--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I was supposed to have a script, and had…" description: "\"I was supposed to have a script, and had mislaid it. I was supposed to hear cues, and no longer did. I was meant to know the plot, but all I knew was w..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/294/joan-didion-497_cutting_i-was-supposed-to-have-a-script-and-had_1951920.jpg" --- # I was supposed to have a script, and had mislaid it. I was… ![“I was supposed to have a script, and had mislaid it. I was supposed to hear cues, and no longer did. I was meant to know the plot, but all I knew was what I saw: flash pictures in variable sequence, images with no 'meaning' beyond their temporary arrangement, not a movie but a cutting-room…” quote by Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/294/joan-didion-497_cutting_i-was-supposed-to-have-a-script-and-had_1951920.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/294/joan-didion-497_cutting_i-was-supposed-to-have-a-script-and-had_1951920.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/294/joan-didion-497_cutting_i-was-supposed-to-have-a-script-and-had_1951920.jpg) > “I was supposed to have a script, and had mislaid it. I was supposed to hear cues, and no longer did. I was meant to know the plot, but all I knew was what I saw: flash pictures in variable sequence, images with no 'meaning' beyond their temporary arrangement, not a movie but a cutting-room experience.” [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. She reflects on losing a script and experiencing life as fragmented, fleeting images. **In simple terms:** Life can feel like disjointed snapshots. Key Takeaway Embrace uncertainty and find meaning in moments. Themes uncertainty memory creativity perception Mood reflective melancholic introspective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - writing process - personal crisis - artistic experimentation Key Concepts fragmentation subjective reality narrative construction Questions to Reflect On - How do you create coherence from chaos? - What does “meaning” mean in a fragmented world? A Different Perspective The lack of a clear narrative can hinder coherence. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cutting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cutting/) [Flash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flash/) [Know Plot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/know-plot-774468/) [Meant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meant/) [Mislaid Supposed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mislaid-supposed-3172376/) [Movie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/movie/) [Plot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/plot/) [Rooms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rooms/) [Saws](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/saws/) [Script](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/script/) [Script Mislaid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/script-mislaid-3172375/) [Scripts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scripts/) [Supposed Script](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/supposed-script-3172374/) [Temporary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/temporary/) [Variables](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/variables/) ## Related quotes > [Don't always worry about what your next line is supposed to be. There is no script. Live your life. Be in this moment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-costolo/don-t-always-worry-about-what-your-next-line-is-supposed-to-be-there/) [Dick Costolo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-costolo/) > [I learned everything I know about plot from Dame Agatha (Christie).](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/connie-willis/i-learned-everything-i-know-about-plot-from-dame-agatha-christie/) [Connie Willis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/connie-willis/) > [I tend not to know what the plot is or the story is or even the theme. Those things come later, for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/i-tend-not-to-know-what-the-plot-is-or-the-story-is-or-even-the-theme/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) > [“The plot thickens…I didn’t even know we had a plot on this trip.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thea-harrison/the-plot-thickens-i-didn-t-even-know-we-had-a-plot-on-this-trip/) [Thea Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thea-harrison/) > [Younger people have greatest fears. Why is that? Because they don't know the plot. They don't know their own individual plot... they don't know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/younger-people-have-greatest-fears-why-is-that-because-they-don-t/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“With great goals, comes the high costs; both fixed and variable. Time is the fixed cost; efforts, variable. Spend passionately.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrmn-ca-vikram-verma/with-great-goals-comes-the-high-costs-both-fixed-and-variable-time-is/) [Vikrmn: CA Vikram Verma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrmn-ca-vikram-verma/) > [I believe that it may be normal, healthy, and even productive to experience mild to moderate depression from time to time as part of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-weil/i-believe-that-it-may-be-normal-healthy-and-even-productive-to/) [Andrew Weil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-weil/) > [We’re never gonna understand women. They’re way too complex. You’ve got too many variables to consider. PMS, bad hair days, miscellaneous mood swings .…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susane-colasanti/we-re-never-gonna-understand-women-they-re-way-too-complex-you-ve-got/) [Susane Colasanti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susane-colasanti/) > [Because what happens is, as the economy suffers, tax revenues go down. 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They do not contain values; they grasp them—two variables can refer to the same value.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marijn-haverbeke/you-should-imagine-variables-as-tentacles-rather-than-boxes-they-do/) [Marijn Haverbeke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marijn-haverbeke/) > [Science manipulates things and gives up living in them. It makes its own limited models of things; operating upon these indices or variables to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-merleau-ponty/science-manipulates-things-and-gives-up-living-in-them-it-makes-its/) [Maurice Merleau-Ponty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-merleau-ponty/) > [As a social and as a personal force, religion has become a dependent variable. It does not originate; it reacts. It does not denounce;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-wright-mills/as-a-social-and-as-a-personal-force-religion-has-become-a-dependent/) [C. Wright Mills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-wright-mills/) > [As the variable capital always stays in the hands of the capitalist in some form or other, it cannot be claimed in any way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/as-the-variable-capital-always-stays-in-the-hands-of-the-capitalist/) [Karl Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-marx/) ## 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 Cutting quotes > [“I locked the door and turned on the water to fill the tub. 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It's celebrity meets pornography meets politics -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-grant/i-didn-t-understand-southland-tales-script-at-all-is-there-a-single/) [Beth Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-grant/) > [Confidence comes from cutting yourself some slack.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tess-daly/confidence-comes-from-cutting-yourself-some-slack/) [Tess Daly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tess-daly/) > [The nineteenth century lynching mob cuts off ears, toes, and fingers, strips off flesh, and distributes portions of the body as souvenirs among the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ida-b-wells/the-nineteenth-century-lynching-mob-cuts-off-ears-toes-and-fingers/) [Ida B. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ida-b-wells/) > [There ain't no such thing as black Muslims. That's how they tried to cut off all my brothers in the rest of the world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muhammad-ali/there-ain-t-no-such-thing-as-black-muslims-that-s-how-they-tried-to/) [Muhammad Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muhammad-ali/) > [ We have no clear ideas of the agency of \[demonic\] spirits, nor is it necessary. The Scripture says little to satisfy our curiosity; but… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-newton/we-have-no-clear-ideas-of-the-agency-of-demonic-spirits-nor-is-it/) [John Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-newton/) > [The child who ran weeping to you with a cut finger is now brought home, smiling gamely, with a broken collarbone and incredible contusions-…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pam-brown/the-child-who-ran-weeping-to-you-with-a-cut-finger-is-now-brought/) [Pam Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pam-brown/) > [Somewhere somebody must have some sense. 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Obsolete works.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-negroponte/what-s-the-difference-between-obsolete-and-cutting-edge-obsolete-works/) [Nicholas Negroponte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-negroponte/) > [Geometry, which should only obey Physics, when united with it sometimes commands it. If it happens that the question which we wish to examine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-le-rond-d-alembert/geometry-which-should-only-obey-physics-when-united-with-it-sometimes/) [Jean le Rond d'Alembert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-le-rond-d-alembert/) [Browse all 6,010 Cutting quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cutting/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I was supposed to have a script, and had mislaid it. I was supposed to hear cues, and no longer did. 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