--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Let me tell you one thing about why…" description: "\"Let me tell you one thing about why writers write: had I known the answer to any of these questions I would never have needed to write a novel.\" — Joan..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb6/joan-didion-497_answers_let-me-tell-you-one-thing-about-why-writ_2642006.jpg" --- # Let me tell you one thing about why writers write: had I… ![“Let me tell you one thing about why writers write: had I known the answer to any of these questions I would never have needed to write a novel.” quote by Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb6/joan-didion-497_answers_let-me-tell-you-one-thing-about-why-writ_2642006.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb6/joan-didion-497_answers_let-me-tell-you-one-thing-about-why-writ_2642006.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb6/joan-didion-497_answers_let-me-tell-you-one-thing-about-why-writ_2642006.jpg) > “Let me tell you one thing about why writers write: had I known the answer to any of these questions I would never have needed to write a novel.” [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. Writers write because answers are unknown, not to confirm known truths. **In simple terms:** Write to explore unknowns. Key Takeaway Embrace uncertainty in writing. Themes creativity curiosity exploration Mood introspective thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - fiction writing - research - personal essays Key Concepts existential inquiry literary purpose Questions to Reflect On - What question drives your writing? - How does uncertainty fuel your work? A Different Perspective Over‑analysis may hinder creative flow. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Novel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novel/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writers/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [I just have a thing for writers. Maybe it because I'm just so not a writer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-clarkson/i-just-have-a-thing-for-writers-maybe-it-because-i-m-just-so-not-a/) [Patricia Clarkson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-clarkson/) > [The other thing - and writers can say whatever they want - is casting. You need to find a person who can inhabit that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-weiner/the-other-thing-and-writers-can-say-whatever-they-want-is-casting-you/) [Matthew Weiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-weiner/) > [Despite my vast interest in other universes and new ideas and space, travel and time travel, which by the way I think is impossible,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-jose-farmer/despite-my-vast-interest-in-other-universes-and-new-ideas-and-space/) [Philip Jose Farmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-jose-farmer/) > [“That's the thing about writers -on one hand evrything is sacred to them, but, on the other, nothing really is.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lang-leav/that-s-the-thing-about-writers-on-one-hand-evrything-is-sacred-to/) [Lang Leav](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lang-leav/) > [I know one thing - very few writers in Southern California get to write what they want to write. We are more or less…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-gelbart/i-know-one-thing-very-few-writers-in-southern-california-get-to-write/) [Larry Gelbart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-gelbart/) > [The hardest thing writers have to do is figure out for themselves who they are. What should they be writing about? What stories should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blake-crouch/the-hardest-thing-writers-have-to-do-is-figure-out-for-themselves-who/) [Blake Crouch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blake-crouch/) > [Largely this is a class thing - writers tend to be cosseted little middle-class kiddies who think that the world owes them a royalty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-parsons/largely-this-is-a-class-thing-writers-tend-to-be-cosseted-little/) [Tony Parsons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-parsons/) > [Writers write. Everyone else makes excuses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-bickham/writers-write-everyone-else-makes-excuses/) Jack Bickham > [You call this a script? Give me a couple of 5,000-dollar-a-week writers and I will write it myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-pasternak/you-call-this-a-script-give-me-a-couple-of-5-000-dollar-a-week/) Joe Pasternak > [All those writers who write about their own childhood! Gentle God, if I wrote about mine you wouldn't sit in the same room with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-parker/all-those-writers-who-write-about-their-own-childhood-gentle-god-if-i/) [Dorothy Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-parker/) > [I'm an author. And writers write books. And writing books is a full-time career.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/i-m-an-author-and-writers-write-books-and-writing-books-is-a-full/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [I started out life as a writer, and writers write in part because they don't want to talk.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/i-started-out-life-as-a-writer-and-writers-write-in-part-because-they/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [There are all kinds of writers. The best writers write children's books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-scarry/there-are-all-kinds-of-writers-the-best-writers-write-children-s-books/) [Richard Scarry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-scarry/) > [“My only advantage as a reporter is that I am so physically small, so temperamentally unobtrusive, and so neurotically inarticulate that people tend to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/my-only-advantage-as-a-reporter-is-that-i-am-so-physically-small-so-2/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [I'd been told that he had been created-literally created-just for me,as my "perfect other half." Let me tell you-if Dylan was my perfect other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-patterson/i-d-been-told-that-he-had-been-created-literally-created-just-for-me/) [James Patterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-patterson/) ## 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 Answers quotes > [The one thing that I keep learning over and over again is that I don't know nothing. I mean, that's my life lesson.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwayne-johnson/the-one-thing-that-i-keep-learning-over-and-over-again-is-that-i-don/) [Dwayne Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwayne-johnson/) > [Sometimes a question can hurt more than an answer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-dessen/sometimes-a-question-can-hurt-more-than-an-answer/) [Sarah Dessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-dessen/) > [You feed yourself. Make sure you have all the information, whether it's aesthetic, scientific, mathematical, I don't care what it is. Then you walk…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/you-feed-yourself-make-sure-you-have-all-the-information-whether-it-s/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [I have long felt that the way to keep children out of trouble is to keep them interested in things. Lecturing to children is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-disney/i-have-long-felt-that-the-way-to-keep-children-out-of-trouble-is-to/) [Walt Disney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-disney/) > [Let me tell you that atheism has never painted a masterpiece. Atheism has never dispelled fear. Atheism has never healed a disease; faith in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hagee/let-me-tell-you-that-atheism-has-never-painted-a-masterpiece-atheism/) [John Hagee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hagee/) > [“As long as you keep searching,the answers will come.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-kynock/as-long-as-you-keep-searching-the-answers-will-come/) [Mitch Kynock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-kynock/) > [The answer to deep anxiety is the deep adoration of God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-voskamp/the-answer-to-deep-anxiety-is-the-deep-adoration-of-god/) [Ann Voskamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-voskamp/) > [A dialogue is very important. It is a form of communication in which question and answer continue till a question is left without an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/a-dialogue-is-very-important-it-is-a-form-of-communication-in-which/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) > [There is a comfort in rituals, and rituals provide a framework for stability when you are trying to find answers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deborah-norville/there-is-a-comfort-in-rituals-and-rituals-provide-a-framework-for/) [Deborah Norville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deborah-norville/) > [A religious person answers to God, not to the elected or non-elected official.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/a-religious-person-answers-to-god-not-to-the-elected-or-non-elected/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [Let us remember that every worldview-not just Christianity's-must give an explanation or an answer for evil and suffering...this is not just a problem distinctive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ravi-zacharias/let-us-remember-that-every-worldview-not-just-christianity-s-must/) [Ravi Zacharias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ravi-zacharias/) > [Instead of asking a girl how she feels, try looking through her recently listened to songs. The lyrics are the answer to all your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/instead-of-asking-a-girl-how-she-feels-try-looking-through-her/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [For someone to ask 'Who did you play for' and to be able to answer a single name 'Liverpool' that would be brilliant...I don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamie-carragher/for-someone-to-ask-who-did-you-play-for-and-to-be-able-to-answer-a/) [Jamie Carragher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamie-carragher/) > [When the first Superman movie came out I was frequently asked "What is a hero?" ...My answer was that a hero is someone who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-reeve/when-the-first-superman-movie-came-out-i-was-frequently-asked-what-is/) [Christopher Reeve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-reeve/) > [Enjoying life isn't about finding the answers, but living the questions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-margolis/enjoying-life-isn-t-about-finding-the-answers-but-living-the-questions/) [Sue Margolis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-margolis/) Browse all 7,843 Answers quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Let me tell you one thing about why writers write: had I known the answer to any of these questions I would never have needed to write a novel.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Joan Didion" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/let-me-tell-you-one-thing-about-why-writers-write-had-i-known-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Answers" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/let-me-tell-you-one-thing-about-why-writers-write-had-i-known-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb6/joan-didion-497_answers_let-me-tell-you-one-thing-about-why-writ_2642006.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb6/joan-didion-497_answers_let-me-tell-you-one-thing-about-why-writ_2642006.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb6/joan-didion-497_answers_let-me-tell-you-one-thing-about-why-writ_2642006.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Let me tell you one thing about why writers write: had I known the answer to any of these questions I would…” — 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": "Let me tell you one thing...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/let-me-tell-you-one-thing-about-why-writers-write-had-i-known-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/let-me-tell-you-one-thing-about-why-writers-write-had-i-known-the/#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 } } ] } ```