult-who-believed-in-him/) [Rick Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-warren/) > [I believe in freedom to do what you want if you aren't hurting others, but pictures of obese protesters giving their children big gulps.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-defranco/i-believe-in-freedom-to-do-what-you-want-if-you-aren-t-hurting-others/) [Philip DeFranco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-defranco/) > [If the audience likes your work, if they like you, they don't think whether you are married or have children or not. I made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dimple-kapadia/if-the-audience-likes-your-work-if-they-like-you-they-don-t-think/) [Dimple Kapadia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dimple-kapadia/) > [It doesnt seem to me strange that children should like the macabre, the sensational, and the forbidden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-hecht/it-doesnt-seem-to-me-strange-that-children-should-like-the-macabre/) [Anthony Hecht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-hecht/) > [Let children support their parents or be imprisoned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/let-children-support-their-parents-or-be-imprisoned/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Gratitude isn't just a feeling, it's an action. Expressing gratitude by writing in a journal, taking a photo, or shooting a video creates a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janice-kaplan/gratitude-isn-t-just-a-feeling-it-s-an-action-expressing-gratitude-by/) [Janice Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janice-kaplan/) > [My embarrassing confession is that my father is a 'Camelot: The Musical' obsessive. So as a child, when we were going to visit relatives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-chibnall/my-embarrassing-confession-is-that-my-father-is-a-camelot-the-musical/) [Chris Chibnall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-chibnall/) > [I have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [My school was one of the most beautiful places a child can grow up in. You are surrounded by nature - cats, dogs, birds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amala-akkineni/my-school-was-one-of-the-most-beautiful-places-a-child-can-grow-up-in/) [Amala Akkineni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amala-akkineni/) > [A lesser complaint: hair extensions. There are moments on 'All My Children' when half the women actors, young and old, seem to be afflicted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-paglia/a-lesser-complaint-hair-extensions-there-are-moments-on-all-my/) [Camille Paglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-paglia/) > [As a child, I had a lot of older gay men taking care of me. There's a trust there. I feel like little girls…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-cho/as-a-child-i-had-a-lot-of-older-gay-men-taking-care-of-me-there-s-a/) [Margaret Cho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-cho/) > [If my child had prejudice in his head, I'd be ashamed. I would see it as my failure as a parent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/if-my-child-had-prejudice-in-his-head-i-d-be-ashamed-i-would-see-it/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [“Children's lives are always beginning and adults' lives are always ending. Or is it the opposite? Your childhood is always ending and your adult…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-espach/children-s-lives-are-always-beginning-and-adults-lives-are-always/) [Alison Espach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-espach/) > [As a child I was very involved with sports and I knew at age 9 that I wanted to be an Olympic champion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marion-jones/as-a-child-i-was-very-involved-with-sports-and-i-knew-at-age-9-that-i/) [Marion Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marion-jones/) [Browse all 62,396 Children quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "As a writer, even as a child, long before what I wrote began to be published, I developed a sense that meaning itself was resident in the rhythms of words and sentences and paragraphs...The way I write is who I am, or have become...", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Joan Didion" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/as-a-writer-even-as-a-child-long-before-what-i-wrote-began-to-be/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Children" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/as-a-writer-even-as-a-child-long-before-what-i-wrote-began-to-be/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d2/joan-didion-497_children_as-a-writer-even-as-a-child-long-before_394925.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d2/joan-didion-497_children_as-a-writer-even-as-a-child-long-before_394925.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d2/joan-didion-497_children_as-a-writer-even-as-a-child-long-before_394925.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“As a writer, even as a child, long before what I wrote began to be published, I developed a sense that…” — 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": "As a writer, even as a...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/as-a-writer-even-as-a-child-long-before-what-i-wrote-began-to-be/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/as-a-writer-even-as-a-child-long-before-what-i-wrote-began-to-be/#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 } } ] } ```