--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: As a writer, I write to see. If I knew…" description: "\"As a writer, I write to see. If I knew how it would end, I wouldn't write. It's a process of discovery.\" — John McGahern" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6de/john-mcgahern-11742_discovery_as-a-writer-i-write-to-see-if-i-knew-how_2744661.jpg" --- # As a writer, I write to see. If I knew how it would end, I… ![“As a writer, I write to see. If I knew how it would end, I wouldn't write. It's a process of discovery.” quote by John McGahern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6de/john-mcgahern-11742_discovery_as-a-writer-i-write-to-see-if-i-knew-how_2744661.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6de/john-mcgahern-11742_discovery_as-a-writer-i-write-to-see-if-i-knew-how_2744661.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6de/john-mcgahern-11742_discovery_as-a-writer-i-write-to-see-if-i-knew-how_2744661.jpg) > “As a writer, I write to see. If I knew how it would end, I wouldn't write. It's a process of discovery.” [John McGahern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mcgahern/) ## 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 a journey of discovery; knowing the ending would halt the creative process. **In simple terms:** He writes to explore, not to predict. Key Takeaway Write without fearing the unknown. Themes writing discovery process Mood inspirational thoughtful Type literary creative When to use this quote - author workshops - creative retreats - journaling - story development Key Concepts creativity uncertainty exploration Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance planning and spontaneity? - What techniques help maintain direction? A Different Perspective Some writers need outlines to stay focused; openness can cause drift. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Discovery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discovery/) [Process](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/process/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [Sure, I'll have characters drop in and out of books but the main cast of characters always changes. Maybe I'm wrong but I think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-hiaasen/sure-i-ll-have-characters-drop-in-and-out-of-books-but-the-main-cast/) [Carl Hiaasen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-hiaasen/) > [To be taken seriously about doing something creative and probably travel a lot. That was my motivation. I knew I was good, I knew…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bowie/to-be-taken-seriously-about-doing-something-creative-and-probably/) [David Bowie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bowie/) > [“For this, that now was coming, he had very little curiosity. For years it had obseessed him; but now it meant nothing in itself.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/for-this-that-now-was-coming-he-had-very-little-curiosity-for-years/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [I had a lot of great lakes of ignorance that I was up against, I would write what I knew in almost like islands…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-miller/i-had-a-lot-of-great-lakes-of-ignorance-that-i-was-up-against-i-would/) [Rebecca Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-miller/) > [I don't know why I write. If I knew the answer, I probably wouldn't have to. But it is a compulsion. You don't choose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/i-don-t-know-why-i-write-if-i-knew-the-answer-i-probably-wouldn-t/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [“Now he would never write the things that he had saved to write until he knew enough to write them well.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/now-he-would-never-write-the-things-that-he-had-saved-to-write-until/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [I was nearly 40 when I started. I had no fear that I wasn't going to write. I knew it was just delayed. Then,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-gardam/i-was-nearly-40-when-i-started-i-had-no-fear-that-i-wasn-t-going-to/) [Jane Gardam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-gardam/) > [“The class, on the other hand, buzzed and hummed with the anticipated pleasure of writing it up, one day. They were vindicated. Miss Fox…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt/the-class-on-the-other-hand-buzzed-and-hummed-with-the-anticipated/) [A.S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt/) > [I used to think, 'I'm going to write.' I knew that from quite early on, but I also thought, 'Maybe I'll be an explorer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-tuttle/i-used-to-think-i-m-going-to-write-i-knew-that-from-quite-early-on/) [Lisa Tuttle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-tuttle/) > [“If you wish to be a writer– then write, and don’t allow anyone to tell you that you’re on the ‘wrong’ path. You know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-kirin/if-you-wish-to-be-a-writer-then-write-and-don-t-allow-anyone-to-tell/) [M. Kirin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-kirin/) > [The writer will write in his or her words, but the readers, even when they are not reading you, will take it elsewhere entirely.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amitava-kumar/the-writer-will-write-in-his-or-her-words-but-the-readers-even-when/) [Amitava Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amitava-kumar/) > [“Write. If you've always dreamed of being a writer, write. Even if you think what you write is crap, write. You might be surprised…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-woods/write-if-you-ve-always-dreamed-of-being-a-writer-write-even-if-you/) Stephen Woods > [If you want to be a writer, write. Write and write and write. If you stop, start again. Save everything that you write. If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-rice/if-you-want-to-be-a-writer-write-write-and-write-and-write-if-you/) [Anne Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-rice/) > [If you want to be a serious writer, then you have to write what there is to write about. If you're going to pull…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/if-you-want-to-be-a-serious-writer-then-you-have-to-write-what-there/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [“Advice? I don’t have advice. Stop aspiring and start writing. If you’re writing, you’re a writer. Write like you’re a goddamn death row inmate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-wilson-watts/advice-i-don-t-have-advice-stop-aspiring-and-start-writing-if-you-re/) [Alan Wilson Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-wilson-watts/) ## More by John McGahern > [“They'd listen silenty, with grave faces: but once they'd turn to each other they'd smile cruelly. He couldn't have it both ways. He'd put…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mcgahern/they-d-listen-silenty-with-grave-faces-but-once-they-d-turn-to-each/) [John McGahern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mcgahern/) > [“…But all life turns away from its own eventual hopelessness, leaving insomnia and its night to lovers and the dying.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mcgahern/but-all-life-turns-away-from-its-own-eventual-hopelessness-leaving/) [John McGahern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mcgahern/) > [Yes, but also one of the problems for a novelist in Ireland is the fact that there are no formal manners. I mean some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mcgahern/yes-but-also-one-of-the-problems-for-a-novelist-in-ireland-is-the/) [John McGahern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mcgahern/) > [My favorite optimist was an American who jumped off the Empire State Building, and as he passed the 42nd floor, the window washers heard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mcgahern/my-favorite-optimist-was-an-american-who-jumped-off-the-empire-state/) [John McGahern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mcgahern/) > [The imagination demands that life be told slant because of its need of distance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mcgahern/the-imagination-demands-that-life-be-told-slant-because-of-its-need/) [John McGahern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mcgahern/) > [“When a long abuse of power is corrected, it is generally replaced by an opposite violence. In the new dispensation all that was good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mcgahern/when-a-long-abuse-of-power-is-corrected-it-is-generally-replaced-by/) [John McGahern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mcgahern/) > [But that private world, once it's dramatised, doesn't live again until it finds a reader.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mcgahern/but-that-private-world-once-it-s-dramatised-doesn-t-live-again-until/) [John McGahern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mcgahern/) > [Yes, though I have nothing but gratitude for my upbringing in the church.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mcgahern/yes-though-i-have-nothing-but-gratitude-for-my-upbringing-in-the/) [John McGahern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mcgahern/) > [I'd much prefer to write more quickly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mcgahern/i-d-much-prefer-to-write-more-quickly/) [John McGahern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mcgahern/) > [“McGahern still lives on and works a farm in Leitrim, and friends say that even though he has held high profile academic posts round…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mcgahern/mcgahern-still-lives-on-and-works-a-farm-in-leitrim-and-friends-say/) [John McGahern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mcgahern/) > [Everything that we inherit, the rain, the skies, the speech, and anybody who works in the English language in Ireland knows that there's the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mcgahern/everything-that-we-inherit-the-rain-the-skies-the-speech-and-anybody/) [John McGahern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mcgahern/) > [When I start to write, words have become physical presence. It was to see if I could bring that private world to life that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mcgahern/when-i-start-to-write-words-have-become-physical-presence-it-was-to/) [John McGahern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mcgahern/) > [Without the book business it would be difficult or impossible for true books to find their true readers and without that solitary (and potentially…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mcgahern/without-the-book-business-it-would-be-difficult-or-impossible-for/) [John McGahern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mcgahern/) > [I suppose . . . in writing you can't have regrets. I mean, you just get it down the way it was . .…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mcgahern/i-suppose-in-writing-you-can-t-have-regrets-i-mean-you-just-get-it/) [John McGahern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mcgahern/) > [“…only then did I wake out of the book.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mcgahern/only-then-did-i-wake-out-of-the-book/) [John McGahern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mcgahern/) [Explore all 58 John McGahern quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mcgahern/) ## More Discovery quotes > [ Next came the Patent laws. These began in England in 1624; and, in this country, with the adoption of our constitution. Before then \[these?\],… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/next-came-the-patent-laws-these-began-in-england-in-1624-and-in-this/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [Throughout my work, I have assumed that the standard model is correct, and hence, the Higgs boson should be found. Although this is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashoke-sen/throughout-my-work-i-have-assumed-that-the-standard-model-is-correct/) [Ashoke Sen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashoke-sen/) > [There is usually no dreamer so unworldly as the anthologist. He wanders in a vast garden, lost in wonder, unable to decide often between…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-webb/there-is-usually-no-dreamer-so-unworldly-as-the-anthologist-he/) [Mary Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-webb/) > [New generations of humans inherit the acquired discoveries of generations past, allowing cosmic insight to accumulate without limit. Each discovery of science therefore adds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/new-generations-of-humans-inherit-the-acquired-discoveries-of/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [The discovery that heartbreak is indeed heartbreaking consoles us about our humanity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/the-discovery-that-heartbreak-is-indeed-heartbreaking-consoles-us/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [ “\[W\]e must learn to accommodate ourselves to the discovery that some of those cunningly-fashioned instruments called human souls have only a very limited range… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/w-e-must-learn-to-accommodate-ourselves-to-the-discovery-that-some-of/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [We cannot predict the new forces, powers, and discoveries that will be disclosed to us when we reach the other planets and set up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-c-clarke/we-cannot-predict-the-new-forces-powers-and-discoveries-that-will-be/) [Arthur C. Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-c-clarke/) > [ That has been another interesting discovery: that basically a city \[Lagos\] could recover from a really deep, deep, deep pit. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rem-koolhaas/that-has-been-another-interesting-discovery-that-basically-a-city/) [Rem Koolhaas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rem-koolhaas/) > [Every fact of science was once Damned. Every invention was considered impossible. Every discovery was a nervous shock to some orthodoxy. Every artistic innovation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-anton-wilson/every-fact-of-science-was-once-damned-every-invention-was-considered/) [Robert Anton Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-anton-wilson/) > [When we look at the love of Christ, we make a wonderful discovery. Love is more a decision than an emotion! Christ-like love applauds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-lucado/when-we-look-at-the-love-of-christ-we-make-a-wonderful-discovery-love/) [Max Lucado](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-lucado/) > [Discovery is the ability to be puzzled by simple things. Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/discovery-is-the-ability-to-be-puzzled-by-simple-things-noam-chomsky/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [“In December of 2007 human bones including skulls, which have been radiocarbon dated back to between 1304 and 1424, were found in a museum…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/captain-hank-bracker-seawater-one/in-december-of-2007-human-bones-including-skulls-which-have-been/) Captain Hank Bracker, "Seawater One > [The European talks of progress because by the aid of a few scientific discoveries he has established a society which has mistaken comfort for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-disraeli/the-european-talks-of-progress-because-by-the-aid-of-a-few-scientific/) [Benjamin Disraeli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-disraeli/) > [Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-durant/education-is-a-progressive-discovery-of-our-own-ignorance/) [Will Durant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-durant/) > [The characters in my novels are my own unrealized possibilities. That is why I am equally fond of them all and equally horrified by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/the-characters-in-my-novels-are-my-own-unrealized-possibilities-that/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) [Browse all 3,125 Discovery quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discovery/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "As a writer, I write to see. If I knew how it would end, I wouldn't write. 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