--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Novels are like paintings, specifically…" description: "\"Novels are like paintings, specifically watercolors. Every stroke you put down you have to go with. Of course you can rewrite, but the original strokes..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f2/joan-didion-497_books_novels-are-like-paintings-specifically-w_2621600.jpg" --- # Novels are like paintings, specifically watercolors. Every… ![“Novels are like paintings, specifically watercolors. Every stroke you put down you have to go with. Of course you can rewrite, but the original strokes are still there in the texture of the thing.” quote by Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f2/joan-didion-497_books_novels-are-like-paintings-specifically-w_2621600.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f2/joan-didion-497_books_novels-are-like-paintings-specifically-w_2621600.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f2/joan-didion-497_books_novels-are-like-paintings-specifically-w_2621600.jpg) > “Novels are like paintings, specifically watercolors. Every stroke you put down you have to go with. Of course you can rewrite, but the original strokes are still there in the texture of the thing.” [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. Novels resemble watercolors: each word adds texture, and revisions cannot erase the original marks. **In simple terms:** Writing leaves lasting traces. Key Takeaway Embrace the permanence of initial choices. Themes writing creativity revision artistic process Mood reflective thoughtful Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - drafting - editing - novel development Key Concepts texture imperfection authenticity Questions to Reflect On - How do you honor initial ideas while improving? - What value lies in visible revisions? A Different Perspective Rewrites may feel constrained by earlier decisions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Novel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novel/) [Novels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novels/) [Painting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/painting/) [Watercolors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/watercolors/) ## Related quotes > [Writing nonfiction is more like sculpture, a matter of shaping the research into the finished thing. Novels are like paintings, specifically watercolors. Every stroke…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/writing-nonfiction-is-more-like-sculpture-a-matter-of-shaping-the/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [Novels are almost like music or poetry - they just come to me in simple sentences, whereas I think my pieces get more and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/novels-are-almost-like-music-or-poetry-they-just-come-to-me-in-simple/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [“...my novels are like life - I never know where they're going until I get to the end...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-geddes-a-familiar-rain/my-novels-are-like-life-i-never-know-where-they-re-going-until-i-get/) [John Geddes A Familiar Rain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-geddes-a-familiar-rain/) > [I really enjoy writing novels. It's like the ocean. You can just build a boat and take off.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-johnson/i-really-enjoy-writing-novels-it-s-like-the-ocean-you-can-just-build/) [Denis Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-johnson/) > [I write the kinds of novels I like to read, where the setting is rendered with love and care.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-george/i-write-the-kinds-of-novels-i-like-to-read-where-the-setting-is/) [Elizabeth George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-george/) > [“Ten watercolors were made from that star.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/ten-watercolors-were-made-from-that-star/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [I like very much to read novels. I like very much some writers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurizio-sarri/i-like-very-much-to-read-novels-i-like-very-much-some-writers/) [Maurizio Sarri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurizio-sarri/) > [You have to like everything that you're painting. Maybe on a narrative level it seems harsh... but I like everything in all my paintings.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-currin/you-have-to-like-everything-that-you-re-painting-maybe-on-a-narrative/) [John Currin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-currin/) > [In a way records are like paintings. Instead of using paints and brushes we use sounds and instruments.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mclaughlin/in-a-way-records-are-like-paintings-instead-of-using-paints-and/) [John McLaughlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mclaughlin/) > [I like something about George W. Bush. A lot. After spending more than a decade having almost physiological-chemical reactions anytime I saw him, getting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-saltz/i-like-something-about-george-w-bush-a-lot-after-spending-more-than-a/) [Jerry Saltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-saltz/) > [Like in the paintings, there has to be moments that are completely right to be able to feel how wrong it is when the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francesca-dimattio/like-in-the-paintings-there-has-to-be-moments-that-are-completely/) [Francesca DiMattio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francesca-dimattio/) > [I think it's absurd to believe that movies should look like paintings and say something like serious books say something.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-morrissey/i-think-it-s-absurd-to-believe-that-movies-should-look-like-paintings/) [Paul Morrissey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-morrissey/) > [It's all about commerce. Movies are not made like paintings, where you can make them for free and put them at the side. Movies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-guttenberg/it-s-all-about-commerce-movies-are-not-made-like-paintings-where-you/) [Steve Guttenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-guttenberg/) > [If my husband ever met a woman on the street who looked like one of his paintings he would faint.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-roque/if-my-husband-ever-met-a-woman-on-the-street-who-looked-like-one-of/) Jacqueline Roque > [I like all paintings. I always look at the paintings, good or bad, in barbershops, furniture stores, provincial hotels. I'm like a drinker who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/i-like-all-paintings-i-always-look-at-the-paintings-good-or-bad-in/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) ## 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 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! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [“Within the pages of books, I've journeyed to Mandalay, the Milky Way and Santa Fe, without once having to leave my armchair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-ansbro/within-the-pages-of-books-i-ve-journeyed-to-mandalay-the-milky-way/) [Kevin Ansbro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-ansbro/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [“Tacitus did not write a most dangerous book. His readers made it so.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-k-krebs/tacitus-did-not-write-a-most-dangerous-book-his-readers-made-it-so/) Christopher K. Krebs > [“Take some books and read; that’s an immense help; and books are always good company if you have the right sort.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louisa-may-alcott/take-some-books-and-read-that-s-an-immense-help-and-books-are-always/) [Louisa May Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louisa-may-alcott/) > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [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/) > [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [“Be careful about reading health books. Some fine day you'll die of a misprint.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-herz/be-careful-about-reading-health-books-some-fine-day-you-ll-die-of-a/) Markus Herz > [But editors are still the world's readers. And thus the eyes of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/but-editors-are-still-the-world-s-readers-and-thus-the-eyes-of-the/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) [Browse all 59,485 Books quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Novels are like paintings, specifically watercolors. Every stroke you put down you have to go with. 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