--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When I'm working on a book, I constantly…" description: "\"When I'm working on a book, I constantly retype my own sentences. Every day I go back to page one and just retype what I have. It gets me into a rhythm..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3b8/joan-didion-497_book_when-i-m-working-on-a-book-i-constantly_2465436.jpg" --- # When I'm working on a book, I constantly retype my own… ![“When I'm working on a book, I constantly retype my own sentences. Every day I go back to page one and just retype what I have. It gets me into a rhythm.” quote by Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3b8/joan-didion-497_book_when-i-m-working-on-a-book-i-constantly_2465436.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3b8/joan-didion-497_book_when-i-m-working-on-a-book-i-constantly_2465436.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3b8/joan-didion-497_book_when-i-m-working-on-a-book-i-constantly_2465436.jpg) > “When I'm working on a book, I constantly retype my own sentences. Every day I go back to page one and just retype what I have. It gets me into a rhythm.” [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. Repeatedly retyping one's own writing creates a rhythmic flow that deepens engagement with the text. **In simple terms:** Rewriting your work builds rhythm and focus. Key Takeaway Use retyping to refine and internalize ideas. Themes writing ritual focus Mood reflective motivational Type creative practical When to use this quote - author drafting - academic work - personal journaling Key Concepts creative process habit formation Questions to Reflect On - How does rhythm affect creativity? - When is retyping most beneficial? A Different Perspective Time‑consuming and may hinder forward progress. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/day/) [Rhythm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rhythm/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [I haven't run out of ideas yet. Usually while I'm working on a book, I'm doing research for the next one!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jodi-picoult/i-haven-t-run-out-of-ideas-yet-usually-while-i-m-working-on-a-book-i/) [Jodi Picoult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jodi-picoult/) > [Always I'm working on some of book. That's the way I make a living.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmy-carter/always-i-m-working-on-some-of-book-that-s-the-way-i-make-a-living/) [Jimmy Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimmy-carter/) > [For the first time I am working on a book that is not limited and that will take every bit of experience and thought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/for-the-first-time-i-am-working-on-a-book-that-is-not-limited-and/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [I always feel that the book I'm working on is my last book.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorrie-moore/i-always-feel-that-the-book-i-m-working-on-is-my-last-book/) [Lorrie Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorrie-moore/) > [When I'm working on a book, I try to do eight pages a week. That seems like a good amount. Less than that, I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colson-whitehead/when-i-m-working-on-a-book-i-try-to-do-eight-pages-a-week-that-seems/) [Colson Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colson-whitehead/) > [I never know where I'm headed when I'm working on a book.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marisa-silver/i-never-know-where-i-m-headed-when-i-m-working-on-a-book/) [Marisa Silver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marisa-silver/) > [I was working on the book, but in a very subterranean kind of a fashion. And I think that giving yourself permission to respect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-barton/i-was-working-on-the-book-but-in-a-very-subterranean-kind-of-a/) [Emily Barton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-barton/) > [I am working on a book urging the beating to death of baby whales using the dead bodies of baby seals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-fussell/i-am-working-on-a-book-urging-the-beating-to-death-of-baby-whales/) [Paul Fussell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-fussell/) > [I think, as a writer, you spend most of your time working on the book alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenny-han/i-think-as-a-writer-you-spend-most-of-your-time-working-on-the-book/) [Jenny Han](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenny-han/) > [“The writer is always working on a book, even when not writing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-callado/the-writer-is-always-working-on-a-book-even-when-not-writing/) Antonio Callado > [As a writer, even as a child, long before what I wrote began to be published, I developed a sense that meaning itself was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/as-a-writer-even-as-a-child-long-before-what-i-wrote-began-to-be/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [Sometimes by a woodland stream he watched the water rush over the pebbled bed, its tiny modulations of bounce and flow. A woman's body…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/sometimes-by-a-woodland-stream-he-watched-the-water-rush-over-the/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [Joel Lane documents a life we don’t quite live, in a city we can’t quite find: half glimpsed and half imagined, we know it’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chaz-brenchley/joel-lane-documents-a-life-we-don-t-quite-live-in-a-city-we-can-t/) Chaz Brenchley > [I usually write from the rhythm section...If a drummer got a funky beat on some things - like a half-shuffle or a shuffle or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miles-davis/i-usually-write-from-the-rhythm-section-if-a-drummer-got-a-funky-beat/) [Miles Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miles-davis/) > [I ask for tips, for advice. What I have also learnt is that I need to do things that are good for me. In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthijs-de-ligt/i-ask-for-tips-for-advice-what-i-have-also-learnt-is-that-i-need-to/) [Matthijs de Ligt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthijs-de-ligt/) ## 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 Book 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/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! 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I should have written more books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-m-schlesinger-jr/i-don-t-think-i-have-made-as-much-of-my-life-as-i-should-have-i/) [Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-m-schlesinger-jr/) > [Some books are not read in the right way because they have skipped a stage of opinion, assume a crystallization of information in society…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/some-books-are-not-read-in-the-right-way-because-they-have-skipped-a/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [“People talk about books that write themselves, and it's a lie. Books don't write themselves. It takes thought and research and a backache and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/people-talk-about-books-that-write-themselves-and-it-s-a-lie-books/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [There are great books in this world and great worlds in books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-bronte/there-are-great-books-in-this-world-and-great-worlds-in-books/) [Anne Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-bronte/) > [The purpose of this book is to supply, in the form suitable for laymen, guidance in the adoption and execution of an investment policy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/the-purpose-of-this-book-is-to-supply-in-the-form-suitable-for-laymen/) [Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/) > [But I think that of all the literature that I studied, the book that did more than any other to fire my enthusiasm was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kwame-nkrumah/but-i-think-that-of-all-the-literature-that-i-studied-the-book-that/) [Kwame Nkrumah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kwame-nkrumah/) > [It's amazing to see things that are suggested in the book fully developed and so brilliantly realized through the artistry of the designers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-collins/it-s-amazing-to-see-things-that-are-suggested-in-the-book-fully/) [Suzanne Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-collins/) > [“But I’ve developed a great reputation for wisdom by ordering more books than I ever had time to read, and reading more books, by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/but-i-ve-developed-a-great-reputation-for-wisdom-by-ordering-more/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) [Browse all 29,378 Book quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "When I'm working on a book, I constantly retype my own sentences. 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