---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I first started writing fiction in…"
description: "\"I first started writing fiction in college because I was attracted to beautiful sentences. I loved to read them. I wanted to write them.\" — Karen Thomp..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b88/karen-thompson-walker-3430_beautiful_i-first-started-writing-fiction-in-colle_1972707.png"
---

#  I first started writing fiction in college because I was…

![“I first started writing fiction in college because I was attracted to beautiful sentences. I loved to read them. I wanted to write them.” quote by Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b88/karen-thompson-walker-3430_beautiful_i-first-started-writing-fiction-in-colle_1972707.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b88/karen-thompson-walker-3430_beautiful_i-first-started-writing-fiction-in-colle_1972707.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b88/karen-thompson-walker-3430_beautiful_i-first-started-writing-fiction-in-colle_1972707.png)

> “I first started writing fiction in college because I was attracted to beautiful sentences. I loved to read them. I wanted to write them.”

[Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

The author began writing fiction in college, drawn by beautiful language and a desire to create it.

**In simple terms:** She started writing because she loved elegant sentences.

Key Takeaway

Seek beauty in language and craft it.

Themes

writing inspiration college life

Mood

reflective creative

Type

personal motivational

When to use this quote

- creative writing courses
- writing workshops
- personal journals

Key Concepts

aesthetic appreciation creative drive literary ambition

Questions to Reflect On

- What makes a sentence beautiful?
- How can style serve story?

A Different Perspective

Beautiful sentences alone may not sustain a career.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Beautiful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beautiful/) [Beautiful Sentences](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beautiful-sentences-1634234/) [College](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/college/) [Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) [Fiction College](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction-college-3321956/) [Firsts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/firsts/) [Sentences](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sentences/) [Started Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/started-writing/) [Wanted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wanted/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Writing fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-fiction/)

## Related quotes

> [From about the age of 15 or 16 I'd had the notion that I wanted to write fiction, and I'd done enough in college…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-fountain/from-about-the-age-of-15-or-16-i-d-had-the-notion-that-i-wanted-to/)

[Ben Fountain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-fountain/)

> [I used to think there was something cheap in trying to make beautiful sentences. Now I think language has its own ways and ends,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-alderman/i-used-to-think-there-was-something-cheap-in-trying-to-make-beautiful/)

[Naomi Alderman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-alderman/)

> [Beautiful sentences pop into my head. Beautiful sentences that aren't always absolutely accurate. Then, I have to choose between the beautiful sentence and being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/beautiful-sentences-pop-into-my-head-beautiful-sentences-that-aren-t/)

[Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/)

> [It blew my mind, reading Swing Time, that I could take any sentence in the book, and it was one of the most beautiful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/it-blew-my-mind-reading-swing-time-that-i-could-take-any-sentence-in/)

[George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/)

> [I love weird or funny or beautiful sentences; Joy Williams could write a microwave-oven manual and I'm sure I'd love it, because the sentences…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-russell/i-love-weird-or-funny-or-beautiful-sentences-joy-williams-could-write/)

[Karen Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-russell/)

> [Joyce's writing in Dubliners contains some of the most unshowily beautiful sentences in the English language. I learned from him that if you write…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teju-cole/joyce-s-writing-in-dubliners-contains-some-of-the-most-unshowily/)

[Teju Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teju-cole/)

> [In college, I'd gone abroad to get away from a campus where I felt I didn't fit in. And I started writing fiction, at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-brooks/in-college-i-d-gone-abroad-to-get-away-from-a-campus-where-i-felt-i/)

[Kim Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-brooks/)

> [When I started writing fiction, I knew how good it was immediately.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-i-started-writing-fiction-i-knew-how-good-it-was-immediately/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Finally, in my early 30s, I started writing fiction for the first time as an adult. That felt so scary, and I spent a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-glass/finally-in-my-early-30s-i-started-writing-fiction-for-the-first-time/)

[Julia Glass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-glass/)

> [I stopped writing fiction the moment I started writing songs, and I miss it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jake-shears/i-stopped-writing-fiction-the-moment-i-started-writing-songs-and-i/)

[Jake Shears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jake-shears/)

> [About a year after (my stories began being published), magazine editor George Scithers, suggested to me that since I was so new at being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-b-longyear/about-a-year-after-my-stories-began-being-published-magazine-editor/)

[Barry B. Longyear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-b-longyear/)

> [ In \[writing\] fiction, every sentence is its own reward. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-tan/in-writing-fiction-every-sentence-is-its-own-reward/)

[Amy Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-tan/)

> [It wasn't until after college that I started writing. I had just applied randomly for jobs in the media and got one on a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-kinsella/it-wasn-t-until-after-college-that-i-started-writing-i-had-just/)

[Sophie Kinsella](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-kinsella/)

> [A good story, just like a good sentence, does more than one job at once. That's what literature is: a story that does more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/a-good-story-just-like-a-good-sentence-does-more-than-one-job-at-once/)

[Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/)

> [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/)

## More by Karen Thompson Walker

> [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/)

> [End-of-the-world stories tend to ring true. I've always been drawn to them, but as I wrote my own, I found surprising pleasure in creating…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/end-of-the-world-stories-tend-to-ring-true-i-ve-always-been-drawn-to/)

[Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/)

> [“Months later, Michaela's mother would spread a star chart before us and explain to me that the slowing had shifted everyone's astrological signs. Fortunes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/months-later-michaela-s-mother-would-spread-a-star-chart-before-us/)

[Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/)

> [“Doesn't every previous era feel like fiction once it's gone?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/doesn-t-every-previous-era-feel-like-fiction-once-it-s-gone/)

[Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/)

> [“I'd grown up hearing stories about the special hazards that girls faced. I knew where the bodies were found: naked on beaches or cut…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/i-d-grown-up-hearing-stories-about-the-special-hazards-that-girls/)

[Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/)

> [“But I guess it never is what you worry over that comes to pass in the end. The real catastrophes are always different -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/but-i-guess-it-never-is-what-you-worry-over-that-comes-to-pass-in-the/)

[Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/)

> [“Of all the strange phenomena that befell us that year, maybe nothing surprised me more than the sound of that small question rolling out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/of-all-the-strange-phenomena-that-befell-us-that-year-maybe-nothing/)

[Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/)

> [An editor is like a professional reader, and as I became a better reader, I also became a better writer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/an-editor-is-like-a-professional-reader-and-as-i-became-a-better/)

[Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/)

> [“I could no longer remember the way my mother's eyes looked before the slowing. Had they always been so red around the edges? Surely,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/i-could-no-longer-remember-the-way-my-mother-s-eyes-looked-before-the/)

[Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/)

> [“She left her keys in the teeth of the lock where they would dangle all day.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/she-left-her-keys-in-the-teeth-of-the-lock-where-they-would-dangle/)

[Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/)

> [I fell in love with Virginia Woolf in college. I especially admire how well she writes about daily life, how she captures so much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/i-fell-in-love-with-virginia-woolf-in-college-i-especially-admire-how/)

[Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/)

> [Our fears are an amazing gift of the imagination ... a way of glimpsing what might be the future when there's still time to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/our-fears-are-an-amazing-gift-of-the-imagination-a-way-of-glimpsing/)

[Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/)

> [“I liked the idea, how the past could be preserved, fossilized, in the stars. I wanted to think that somewhere on the other end…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/i-liked-the-idea-how-the-past-could-be-preserved-fossilized-in-the/)

[Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/)

> [“I should have known by then that it's never the disasters you see coming that finally come to pass; it's the ones you don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/i-should-have-known-by-then-that-it-s-never-the-disasters-you-see/)

[Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/)

> [Feeling earthquakes was part of growing up, and also preparing for them: doing earthquake drills, or having earthquake supplies. The looming feeling was part…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/feeling-earthquakes-was-part-of-growing-up-and-also-preparing-for/)

[Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/)

[Explore all 115 Karen Thompson Walker quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/)

## More Beautiful quotes

> [I received a beautiful welcome to the world of music. I want to give something back to the younger generation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luciano-pavarotti/i-received-a-beautiful-welcome-to-the-world-of-music-i-want-to-give/)

[Luciano Pavarotti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luciano-pavarotti/)

> [Being beautiful comes naturally!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/being-beautiful-comes-naturally/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [My school was one of the most beautiful places a child can grow up in. You are surrounded by nature - cats, dogs, birds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amala-akkineni/my-school-was-one-of-the-most-beautiful-places-a-child-can-grow-up-in/)

[Amala Akkineni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amala-akkineni/)

> [“do not misunderstand person by beauty You really do not know its real or Mask on dirty thoughts”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohammed-zaki-ansari/do-not-misunderstand-person-by-beauty-you-really-do-not-know-its-real/)

[Mohammed Zaki Ansari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohammed-zaki-ansari/)

> [In the hearing world, I'm constantly having to lip-read and trying to understand what's going on. Sign language is so beautiful. It gives you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-ayling-ellis/in-the-hearing-world-i-m-constantly-having-to-lip-read-and-trying-to/)

[Rose Ayling-Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-ayling-ellis/)

> [The more perfect the sight is the more delightful the beautiful object. The more perfect the appetite, the sweeter the food. The more musical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-baxter/the-more-perfect-the-sight-is-the-more-delightful-the-beautiful/)

[Richard Baxter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-baxter/)

> [Call her beautiful a million times and she won't believe you. Call her ugly once, and she will never forget it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tumblr/call-her-beautiful-a-million-times-and-she-won-t-believe-you-call-her/)

[Tumblr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tumblr/)

> [You will never know just how beautiful you are to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-will-never-know-just-how-beautiful-you-are-to-me/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [You felt a deep sorrow, the kind of melancholy you feel when you're in a beautiful place and the sun is going down](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thrity-umrigar/you-felt-a-deep-sorrow-the-kind-of-melancholy-you-feel-when-you-re-in/)

[Thrity Umrigar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thrity-umrigar/)

> [ Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit. My three \[great teachers\] did not… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/teaching-might-even-be-the-greatest-of-the-arts-since-the-medium-is/)

[John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/)

> [You're beautiful, cute, pretty, gorgeous, and fuck.. I ran out of words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raghib-clitso/you-re-beautiful-cute-pretty-gorgeous-and-fuck-i-ran-out-of-words/)

[Raghib Clitso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raghib-clitso/)

> [Growing up in Iceland, it was very beautiful, very safe, but quite isolated. There was something about jazz music that had a way of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laufey/growing-up-in-iceland-it-was-very-beautiful-very-safe-but-quite/)

[Laufey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laufey/)

> [How could you feel worthless when God has honoured you by creating you and choosing you to be with Him, in this life and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yasmin-mogahed/how-could-you-feel-worthless-when-god-has-honoured-you-by-creating/)

[Yasmin Mogahed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yasmin-mogahed/)

> [Sometimes it's about less is more. It's about the seed. Thinking about this gigantic tree that you think is so beautiful but it started…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-durst/sometimes-it-s-about-less-is-more-it-s-about-the-seed-thinking-about/)

[Fred Durst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-durst/)

> [God's Word does provide life lessons to teach us how to live. And it gives us beautiful poetry that gives voice to our human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-rothschild/god-s-word-does-provide-life-lessons-to-teach-us-how-to-live-and-it/)

[Jennifer Rothschild](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-rothschild/)

[Browse all 17,976 Beautiful quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beautiful/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "I first started writing fiction in college because I was attracted to beautiful sentences. I loved to read them. I wanted to write them.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Karen Thompson Walker"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/i-first-started-writing-fiction-in-college-because-i-was-attracted-to/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Beautiful"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/i-first-started-writing-fiction-in-college-because-i-was-attracted-to/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b88/karen-thompson-walker-3430_beautiful_i-first-started-writing-fiction-in-colle_1972707.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b88/karen-thompson-walker-3430_beautiful_i-first-started-writing-fiction-in-colle_1972707.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b88/karen-thompson-walker-3430_beautiful_i-first-started-writing-fiction-in-colle_1972707.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“I first started writing fiction in college because I was attracted to beautiful sentences. I loved to read…” — Karen Thompson Walker",
                "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": "Karen Thompson Walker",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "I first started writing fiction in...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/i-first-started-writing-fiction-in-college-because-i-was-attracted-to/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/i-first-started-writing-fiction-in-college-because-i-was-attracted-to/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
