--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I don't abandon stories once I've started…" description: "\"I don't abandon stories once I've started working on them. Once I sit down and start a story, I'll be damned if I'm going to give up on it. But I do re..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed2/kelly-link-9393_abandon_i-don-t-abandon-stories-once-i-ve-starte_2425068.jpg" --- # I don't abandon stories once I've started working on them… ![“I don't abandon stories once I've started working on them. Once I sit down and start a story, I'll be damned if I'm going to give up on it. But I do reject most of the ideas for stories that I come up with.” quote by Kelly Link](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed2/kelly-link-9393_abandon_i-don-t-abandon-stories-once-i-ve-starte_2425068.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed2/kelly-link-9393_abandon_i-don-t-abandon-stories-once-i-ve-starte_2425068.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed2/kelly-link-9393_abandon_i-don-t-abandon-stories-once-i-ve-starte_2425068.jpg) > “I don't abandon stories once I've started working on them. Once I sit down and start a story, I'll be damned if I'm going to give up on it. But I do reject most of the ideas for stories that I come up with.” [Kelly Link](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-link/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Once a story is started, abandoning it is unacceptable; most ideas are still rejected. **In simple terms:** Commit to a story once begun, but be selective about ideas. Key Takeaway Persist with projects, but prune weak concepts. Themes writing creativity discipline storytelling Mood determined thoughtful Type creative motivational When to use this quote - novel writing - screenwriting - workshop feedback Key Concepts narrative focus idea selection creative persistence Questions to Reflect On - How do you decide when to quit a story? - What criteria guide your idea rejection? A Different Perspective Perseverance can lead to burnout if ideas are not filtered. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Abandon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abandon/) [Abandon Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abandon-stories-3411684/) [Come up](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/come-up/) [Down and](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/down-and/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Giving up](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving-up/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Ideas Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas-stories-871144/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Reject Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reject-ideas-2297678/) [Rejects](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rejects/) [Start Story](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/start-story-499837/) [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) ## Related quotes > [I think kids abandon stories all the time. They start stories and get frustrated or get a different, better idea. I think that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-carson-levine/i-think-kids-abandon-stories-all-the-time-they-start-stories-and-get/) [Gail Carson Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-carson-levine/) > [If you are truly on the left, if you reject ideas of power and hierarchy, what you want is equality. Otherwise, it won't work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/if-you-are-truly-on-the-left-if-you-reject-ideas-of-power-and/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [“And here, according to Trout, was the reason human beings could not reject ideas because they were bad: "Ideas on Earth were badges of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/and-here-according-to-trout-was-the-reason-human-beings-could-not/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [I will continue to reject ideas that have no place in the Republican Party or the U.S. Congress.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-mace/i-will-continue-to-reject-ideas-that-have-no-place-in-the-republican/) [Nancy Mace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-mace/) > [“Yet, advice on what we can do is usually futile—for we will do nothing except applaud the speaker, accept those ideas of his we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sydney-j-harris/yet-advice-on-what-we-can-do-is-usually-futile-for-we-will-do-nothing/) [Sydney J. Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sydney-j-harris/) > [“It seems to be in our genetic makeup to capture our best ideas in stories, to enjoy them, to learn from them, and to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blake-mycoskie/it-seems-to-be-in-our-genetic-makeup-to-capture-our-best-ideas-in/) [Blake Mycoskie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blake-mycoskie/) > [Ideas for stories come to me based on my life, so who knows? If somebody sends me to become an astronaut, that's what I'll…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-benchley/ideas-for-stories-come-to-me-based-on-my-life-so-who-knows-if/) [Peter Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-benchley/) > [Books have a vital place in our culture. They are the source of ideas, of stories that engage and stretch the imagination and most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-sheridan/books-have-a-vital-place-in-our-culture-they-are-the-source-of-ideas/) [Sara Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-sheridan/) > [The ideas for stories that thronged my brain would not let me rest till I had got rid of them by writing them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/the-ideas-for-stories-that-thronged-my-brain-would-not-let-me-rest/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [If the reader looks, I think he will find plenty of moral and political ideas in my stories.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/if-the-reader-looks-i-think-he-will-find-plenty-of-moral-and/) [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) > [ “The most enduring and galvanizing ideas and values of our civilization are embedded in our stories, from those of Homer, \[…\] and Virgil, \[…\]… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blake-mycoskie/the-most-enduring-and-galvanizing-ideas-and-values-of-our/) [Blake Mycoskie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blake-mycoskie/) > [Ideas for stories come in really different terms and really different ways for me. Sometimes they're from books, sometimes they're just kind of out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-evenson/ideas-for-stories-come-in-really-different-terms-and-really-different/) [Brian Evenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-evenson/) > [I'm often asked how I get ideas for my stories. The answer is there's no single way; every story is different.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-liu/i-m-often-asked-how-i-get-ideas-for-my-stories-the-answer-is-there-s/) [Ken Liu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-liu/) > [The contradiction is this: man rejects the world as it is, without accepting the necessity of escaping it. In fact, men cling to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/the-contradiction-is-this-man-rejects-the-world-as-it-is-without/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [Paradoxically, when females reject the male, they usurp the masculine role and abandon the feminine one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-makow/paradoxically-when-females-reject-the-male-they-usurp-the-masculine/) [Henry Makow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-makow/) ## More by Kelly Link > [I spend a lot of time loathing the sentences that I put down on the page. Once I'm past that phase, it doesn't really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-link/i-spend-a-lot-of-time-loathing-the-sentences-that-i-put-down-on-the/) [Kelly Link](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-link/) > [In terms of style, too, I think I've been working with a somewhat limited -- although intentionally limited -- set of tools. So I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-link/in-terms-of-style-too-i-think-i-ve-been-working-with-a-somewhat/) [Kelly Link](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-link/) > [I didn't do anything as active as deciding that I wanted to be a writer. For one thing, I didn't feel like I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-link/i-didn-t-do-anything-as-active-as-deciding-that-i-wanted-to-be-a/) [Kelly Link](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-link/) > [“When his writing is going well, Gordon Strangle Mars likes to wake up at 6 a.m. and go out driving. He works out new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-link/when-his-writing-is-going-well-gordon-strangle-mars-likes-to-wake-up/) [Kelly Link](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-link/) > [It's very unlikely that a writer is going to make a living by writing. So then the question is: how do you balance work,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-link/it-s-very-unlikely-that-a-writer-is-going-to-make-a-living-by-writing/) [Kelly Link](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-link/) > [Most of the things that I remember from childhood wouldn't make a particularly good story: rescuing worms during rainstorms, our schnauzer attacking a wheel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-link/most-of-the-things-that-i-remember-from-childhood-wouldn-t-make-a/) [Kelly Link](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-link/) > [The beloved may be treacherous, greasy-headed and given to evil habits, or else it can be a man in his late forties who works…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-link/the-beloved-may-be-treacherous-greasy-headed-and-given-to-evil-habits/) [Kelly Link](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-link/) > [“Tell me which you could sooner do without, love or water.” “What do you mean?” “I mean, could you live without love, or could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-link/tell-me-which-you-could-sooner-do-without-love-or-water-what-do-you/) [Kelly Link](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-link/) > [You were going to travel for love, without shoes, or cloak, or common sense. This is one of the things a woman can do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-link/you-were-going-to-travel-for-love-without-shoes-or-cloak-or-common/) [Kelly Link](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-link/) > [A vampire is a flexible metaphor. You know, death, sex, change, stagnation, loss of self, loss of agency, having to keep one's real self…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-link/a-vampire-is-a-flexible-metaphor-you-know-death-sex-change-stagnation/) [Kelly Link](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-link/) > [“If you were to say a witch's chess set instead of a witch's family , there would be some truth in that. Perhaps this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-link/if-you-were-to-say-a-witch-s-chess-set-instead-of-a-witch-s-family/) [Kelly Link](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-link/) > [“Hildy has resigned herself to this, that life is a series of sudden disappearences, leavetakings without the proper good-byes. Someday she too might vanish.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-link/hildy-has-resigned-herself-to-this-that-life-is-a-series-of-sudden/) [Kelly Link](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-link/) > [“Jeremy and Karl and Elizabeth have known each other since the first day of kindergarten. Amy and Talis are a year younger...Now the five…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-link/jeremy-and-karl-and-elizabeth-have-known-each-other-since-the-first/) [Kelly Link](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-link/) > [I built a cannon out of ice, and wrapped myself in the funeral carpet which my husbands and wives had woven for me out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-link/i-built-a-cannon-out-of-ice-and-wrapped-myself-in-the-funeral-carpet/) [Kelly Link](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-link/) > [“This is the list you carry in your pocket, of the things you plan to say to Kay, when you find him, if you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-link/this-is-the-list-you-carry-in-your-pocket-of-the-things-you-plan-to/) [Kelly Link](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-link/) [Explore all 70 Kelly Link quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-link/) ## More Abandon quotes > [Humans are, as Sartre put it, 'condemned to be free'. To insist that science, or God, objectively defines moral values is to abandon our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenan-malik/humans-are-as-sartre-put-it-condemned-to-be-free-to-insist-that/) [Kenan Malik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenan-malik/) > [The purpose of a spirit filled life is to demonstrate the supernatural power of our living God so that the unsaved multitudes will abandon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-l-osborn/the-purpose-of-a-spirit-filled-life-is-to-demonstrate-the/) [T.L. Osborn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-l-osborn/) > [However, however, if the goal is to abandon America's free enterprise economy, if the goal is to convert America into a submissive member of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marco-rubio/however-however-if-the-goal-is-to-abandon-america-s-free-enterprise/) [Marco Rubio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marco-rubio/) > [I would leave at once, but it would be cruel to abandon a lady in a foreign land with a maniac.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/i-would-leave-at-once-but-it-would-be-cruel-to-abandon-a-lady-in-a/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [When we fall utterly, something gathers us up. But our falling must be without reservation, without expectation, without hope, though not hopeless. You cant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-housden/when-we-fall-utterly-something-gathers-us-up-but-our-falling-must-be/) [Roger Housden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-housden/) > [every subjective phenomenon is essentially connected with a single point of view, and it seems inevitable that an objective, physical theory will abandon that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-nagel/every-subjective-phenomenon-is-essentially-connected-with-a-single/) [Thomas Nagel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-nagel/) > [Can you dissolve your ego? Can you abandon the idea of self and other? Can you relinquish the notions of male and female, short…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/can-you-dissolve-your-ego-can-you-abandon-the-idea-of-self-and-other/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [Every great thing starts with an idea, followed by a doubt and finally a resolve to abandon or pursue. Victory is a treacherous journey.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dane-cook/every-great-thing-starts-with-an-idea-followed-by-a-doubt-and-finally/) [Dane Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dane-cook/) > [Those who have been once intoxicated with power, and have derived any kind of emolument from it, even though but for one year, never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/those-who-have-been-once-intoxicated-with-power-and-have-derived-any/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [Do not lose hope; St. Joseph also experienced moments of difficulty, but he never lost faith and was able to overcome them, in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/do-not-lose-hope-st-joseph-also-experienced-moments-of-difficulty-but/) [Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/) > [It is a dangerous and fateful presumption, besides the absurd temerity that it implies, to disdain what we do not comprehend. For after you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-is-a-dangerous-and-fateful-presumption-besides-the-absurd-temerity/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Don't give up because things are hard, but work harder, when you think of giving up.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-liccione/don-t-give-up-because-things-are-hard-but-work-harder-when-you-think/) [Anthony Liccione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-liccione/) > [Sex is not the ultimate high, but the ultimate high hangs out around sex. The ultimate high is the dance with another person, played…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/sex-is-not-the-ultimate-high-but-the-ultimate-high-hangs-out-around/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [I care so deeply about this matter that I'm willing to take on the legal penalties, to sit in this prison cell, to sacrifice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-care-so-deeply-about-this-matter-that-i-m-willing-to-take-on-the/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [I've been to unpretty places with the roles I've played, and I'm attracted to reckless abandon. I like being taken to the edge of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rhys-ifans/i-ve-been-to-unpretty-places-with-the-roles-i-ve-played-and-i-m/) [Rhys Ifans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rhys-ifans/) [Browse all 1,142 Abandon quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abandon/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I don't abandon stories once I've started working on them. Once I sit down and start a story, I'll be damned if I'm going to give up on it. 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