--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: After you finish (writing a book) you are…" description: "\"“After you finish (writing a book) you are intensely depressed. It doesn’t much matter whether the reviews are good or not. You feel empty, a field lyi..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fea/john-fowles-816_books_after-you-finish-writing-a-book-you-are_2917111.jpg" --- # After you finish (writing a book) you are intensely… ![“After you finish (writing a book) you are intensely depressed. It doesn’t much matter whether the reviews are good or not. You feel empty, a field lying fallow, and you must let it stay fallow for a while. You love a book when it’s being written. You are so close to it. You are the only person who…” quote by John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fea/john-fowles-816_books_after-you-finish-writing-a-book-you-are_2917111.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fea/john-fowles-816_books_after-you-finish-writing-a-book-you-are_2917111.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fea/john-fowles-816_books_after-you-finish-writing-a-book-you-are_2917111.jpg) > ““After you finish (writing a book) you are intensely depressed. It doesn’t much matter whether the reviews are good or not. You feel empty, a field lying fallow, and you must let it stay fallow for a while. You love a book when it’s being written. You are so close to it. You are the only person who knows it and it’s still full of potential… Then, suddenly, there’s the dreadful day when you have the printed proof texts… It’s a feeling of death, really.”” [John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. After completing a book, the author feels emptiness and loss, likening it to a field left fallow, highlighting the deep connection between creator and work. **In simple terms:** Post‑completion emptiness and loss. Key Takeaway Accept the pause, honor the process. Themes creativity completion loss Mood somber introspective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - publishing - writing retreats - mental health support Key Concepts authorial attachment creative cycles Questions to Reflect On - How can writers transition health completion? - What rituals help preserve creative momentum? A Different Perspective The feeling of loss may hinder future projects. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Writing a book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-a-book/) ## Related quotes > [“The feeling of death is not as peaceful as they make it sound in movies and books. It was frightening and empty...I never want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-a-thompson/the-feeling-of-death-is-not-as-peaceful-as-they-make-it-sound-in/) [Shannon A. Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-a-thompson/) > [“Riding out of Rome that night, alone, it was almost impossible to fathom that I had lost so much in less than a day’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-a-richman/riding-out-of-rome-that-night-alone-it-was-almost-impossible-to/) [Julie A. Richman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-a-richman/) > [I’m always feeling death, and that is a part of life. When you know a lot of people, you will always experience death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/damon-dash/i-m-always-feeling-death-and-that-is-a-part-of-life-when-you-know-a/) [Damon Dash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/damon-dash/) > [“It was a year ago today your daughter went missing.’ Bagg had closed his eyes, feeling the death going on inside.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cole-alpaugh/it-was-a-year-ago-today-your-daughter-went-missing-bagg-had-closed/) [Cole Alpaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cole-alpaugh/) > [Sometimes I think the experience of a play is finished for me when I finish writing it. If it weren't for the need to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-albee/sometimes-i-think-the-experience-of-a-play-is-finished-for-me-when-i/) [Edward Albee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-albee/) > [When I finish writing a rap verse. It's a lot like sex: You start off slow with ideas, like foreplay, and then you put…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drake/when-i-finish-writing-a-rap-verse-it-s-a-lot-like-sex-you-start-off/) [Drake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drake/) > [When I'm writing a score, I'm constantly looking for ways to improve on it, even when I think it's working well. I don't give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoff-zanelli/when-i-m-writing-a-score-i-m-constantly-looking-for-ways-to-improve/) [Geoff Zanelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoff-zanelli/) > [I don't write for an audience, I don't think whether my book will sell, I don't sell it before I finish writing it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/i-don-t-write-for-an-audience-i-don-t-think-whether-my-book-will-sell/) [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) > [I cannot find any patience for those people who believe that you start writing when you sit down at your desk and pick up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-jackson/i-cannot-find-any-patience-for-those-people-who-believe-that-you/) [Shirley Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-jackson/) > [Songs are kind of alive, I think; once you finish writing them, that doesn't mean that that's it for the song. It can have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norah-jones/songs-are-kind-of-alive-i-think-once-you-finish-writing-them-that/) [Norah Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norah-jones/) > [“You never finish writing a novel, you eventually abandon it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-winton/you-never-finish-writing-a-novel-you-eventually-abandon-it/) Tom Winton > [After I finish writing a chapter, I'll print it out, cut it up into paragraphs, and cut away any transition sentences. Then I shuffle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-larson/after-i-finish-writing-a-chapter-i-ll-print-it-out-cut-it-up-into/) [Erik Larson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-larson/) > [I have been both overpraised and underpraised. I assume by the time I finish writing -- and I plan to go on writing until…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-albee/i-have-been-both-overpraised-and-underpraised-i-assume-by-the-time-i/) [Edward Albee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-albee/) > [I've found it really hard to finish writing songs when you're writing on not just your schedule but somebody else's.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-carmack/i-ve-found-it-really-hard-to-finish-writing-songs-when-you-re-writing/) [Chris Carmack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-carmack/) > [Finish what you're writing. Whatever you have to do to finish it, finish it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/finish-what-you-re-writing-whatever-you-have-to-do-to-finish-it/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) ## More by John Fowles > [I am infinitely strange to myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/i-am-infinitely-strange-to-myself/) [John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/) > [I do not plan my fiction any more than I normally plan woodland walks; I follow the path that seems most promising at any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/i-do-not-plan-my-fiction-any-more-than-i-normally-plan-woodland-walks/) [John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/) > [“The sky is absolutely empty. Beautifully pure and empty. As if the architects and builders would live in all the houses they built! Or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/the-sky-is-absolutely-empty-beautifully-pure-and-empty-as-if-the/) [John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/) > [“The evolution of human mentality has put us all in vitro now, behind the glass wall of our own ingenuity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/the-evolution-of-human-mentality-has-put-us-all-in-vitro-now-behind/) [John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/) > [Most marriages recognize this paradox: Passion destroys passion; we want what puts an end to wanting what we want.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/most-marriages-recognize-this-paradox-passion-destroys-passion-we/) [John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/) > [That is the great distinction between the sexes. Men see objects, women see the relationships between objects.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/that-is-the-great-distinction-between-the-sexes-men-see-objects-women/) [John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/) > [The craving to risk death is our last great perversion. We come from night, we go into night. Why live in night?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/the-craving-to-risk-death-is-our-last-great-perversion-we-come-from/) [John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/) > [There is only one good definition of God: the freedom that allows other freedoms to exist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/there-is-only-one-good-definition-of-god-the-freedom-that-allows/) [John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/) > [They looked down on her; and she looked up through them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/they-looked-down-on-her-and-she-looked-up-through-them/) [John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/) > [“Long afterwards I realized why some men, racing drivers and their like, become addicted to speed. There are those of us who never see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/long-afterwards-i-realized-why-some-men-racing-drivers-and-their-like/) [John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/) > [The best wines take the longest to mature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/the-best-wines-take-the-longest-to-mature/) [John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/) > [But however good you get at translating personality into line or paint it's no go if your personality isn't worth translating.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/but-however-good-you-get-at-translating-personality-into-line-or/) [John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/) > [“Liking other people is an illusion we have to cherish in ourselves if we are to live in society. It”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/liking-other-people-is-an-illusion-we-have-to-cherish-in-ourselves-if/) [John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/) > [Do you know that every great thing in the history of art and every beautiful thing in life is actually what you call nasty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/do-you-know-that-every-great-thing-in-the-history-of-art-and-every/) [John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/) > [“Yet this distance, all those abysses unbridged and then unbridgeable by radio, television, cheap travel and the rest, was not wholly bad. People knew…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/yet-this-distance-all-those-abysses-unbridged-and-then-unbridgeable/) [John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/) [Explore all 341 John Fowles quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/) ## 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": "“After you finish (writing a book) you are intensely depressed. It doesn’t much matter whether the reviews are good or not. You feel empty, a field lying fallow, and you must let it stay fallow for a while. You love a book when it’s being written. You are so close to it. You are the only person who knows it and it’s still full of potential… Then, suddenly, there’s the dreadful day when you have the printed proof texts… It’s a feeling of death, really.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Fowles" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/after-you-finish-writing-a-book-you-are-intensely-depressed-it-doesn/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Books" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/after-you-finish-writing-a-book-you-are-intensely-depressed-it-doesn/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fea/john-fowles-816_books_after-you-finish-writing-a-book-you-are_2917111.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fea/john-fowles-816_books_after-you-finish-writing-a-book-you-are_2917111.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fea/john-fowles-816_books_after-you-finish-writing-a-book-you-are_2917111.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“After you finish (writing a book) you are intensely depressed. It doesn’t much matter whether the reviews…” — John Fowles", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "John Fowles", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“After you finish (writing a book)...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/after-you-finish-writing-a-book-you-are-intensely-depressed-it-doesn/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/after-you-finish-writing-a-book-you-are-intensely-depressed-it-doesn/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```