--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When you're writing fiction, you don't…" description: "\"When you're writing fiction, you don't have notes necessarily. You don't carve it, it's not like a piece of sculpture, it's more like water color.\" — J..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b26/joan-didion-497_color_when-you-re-writing-fiction-you-don-t-ha_725573.jpg" --- # When you're writing fiction, you don't have notes… ![“When you're writing fiction, you don't have notes necessarily. You don't carve it, it's not like a piece of sculpture, it's more like water color.” quote by Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b26/joan-didion-497_color_when-you-re-writing-fiction-you-don-t-ha_725573.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b26/joan-didion-497_color_when-you-re-writing-fiction-you-don-t-ha_725573.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b26/joan-didion-497_color_when-you-re-writing-fiction-you-don-t-ha_725573.jpg) > “When you're writing fiction, you don't have notes necessarily. You don't carve it, it's not like a piece of sculpture, it's more like water color.” [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 fiction is fluid and organic, unlike sculpting; it evolves like watercolor, without rigid outlines. **In simple terms:** Fiction flows naturally, not strictly planned. Key Takeaway Embrace flexibility in creative work. Themes creativity process writing fluidity Mood thoughtful inspirational Type creative process When to use this quote - novel drafting - short story crafting - creative workshops - editing stages Key Concepts artistic expression organic development Questions to Reflect On - How can you balance spontaneity with coherence? - When does fluidity hinder storytelling? A Different Perspective Too much fluidity can lead to lack of structure or clarity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Carve Like](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/carve-like-3305497/) [Color](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/color/) [Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) [Notes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/notes/) [Notes Necessarily](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/notes-necessarily-4670434/) [Pieces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pieces/) [Sculpture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sculpture/) [Water](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/water/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Writing fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-fiction/) ## Related quotes > [You have to create your life. You have to carve it, like a sculpture.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shatner/you-have-to-create-your-life-you-have-to-carve-it-like-a-sculpture/) [William Shatner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shatner/) > [I'm playing all the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-morecambe/i-m-playing-all-the-right-notes-but-not-necessarily-in-the-right-order/) [Eric Morecambe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-morecambe/) > [Whether or not you're writing fiction or you're making sculptures. You're trying to create a space. You're trying to make something where your own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denison-witmer/whether-or-not-you-re-writing-fiction-or-you-re-making-sculptures-you/) [Denison Witmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denison-witmer/) > [Writing fiction is for me a fraught business, an occasion of daily dread for at least the first half of the novel, and sometimes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/writing-fiction-is-for-me-a-fraught-business-an-occasion-of-daily/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [Before I started working on a computer, writing a piece would be like making something up every day, taking the material and never quite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/before-i-started-working-on-a-computer-writing-a-piece-would-be-like/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [Writing nonfiction is more like sculpture, a matter of shaping the research into the finished thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/writing-nonfiction-is-more-like-sculpture-a-matter-of-shaping-the-2/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [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/) > [There are not more than five musical notes, yet the combinations of these five give rise to more melodies than can ever be heard.There…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-tzu/there-are-not-more-than-five-musical-notes-yet-the-combinations-of/) [Sun Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-tzu/) > [When you start writing fiction, you have to learn to invent, and it's very hard at the beginning to stop relying on facts and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fiona-barton/when-you-start-writing-fiction-you-have-to-learn-to-invent-and-it-s/) [Fiona Barton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fiona-barton/) > [The lovely thing about writing is, well, two things. One, writing fiction allows us to bring an order to our lives that doesn't exist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavia-e-butler/the-lovely-thing-about-writing-is-well-two-things-one-writing-fiction/) [Octavia E. Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavia-e-butler/) > [My job, in general, is nonfiction, so writing fiction was liberating. If you can't find the answer to something, you just make it up!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jake-tapper/my-job-in-general-is-nonfiction-so-writing-fiction-was-liberating-if/) [Jake Tapper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jake-tapper/) > [I have always known that writing fiction had little effect on the world; that if it did, young men would not have gone to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-dubus/i-have-always-known-that-writing-fiction-had-little-effect-on-the/) [Andre Dubus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-dubus/) > [“Yeah, I know what your English Professor tried to tell you. But if your English Professor could make a living writing fiction, they would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-wesley-smith/yeah-i-know-what-your-english-professor-tried-to-tell-you-but-if-your/) [Dean Wesley Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-wesley-smith/) > [Memory is like fiction; or else it's fiction that's like memory. This really came home to me once I started writing fiction, that memory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/memory-is-like-fiction-or-else-it-s-fiction-that-s-like-memory-this/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [I love writing fiction and can do it anywhere - I once even missed a flight because I was so engrossed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/prue-leith/i-love-writing-fiction-and-can-do-it-anywhere-i-once-even-missed-a/) [Prue Leith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/prue-leith/) ## 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 Color quotes > [We never really perceive what color is physically!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josef-albers/we-never-really-perceive-what-color-is-physically/) [Josef Albers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josef-albers/) > [A Light exists in Spring Not present on the Year At any other period - When March is scarcely here A Color stands abroad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/a-light-exists-in-spring-not-present-on-the-year-at-any-other-period/) [Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/) > [The color of somebody's skin or the way he wears his hair or clothes has nothing to do with anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-color-of-somebody-s-skin-or-the-way-he-wears-his-hair-or-clothes/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > ['Lovecraft Country' is reclaiming all these pulp genres for people of color.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/misha-green/lovecraft-country-is-reclaiming-all-these-pulp-genres-for-people-of/) [Misha Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/misha-green/) > [When I haven't any blue I use red.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/when-i-haven-t-any-blue-i-use-red/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [Now I am in the place I call this wide wide Heaven because it includes all my simplest desires but also the most humble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/now-i-am-in-the-place-i-call-this-wide-wide-heaven-because-it/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) > [A well-fashioned day - with a beginning and an end, a purpose and a content, a color and a character, a feel and a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-rohn/a-well-fashioned-day-with-a-beginning-and-an-end-a-purpose-and-a/) [Jim Rohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-rohn/) > [It is sometimes said that scientists are unromantic, that their passion to figure out robs the world of beauty and mystery. But is it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/it-is-sometimes-said-that-scientists-are-unromantic-that-their/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [If you're white and you're wrong, then you're wrong; if you're black and you're wrong, you're wrong. People are people. Black, blue, pink, green…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-marley/if-you-re-white-and-you-re-wrong-then-you-re-wrong-if-you-re-black/) [Bob Marley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-marley/) > [Today, at Harvard, any student with the currently fashionable color of skin is given rights denied to students of the currently unfashionable color.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-capp/today-at-harvard-any-student-with-the-currently-fashionable-color-of/) [Al Capp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-capp/) > [Orange is my favorite color overall.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-earnhardt-jr/orange-is-my-favorite-color-overall/) [Dale Earnhardt Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-earnhardt-jr/) > [To evoke in oneself a feeling one has once experienced, and having evoked it in oneself, then by means of movements, lines, colors, sounds,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/to-evoke-in-oneself-a-feeling-one-has-once-experienced-and-having/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [We have to keep in practice like musicians. Besides, there are still potentialities to be realized in color film. To us, it's just like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-land/we-have-to-keep-in-practice-like-musicians-besides-there-are-still/) [Edwin Land](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-land/) > [Truth needs no color; beauty, no pencil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/truth-needs-no-color-beauty-no-pencil/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [It is exactly in the repetition of the exercises that the education of the senses exists; not that the child shall know colors, forms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-montessori/it-is-exactly-in-the-repetition-of-the-exercises-that-the-education/) [Maria Montessori](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-montessori/) [Browse all 5,594 Color quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/color/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "When you're writing fiction, you don't have notes necessarily. 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