Writer Quote by Judith Thurman
““There's some instinctive attraction that draws you, as a writer, to your subject. And the attraction usually has to do with some primal personal thing that, of course, you have no idea about. In the end, the piece always comes down to the one or two sentences you struggle over. The sentences where you try to say explicitly what it is that the two of you, subject and writer, have in common. Those are the sentences that you just bang your head against the wall over until you get them right. It's very hard to make that distillation but that is actually what your job is. Without trying to pin the person like a butterfly to the wall, to sum it up. If I can do that, then I feel satisfied. To give the subject a reality in the form of a sentence that is like a piece of rock crystal or a prism.””
About This Quote
Source Interview: The New Yorker, “On Writing”, 2015
Writers must distill a deep, often unconscious connection with their subject into a clear, precise sentence that captures shared essence.
In simple terms: Find the core link and express it simply.
Key Takeaway
Seek the perfect, crystal‑clear sentence.
Themes
writing
creativity
clarity
self‑discovery
Mood
reflective
inspired
determined
Type
literary
instructional
When to use this quote
- drafting a novel
- editing a story
- crafting a feature article
- preparing a speech
Key Concepts
subject‑writer relationship
distillation
primal attraction
Questions to Reflect On
- What hidden connection drives your work?
- How can you reveal it in a single line?
A Different Perspective
Finding that exact sentence can be elusive and may stall progress.
![“And that may be [Helen Gurley] Brown’s most enlightened lesson: that sexual autonomy and fulfillment are inseparable from the autonomy and fulfillment that a woman gets from her career.” quote by Judith Thurman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/0c7/judith-thurman-33035_autonomy_and-that-may-be-helen-gurley-brown-s-mos_228248.jpg)
