--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There must be times when everybody writes…" description: "\"There must be times when everybody writes when they feel they're evading writing.\" — Joan Didion" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/014/joan-didion-497_feels_there-must-be-times-when-everybody-write_80422.jpg" --- # There must be times when everybody writes when they feel… ![“There must be times when everybody writes when they feel they're evading writing.” quote by Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/014/joan-didion-497_feels_there-must-be-times-when-everybody-write_80422.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/014/joan-didion-497_feels_there-must-be-times-when-everybody-write_80422.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/014/joan-didion-497_feels_there-must-be-times-when-everybody-write_80422.jpg) > “There must be times when everybody writes when they feel they're evading writing.” [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 can become a refuge when one tries to avoid confronting deeper issues, turning the act into a subconscious escape. **In simple terms:** Writing as avoidance Key Takeaway Writing may mask avoidance Themes self-deception creative process psychology habit escape Mood introspective wry thoughtful Type observation reflection When to use this quote - writer's block - emotional overload - stressful deadlines - personal crisis Key Concepts self-awareness avoidance creative expression Practical Applications - journaling for insight - using writing to process emotions Questions to Reflect On - Why do we turn to writing when we feel stuck? - What does this reveal about our relationship with self-expression? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [While he writes, I feel as if he is drawing me; or not drawing me, drawing on me - drawing on my skin -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/while-he-writes-i-feel-as-if-he-is-drawing-me-or-not-drawing-me-2/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“While he writes, I feel as if he is drawing me; or not drawing me, drawing on me--drawing on my skin--not with the pencil…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/while-he-writes-i-feel-as-if-he-is-drawing-me-or-not-drawing-me/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [Everybody writes their own parts and we don't step on each others toes. When it comes to writing we each have our roles and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/3-doors-down/everybody-writes-their-own-parts-and-we-don-t-step-on-each-others/) [3 Doors Down](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/3-doors-down/) > [“So many times in a single day we glimpse a view beyond the apparent. Write those moments down. They might not speak to you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joy-williams/so-many-times-in-a-single-day-we-glimpse-a-view-beyond-the-apparent/) [Joy Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joy-williams/) > [After all everybody, that is, everybody who writes is interested in living inside themselves in order to tell what is inside themselves. That is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/after-all-everybody-that-is-everybody-who-writes-is-interested-in/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [Everybody writes about what they are talking but I am doing opposite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erdem/everybody-writes-about-what-they-are-talking-but-i-am-doing-opposite/) [Erdem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erdem/) > [Everybody writes about love and cheating and heartbreak. We've done all that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-sayer/everybody-writes-about-love-and-cheating-and-heartbreak-we-ve-done/) [Leo Sayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-sayer/) > [Everybody writes a book too many.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/everybody-writes-a-book-too-many/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Strange, I feel as if up to now I had written no more than a few notes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-van-beethoven/strange-i-feel-as-if-up-to-now-i-had-written-no-more-than-a-few-notes/) [Ludwig van Beethoven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-van-beethoven/) > [I just think structure can make a book feel so much bigger. It's the architecture. You could use flimsy materials if you wanted to,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jami-attenberg/i-just-think-structure-can-make-a-book-feel-so-much-bigger-it-s-the/) [Jami Attenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jami-attenberg/) > [Naturally I feel no shame in writing these things because of the time which separates the moment when they are written--when only I can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-ernaux/naturally-i-feel-no-shame-in-writing-these-things-because-of-the-time/) [Annie Ernaux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-ernaux/) > [I tell younger writers that indeed it is devastating to be rejected. You feel like the bottom dropped out of your world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-haley/i-tell-younger-writers-that-indeed-it-is-devastating-to-be-rejected/) [Alex Haley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-haley/) > [To write well is to think well, to feel well, and to render well; it is to possess at once intellect, soul, and taste.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-louis-leclerc-comte-de-buffon/to-write-well-is-to-think-well-to-feel-well-and-to-render-well-it-is/) [Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-louis-leclerc-comte-de-buffon/) > [...It's an unmeetable level of writing. But even if it's something I feel like I can't ever attain, it doesn't crush my spirit. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-banks/it-s-an-unmeetable-level-of-writing-but-even-if-it-s-something-i-feel/) [Paul Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-banks/) > [My writing routine is: get son off to school and sit down at 8 A.M. I read what I wrote the day before, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracy-chevalier/my-writing-routine-is-get-son-off-to-school-and-sit-down-at-8-a-m-i/) [Tracy Chevalier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracy-chevalier/) ## 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 Feels quotes > [Women still, when they have breast cancer, go to work; they still lead their lives. They have to. 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