--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Once I get over maybe a hundred pages, I…" description: "\"Once I get over maybe a hundred pages, I won't go back to page one, but I might go back to page fifty-five, or twenty, even. But then every once in a w..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/608/joan-didion-497_again_once-i-get-over-maybe-a-hundred-pages-i_2738338.jpg" --- # Once I get over maybe a hundred pages, I won't go back to… ![“Once I get over maybe a hundred pages, I won't go back to page one, but I might go back to page fifty-five, or twenty, even. But then every once in a while I feel the need to go to page one again and start rewriting.” quote by Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/608/joan-didion-497_again_once-i-get-over-maybe-a-hundred-pages-i_2738338.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/608/joan-didion-497_again_once-i-get-over-maybe-a-hundred-pages-i_2738338.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/608/joan-didion-497_again_once-i-get-over-maybe-a-hundred-pages-i_2738338.jpg) > “Once I get over maybe a hundred pages, I won't go back to page one, but I might go back to page fifty-five, or twenty, even. But then every once in a while I feel the need to go to page one again and start rewriting.” [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. Revisiting earlier parts of a text can inspire fresh rewrites, showing that non‑linear reading fuels creativity. **In simple terms:** Returning to earlier pages sparks new ideas. Key Takeaway Re‑read earlier sections for inspiration. Themes creativity revision non‑linear reading inspiration writing process Mood reflective creative inquisitive Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - editing - novel drafting - academic research Key Concepts literary analysis cognitive flexibility creative writing Questions to Reflect On - How does revisiting past work affect your current project? - When is it best to start anew versus revisiting? A Different Perspective Non‑linear reading may disrupt narrative flow. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Twenties](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/twenties/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [Learn a lot about the world and finish things, even if it is just a short story. Finish it before you start something else.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tad-williams/learn-a-lot-about-the-world-and-finish-things-even-if-it-is-just-a/) [Tad Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tad-williams/) > [Once you start rewriting, you're not able to stop. With each draft the fundamental banality and worthlessness of the material becomes more evident even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-n-malzberg/once-you-start-rewriting-you-re-not-able-to-stop-with-each-draft-the/) [Barry N. Malzberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-n-malzberg/) > [I'm most connected to myself when I'm alone in a room, moving my hand across a page. That's when I feel most like me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dani-shapiro/i-m-most-connected-to-myself-when-i-m-alone-in-a-room-moving-my-hand/) [Dani Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dani-shapiro/) > [You know you've read a good book when you turn the last page and feel a little as if you have lost a friend.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-sweeney/you-know-you-ve-read-a-good-book-when-you-turn-the-last-page-and-feel/) [Paul Sweeney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-sweeney/) > [A character on a page has to feel real, and for me the greatest fun is if you could gender-swap the role.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-dormer/a-character-on-a-page-has-to-feel-real-and-for-me-the-greatest-fun-is/) [Natalie Dormer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-dormer/) > [I feel I do my best work when it's all there on the page, and I feel that the character is very vivid as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-pearce/i-feel-i-do-my-best-work-when-it-s-all-there-on-the-page-and-i-feel/) [Guy Pearce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-pearce/) > [“From the moment I own a book, even before I open it to the first page, I feel that it has in some way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-queenan/from-the-moment-i-own-a-book-even-before-i-open-it-to-the-first-page/) [Joe Queenan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-queenan/) > [“With the e-reader, the whole book was on the same virtual page. One could not feel the depth of the pages on the left…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-seltzer/with-the-e-reader-the-whole-book-was-on-the-same-virtual-page-one/) Daniel Seltzer > [“You know you've read a good book when you turn the last page and feel a little like you've lost a friend.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-know-you-ve-read-a-good-book-when-you-turn-the-last-page-and-feel-2/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [My writing is a process of rewriting, of going back and changing and filling in. in the rewriting process you discover what's going on,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/my-writing-is-a-process-of-rewriting-of-going-back-and-changing-and/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [Grief is not just a series of events, stages, or timelines. Our society places enormous pressure on us to get over loss, to get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elisabeth-kubler-ross/grief-is-not-just-a-series-of-events-stages-or-timelines-our-society/) [Elisabeth Kubler-Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elisabeth-kubler-ross/) > [God, I loved him. I could insist I was okay with just being friends, that I'd find someone else and get over him, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelley-armstrong/god-i-loved-him-i-could-insist-i-was-okay-with-just-being-friends/) [Kelley Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelley-armstrong/) > [The elevator shaft was a kind of heat sink. Hot food was cold by the time it arrived. Cold food got colder. No one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/the-elevator-shaft-was-a-kind-of-heat-sink-hot-food-was-cold-by-the/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [The book really comes to life in the rewriting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-roth/the-book-really-comes-to-life-in-the-rewriting/) [Philip Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-roth/) > [Donald Trump has been rewriting the rules since he got into politics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-michael-cillizza/donald-trump-has-been-rewriting-the-rules-since-he-got-into-politics/) [Christopher Michael Cillizza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-michael-cillizza/) ## 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? 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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. 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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 Again quotes > [The one thing that I keep learning over and over again is that I don't know nothing. 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