--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I don't have goals when writing books…" description: "\"I don't have goals when writing books, apart from getting to the end. I have rather vague ideas about how I want things to feel, I'm big on ambience. I..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/337/kate-atkinson-1265_ambience_i-don-t-have-goals-when-writing-books-ap_2201630.jpg" --- # I don't have goals when writing books, apart from getting… ![“I don't have goals when writing books, apart from getting to the end. I have rather vague ideas about how I want things to feel, I'm big on ambience. I have a title, a beginning and a probable ending and go from there.” quote by Kate Atkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/337/kate-atkinson-1265_ambience_i-don-t-have-goals-when-writing-books-ap_2201630.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/337/kate-atkinson-1265_ambience_i-don-t-have-goals-when-writing-books-ap_2201630.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/337/kate-atkinson-1265_ambience_i-don-t-have-goals-when-writing-books-ap_2201630.jpg) > “I don't have goals when writing books, apart from getting to the end. I have rather vague ideas about how I want things to feel, I'm big on ambience. I have a title, a beginning and a probable ending and go from there.” [Kate Atkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-atkinson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. She writes with minimal planning, focusing on atmosphere and a loose narrative arc rather than detailed goals. **In simple terms:** Writing is guided by ambience, not strict outlines. Key Takeaway Embrace fluid, atmospheric creation. Themes creativity process ambience Mood reflective inspired Type process philosophical When to use this quote - novel drafting - creative brainstorming - first draft development Key Concepts narrative flow intuitive writing Questions to Reflect On - How does ambience shape your story? - Do you ever feel lost without a detailed plan? A Different Perspective Lack of structure may cause drift or inconsistency. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Beginning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beginning/) [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Goals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/goals/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Vague](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vague/) [Vague ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vague-ideas/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [After giving a student the basic mating patterns and strategies you must begin giving them advanced concepts. At first these ideas will not make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-silman/after-giving-a-student-the-basic-mating-patterns-and-strategies-you/) [Jeremy Silman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-silman/) > [... the sciences are like a beautiful river, of which the course is easy to follow, when it has acquired a certain regularity; but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lazare-carnot/the-sciences-are-like-a-beautiful-river-of-which-the-course-is-easy/) Lazare Carnot > [We know only that we are living in these bodies and have a vague idea, because we have heard it, and because our faith…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teresa-of-vila/we-know-only-that-we-are-living-in-these-bodies-and-have-a-vague-idea/) [Teresa of Avila](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teresa-of-vila/) > [One must confront vague ideas with clear images,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-luc-godard/one-must-confront-vague-ideas-with-clear-images/) [Jean-Luc Godard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-luc-godard/) > [You can't plan your character arc - you have a vague idea, maybe, but I'm constantly surprised. Sometimes actors in films will play the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evan-peters/you-can-t-plan-your-character-arc-you-have-a-vague-idea-maybe-but-i-m/) [Evan Peters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evan-peters/) > [People watch movies - and it's vague ideas, it's vague notions, but people pick up on these things, that they are supposed to think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/crispin-glover/people-watch-movies-and-it-s-vague-ideas-it-s-vague-notions-but/) [Crispin Glover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/crispin-glover/) > [Under chattel slavery and feudalism, exploitation was concrete and personalized in the producer's relationship with his master. The slave and peasant knew exactly who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-carson/under-chattel-slavery-and-feudalism-exploitation-was-concrete-and/) [Kevin Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-carson/) > [What usually happens is that when I'm nearing the end of one novel a vague idea about what I want to do next begins…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/what-usually-happens-is-that-when-i-m-nearing-the-end-of-one-novel-a/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [But what's your ultimate goal, you'll say. That goal will become clearer, will take shape slowly and surely, as the croquis becomes a sketch…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vincent-van-gogh/but-what-s-your-ultimate-goal-you-ll-say-that-goal-will-become/) [Vincent Van Gogh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vincent-van-gogh/) > [Architects and painters know precisely what they are about as long as they deal with material phenomena… But when they come to the aesthetics…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-von-clausewitz/architects-and-painters-know-precisely-what-they-are-about-as-long-as/) [Carl von Clausewitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-von-clausewitz/) > [When I started, they told me I only needed 3 chords and the truth... It turned out I could manage with 2 and some vague ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-strummer/when-i-started-they-told-me-i-only-needed-3-chords-and-the-truth-it/) [Joe Strummer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-strummer/) > [“The secret to productive goal setting is in establishing clearly defined goals, writing them down and then focusing on them several times a day…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darrin-wiggins/the-secret-to-productive-goal-setting-is-in-establishing-clearly/) [Darrin Wiggins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darrin-wiggins/) > [The secret to productive goal setting is in establishing clearly defined goals, writing them down and then focusing on them several times a day…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-waitley/the-secret-to-productive-goal-setting-is-in-establishing-clearly-2/) [Denis Waitley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-waitley/) > [Goals in writing are dreams with deadlines.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-tracy/goals-in-writing-are-dreams-with-deadlines/) [Brian Tracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-tracy/) > [I find the past so fascinating. Photographs are strange, almost surreal, almost here yet gone. I slip into thinking what the past must have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-atkinson/i-find-the-past-so-fascinating-photographs-are-strange-almost-surreal/) [Kate Atkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-atkinson/) ## More by Kate Atkinson > [“Sweet sixteen," Hugh said, kissing her affectionately. "Happy birthday, little bear. Your future's all ahead of you." Ursula still harbored the feeling that some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-atkinson/sweet-sixteen-hugh-said-kissing-her-affectionately-happy-birthday/) [Kate Atkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-atkinson/) > [When you chopped logs with the ax and they split open they smelled beautiful, like Christmas. But when you split someone's head open it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-atkinson/when-you-chopped-logs-with-the-ax-and-they-split-open-they-smelled/) [Kate Atkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-atkinson/) > [“He had made a vow, a private promise to the world in the long dark watches of the night, that if he did survive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-atkinson/he-had-made-a-vow-a-private-promise-to-the-world-in-the-long-dark/) [Kate Atkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-atkinson/) > [“When she was little they had lived in an old farmhouse too, in the middle of nothing of but landscape.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-atkinson/when-she-was-little-they-had-lived-in-an-old-farmhouse-too-in-the/) [Kate Atkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-atkinson/) > [“Do you keep time in the same place that you save it? If so why is it always so difficult to find? It must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-atkinson/do-you-keep-time-in-the-same-place-that-you-save-it-if-so-why-is-it/) [Kate Atkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-atkinson/) > [I was on the verge of something numinous and profound and in one more second the universe was going to crack open and arcana…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-atkinson/i-was-on-the-verge-of-something-numinous-and-profound-and-in-one-more/) [Kate Atkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-atkinson/) > [I feel as if I’m waiting for something dreadful to happen, and then I realize it already has.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-atkinson/i-feel-as-if-i-m-waiting-for-something-dreadful-to-happen-and-then-i/) [Kate Atkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-atkinson/) > [“If she had been in charge of designing the human race she would have gone about things differently. (A golden shaft of light through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-atkinson/if-she-had-been-in-charge-of-designing-the-human-race-she-would-have/) [Kate Atkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-atkinson/) > [The beginning is the word and the end is silence. And in between are all the stories.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-atkinson/the-beginning-is-the-word-and-the-end-is-silence-and-in-between-are/) [Kate Atkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-atkinson/) > [“The only way to stop the tears was to keep drinking the whisky.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-atkinson/the-only-way-to-stop-the-tears-was-to-keep-drinking-the-whisky/) [Kate Atkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-atkinson/) > [I don't want to spoil the magic, but it's a very curious thing that honestly baffles me. It's the nearest we'll ever get to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-atkinson/i-don-t-want-to-spoil-the-magic-but-it-s-a-very-curious-thing-that/) [Kate Atkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-atkinson/) > [“What did science ever do for the world, apart from make better ways of killing people?” Sylvie said.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-atkinson/what-did-science-ever-do-for-the-world-apart-from-make-better-ways-of/) [Kate Atkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-atkinson/) > [Because I write fiction, I don't write autobiography, and to me they are very different things. The first-person narrative is a very intimate thing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-atkinson/because-i-write-fiction-i-don-t-write-autobiography-and-to-me-they/) [Kate Atkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-atkinson/) > [“she could see Sylvie and her friends on the lawn below, their dresses fluttering like moths in the encroaching dusk.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-atkinson/she-could-see-sylvie-and-her-friends-on-the-lawn-below-their-dresses/) [Kate Atkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-atkinson/) > [“misquote Edmund Burke rather than Milton. All that is necessary for the forces of evil to win in the world is for enough good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-atkinson/misquote-edmund-burke-rather-than-milton-all-that-is-necessary-for/) [Kate Atkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-atkinson/) [Explore all 261 Kate Atkinson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-atkinson/) ## More Ambience quotes > [You don't want to be too hot in the club. And ambience is important - no fog machines.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paloma-elsesser/you-don-t-want-to-be-too-hot-in-the-club-and-ambience-is-important-no/) [Paloma Elsesser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paloma-elsesser/) > [While doing movies, I enjoyed every bit of it - the ambience, my co-stars, my roles, the art of getting under the skin of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pooja-bedi/while-doing-movies-i-enjoyed-every-bit-of-it-the-ambience-my-co-stars/) [Pooja Bedi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pooja-bedi/) > [The costume the actors wear and if they're in stylized makeup and wigs in a live-action movie let's say, in a big costume drama,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-spielberg/the-costume-the-actors-wear-and-if-they-re-in-stylized-makeup-and/) [Steven Spielberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-spielberg/) > [Well, when I was a kid I used to hide behind the curtains at home at Christmas and I used to try and be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-plant/well-when-i-was-a-kid-i-used-to-hide-behind-the-curtains-at-home-at/) [Robert Plant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-plant/) > [Let's get loose with Compassion. Let's drown in the delicious ambience of Love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/let-s-get-loose-with-compassion-let-s-drown-in-the-delicious-ambience/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Eating is one of the great beauties in life. One of my favorite recreations... eating with friends, the service, the ambience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leroy-neiman/eating-is-one-of-the-great-beauties-in-life-one-of-my-favorite/) [LeRoy Neiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leroy-neiman/) > [I first decided to become an actor at school. A teacher gave us a play to do and that had a major impact. At…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-reno/i-first-decided-to-become-an-actor-at-school-a-teacher-gave-us-a-play/) [Jean Reno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-reno/) > [My childhood lacked affection and ambience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-de-ribes/my-childhood-lacked-affection-and-ambience/) Jacqueline de Ribes > [Light creates ambience and feel of a place, as well as the expression of a structure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/le-corbusier/light-creates-ambience-and-feel-of-a-place-as-well-as-the-expression/) [Le Corbusier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/le-corbusier/) > [It's enough to drive you crazy, trying to depict the weather, the atmosphere, the ambience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-monet/it-s-enough-to-drive-you-crazy-trying-to-depict-the-weather-the/) [Claude Monet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-monet/) > [I find the past so fascinating. Photographs are strange, almost surreal, almost here yet gone. I slip into thinking what the past must have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-atkinson/i-find-the-past-so-fascinating-photographs-are-strange-almost-surreal/) [Kate Atkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-atkinson/) > [I always bring an orange scarf, not just so I can wear it or tuck it into my pocket, but also so I can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rupaul/i-always-bring-an-orange-scarf-not-just-so-i-can-wear-it-or-tuck-it/) [RuPaul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rupaul/) > [Whoever uses psychedelics should treat them with greatest respect. When Aldous and I used them, we prepared the ambience and ourselves the day before.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-huxley/whoever-uses-psychedelics-should-treat-them-with-greatest-respect/) [Laura Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-huxley/) > [I would like to be an artist who works in a very closed ambience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/santiago-calatrava/i-would-like-to-be-an-artist-who-works-in-a-very-closed-ambience/) [Santiago Calatrava](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/santiago-calatrava/) > ['American Horror' goes for a very specific kind of Seventies suburban downer ambience - 'Flowers in the Attic' paperbacks, Black Sabbath album covers and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-sheffield/american-horror-goes-for-a-very-specific-kind-of-seventies-suburban/) [Rob Sheffield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-sheffield/) Browse all 42 Ambience quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I don't have goals when writing books, apart from getting to the end. I have rather vague ideas about how I want things to feel, I'm big on ambience. I have a title, a beginning and a probable ending and go from there.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Kate Atkinson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-atkinson/i-don-t-have-goals-when-writing-books-apart-from-getting-to-the-end-i/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Ambience" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-atkinson/i-don-t-have-goals-when-writing-books-apart-from-getting-to-the-end-i/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/337/kate-atkinson-1265_ambience_i-don-t-have-goals-when-writing-books-ap_2201630.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/337/kate-atkinson-1265_ambience_i-don-t-have-goals-when-writing-books-ap_2201630.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/337/kate-atkinson-1265_ambience_i-don-t-have-goals-when-writing-books-ap_2201630.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I don't have goals when writing books, apart from getting to the end. I have rather vague ideas about how I…” — Kate Atkinson", "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": "Kate Atkinson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-atkinson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I don't have goals when writing...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-atkinson/i-don-t-have-goals-when-writing-books-apart-from-getting-to-the-end-i/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-atkinson/i-don-t-have-goals-when-writing-books-apart-from-getting-to-the-end-i/#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 } } ] } ```