--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Fiction, like sculpture or painting…" description: "\"“Fiction, like sculpture or painting, begins with a rough sketch. One gets down the characters and their behavior any way one can, knowing the sentence..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e4/john-gardner-3092_first-draft_fiction-like-sculpture-or-painting-begin_2923457.jpg" --- # Fiction, like sculpture or painting, begins with a rough… ![“Fiction, like sculpture or painting, begins with a rough sketch. One gets down the characters and their behavior any way one can, knowing the sentences will have to be revised,knowing the characters' actions may change. It makes no difference how clumsy the sketch is—sketches are not supposed to…” quote by john gardner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e4/john-gardner-3092_first-draft_fiction-like-sculpture-or-painting-begin_2923457.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e4/john-gardner-3092_first-draft_fiction-like-sculpture-or-painting-begin_2923457.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e4/john-gardner-3092_first-draft_fiction-like-sculpture-or-painting-begin_2923457.jpg) > ““Fiction, like sculpture or painting, begins with a rough sketch. One gets down the characters and their behavior any way one can, knowing the sentences will have to be revised,knowing the characters' actions may change. It makes no difference how clumsy the sketch is—sketches are not supposed to be polished and elegant. All that matters is that, going over and over the sketch as if one had all eternity for finishing one's story, one improves now this sentence, now that, noticing what changes the new sentences urge, and in the process one gets the characters and their behavior clearer in one's head, gradually discovering deeper and deeper implications of the characters' problems and hopes.”” [john gardner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gardner/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writing is an iterative process where rough drafts help clarify characters and plot through continual revision. **In simple terms:** Drafts help writers understand characters better. Key Takeaway Revise often to deepen story. Themes writing creativity revision Mood reflective inspired Type instructional creative When to use this quote - novel writing - screenwriting - creative workshops Key Concepts character development iterative process storytelling Questions to Reflect On - How does revising a draft change your view of a character? - What part of your story benefits most from repeated sketching? A Different Perspective Polished prose may still need structural changes. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Habits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/habits/) [Painting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/painting/) [Sketches](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sketches/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Young writers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/young-writers/) ## Related quotes > [I'm not an impressionist as such, and I never will be, so the sketches where I was supposed to be a famous person probably…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-sasso/i-m-not-an-impressionist-as-such-and-i-never-will-be-so-the-sketches/) [Will Sasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-sasso/) > ['Reno' was originally going to be a sketch show, with the cops as a transitional element.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-ben-garant/reno-was-originally-going-to-be-a-sketch-show-with-the-cops-as-a/) [Robert Ben Garant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-ben-garant/) > [I come in. I'm going to sketch, I'm going to drape, I don't know what I'm going to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-beene/i-come-in-i-m-going-to-sketch-i-m-going-to-drape-i-don-t-know-what-i/) [Geoffrey Beene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-beene/) > [If you can learn to convey what you express in the first rough sketch, you're really saying what you need to say in that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-blitt/if-you-can-learn-to-convey-what-you-express-in-the-first-rough-sketch/) [Barry Blitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-blitt/) > [“First draft blues: "He tested the stick and glanced at the set handbrake. With his feet he felt the accelerator, the brake, the clutch.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-gunnar-grey/first-draft-blues-he-tested-the-stick-and-glanced-at-the-set/) J. Gunnar Grey > [“Your first draft is a petulant teenager, sure it knows best, adamant that its Mother is wrong. 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