--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Writing is the hardest thing I know, but…" description: "\"Writing is the hardest thing I know, but it was the only thing I wanted to do. I wrote for 20 years and published nothing before my first book.\" — Kent..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/466/kent-haruf-18766_before_writing-is-the-hardest-thing-i-know-but_2560910.jpg" --- # Writing is the hardest thing I know, but it was the only… ![“Writing is the hardest thing I know, but it was the only thing I wanted to do. I wrote for 20 years and published nothing before my first book.” quote by Kent Haruf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/466/kent-haruf-18766_before_writing-is-the-hardest-thing-i-know-but_2560910.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/466/kent-haruf-18766_before_writing-is-the-hardest-thing-i-know-but_2560910.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/466/kent-haruf-18766_before_writing-is-the-hardest-thing-i-know-but_2560910.jpg) > “Writing is the hardest thing I know, but it was the only thing I wanted to do. I wrote for 20 years and published nothing before my first book.” [Kent Haruf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kent-haruf/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote expresses that writing is a painful yet irresistible passion, and perseverance eventually leads to success despite early failures. **In simple terms:** Writing is painful but essential; keep persisting. Key Takeaway Embrace the struggle and keep writing. Themes passion perseverance creativity Mood determined reflective Type inspirational personal. When to use this quote - starting a novel - overcoming self‑doubt - building a writing routine - seeking publication - teaching writing Key Concepts artist's block intrinsic motivation long‑term dedication Questions to Reflect On - What drives you to write despite difficulty? - How can you balance passion with effective practice? A Different Perspective The quote may romanticize suffering, ignoring practical strategies for skill development. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Nothing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nothing/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [I think it's our job to write about what we're going through at the moment, and being 41, I'm not going to write about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bonnie-raitt/i-think-it-s-our-job-to-write-about-what-we-re-going-through-at-the/) [Bonnie Raitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bonnie-raitt/) > [At one point, I wrote 20 jokes a day, and I had a commitment to send them to the same three people. Now, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendy-liebman/at-one-point-i-wrote-20-jokes-a-day-and-i-had-a-commitment-to-send/) [Wendy Liebman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendy-liebman/) > [When I stopped performing for 16 years and lived in Michigan and was married and raising my children, I wrote about four or five…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-smith/when-i-stopped-performing-for-16-years-and-lived-in-michigan-and-was/) [Patti Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-smith/) > [Good writing is the hardest form of thinking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/good-writing-is-the-hardest-form-of-thinking/) [Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/) > [Writing is hard - writing is the hardest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aubrey-plaza/writing-is-hard-writing-is-the-hardest/) [Aubrey Plaza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aubrey-plaza/) > [Writing is the hardest way of earning a living, with the possible exception of wrestling alligators.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/writing-is-the-hardest-way-of-earning-a-living-with-the-possible/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Good writing is the hardest form of thinking. It involves the agony of turning profoundly difficult thoughts into lucid form, then forcing them into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/good-writing-is-the-hardest-form-of-thinking-it-involves-the-agony-of-3/) [Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/) > [Writing is the hardest work in the world not involving heavy lifting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-hamill/writing-is-the-hardest-work-in-the-world-not-involving-heavy-lifting/) [Pete Hamill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-hamill/) > [Writing is the hardest work in the world. I have been a bricklayer and a truck driver, and I tell you – as if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harlan-ellison/writing-is-the-hardest-work-in-the-world-i-have-been-a-bricklayer-and/) [Harlan Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harlan-ellison/) > [Good writing is the hardest form of thinking. It involves the agony of turning profoundly difficult thoughts into lucid form, then forcing them into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/good-writing-is-the-hardest-form-of-thinking-it-involves-the-agony-of-2/) [Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/) > [The writing for us is the hardest, but also the most important. You want to get to the next part of it, to production,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-duffer/the-writing-for-us-is-the-hardest-but-also-the-most-important-you/) [Matt Duffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-duffer/) > [“Good writing is the hardest form of thinking. It involves the agony of turning profoundly difficult thoughts into a lucid form and forcing them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/good-writing-is-the-hardest-form-of-thinking-it-involves-the-agony-of/) [Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/) > [Writing I think, out of what all of us do, writing is the hardest. You're the only who start with nothing except what's up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/morgan-freeman/writing-i-think-out-of-what-all-of-us-do-writing-is-the-hardest-you/) [Morgan Freeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/morgan-freeman/) > [“Writing for me is the hardest thing in the world, but also a thing which, once completed, is the most satisfying. ... I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-styron/writing-for-me-is-the-hardest-thing-in-the-world-but-also-a-thing/) [William Styron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-styron/) > [Writing is the hardest for me. It doesn't come as naturally as the other forms, and I feel far more dread during the process.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-jon-benjamin/writing-is-the-hardest-for-me-it-doesn-t-come-as-naturally-as-the/) [H. Jon Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-jon-benjamin/) ## More by Kent Haruf > [I began writing seriously in my mid-20s and didn't publish my first book until I was 41.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kent-haruf/i-began-writing-seriously-in-my-mid-20s-and-didn-t-publish-my-first/) [Kent Haruf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kent-haruf/) > [“quit trying to fix things and we settled into our long polite and quiet life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kent-haruf/quit-trying-to-fix-things-and-we-settled-into-our-long-polite-and/) [Kent Haruf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kent-haruf/) > [“You understand? If you can read you can cook. You can always feed yourselves. You remember that.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kent-haruf/you-understand-if-you-can-read-you-can-cook-you-can-always-feed/) [Kent Haruf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kent-haruf/) > [“The precious ordinary. I”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kent-haruf/the-precious-ordinary-i/) [Kent Haruf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kent-haruf/) > [I enjoy bluegrass, folk, gospel, and classical. I don't listen to music when I write. I sometimes listen to music just before I sit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kent-haruf/i-enjoy-bluegrass-folk-gospel-and-classical-i-don-t-listen-to-music/) [Kent Haruf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kent-haruf/) > [We'd do better to follow the admonition of Jesus about loving our neighbours. People in the U.S. are capable of forgiveness and willing to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kent-haruf/we-d-do-better-to-follow-the-admonition-of-jesus-about-loving-our/) [Kent Haruf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kent-haruf/) > [Writers who aren't from rural states in the Midwest or the West often treat such people as if they were the Waltons or the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kent-haruf/writers-who-aren-t-from-rural-states-in-the-midwest-or-the-west-often/) [Kent Haruf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kent-haruf/) > [My desire is to be anonymous, isolated, quiet, peaceful, and concentrated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kent-haruf/my-desire-is-to-be-anonymous-isolated-quiet-peaceful-and-concentrated/) [Kent Haruf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kent-haruf/) > [“Alene looked out toward the fading sky. There was only a little light remaining. It would turn nighttime now and soon they would return…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kent-haruf/alene-looked-out-toward-the-fading-sky-there-was-only-a-little-light/) [Kent Haruf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kent-haruf/) > [“And so we know the satisfaction of hate. We know the sweet joy of revenge. How it feels good to get even. Oh, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kent-haruf/and-so-we-know-the-satisfaction-of-hate-we-know-the-sweet-joy-of/) [Kent Haruf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kent-haruf/) > [In terms of showing their emotions and acting on them, my women characters are a lot more advanced than the men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kent-haruf/in-terms-of-showing-their-emotions-and-acting-on-them-my-women/) [Kent Haruf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kent-haruf/) > [That was on a night in August. Dad Lewis died early that morning and the young girl Alice from next door got lost in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kent-haruf/that-was-on-a-night-in-august-dad-lewis-died-early-that-morning-and/) [Kent Haruf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kent-haruf/) > [“The evening wasn’t cold yet... But the air was turning sharp, with a fall feeling of loneliness coming. Something unaccountable pending in the air.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kent-haruf/the-evening-wasn-t-cold-yet-but-the-air-was-turning-sharp-with-a-fall/) [Kent Haruf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kent-haruf/) > [After finishing the first draft, I work for as long as it takes (for two or three weeks, most often) to rework that first…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kent-haruf/after-finishing-the-first-draft-i-work-for-as-long-as-it-takes-for/) [Kent Haruf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kent-haruf/) > [I write in a journal first, briefly. Then read something I've read many times before, for about half an hour, then rework what I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kent-haruf/i-write-in-a-journal-first-briefly-then-read-something-i-ve-read-many/) [Kent Haruf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kent-haruf/) [Explore all 34 Kent Haruf quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kent-haruf/) ## More Before quotes > [If you ask an introvert a question, wait until she thinks about it. Introverts think before speaking, not through speaking. If you want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-helgoe/if-you-ask-an-introvert-a-question-wait-until-she-thinks-about-it/) [Laurie Helgoe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-helgoe/) > [I want to make myself and the crowd happy by way of something different, and that makes things difficult. I'm never playing something that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tiesto/i-want-to-make-myself-and-the-crowd-happy-by-way-of-something/) [Tiesto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tiesto/) > [My writing routine is: get son off to school and sit down at 8 A.M. I read what I wrote the day before, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracy-chevalier/my-writing-routine-is-get-son-off-to-school-and-sit-down-at-8-a-m-i/) [Tracy Chevalier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracy-chevalier/) > [There aren't traditions of freedom in a place like Iraq. They're going to have to come to grips with a concept that they hadn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-wallop/there-aren-t-traditions-of-freedom-in-a-place-like-iraq-they-re-going/) [Malcolm Wallop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-wallop/) > [I don't like just traveling in for a short time. I've done that before, because sometimes you work for magazines and they have a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-sacco/i-don-t-like-just-traveling-in-for-a-short-time-i-ve-done-that-before/) [Joe Sacco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-sacco/) > [Music is almost like a therapy for me. It helps keep me centered and think straight. Before I discovered it, I was walking around,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/banks/music-is-almost-like-a-therapy-for-me-it-helps-keep-me-centered-and/) [Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/banks/) > [My first company, Pure Software, was exciting and innovative in the first few years and bureaucratic and painful in the last few before it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reed-hastings/my-first-company-pure-software-was-exciting-and-innovative-in-the/) [Reed Hastings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reed-hastings/) > [For the Russian masses, the proletarians, knew for certain, and already saw during the war, and in part before their very eyes, that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-gorter/for-the-russian-masses-the-proletarians-knew-for-certain-and-already/) [Herman Gorter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-gorter/) > [The Constitution is very clear on the - on the declaration of war or reacting to international crimes - crimes against nations. It is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-pitts/the-constitution-is-very-clear-on-the-on-the-declaration-of-war-or/) Joe Pitts > [I've been told before, and I tend to believe it, I'm not like most actresses out there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moira-kelly/i-ve-been-told-before-and-i-tend-to-believe-it-i-m-not-like-most/) [Moira Kelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moira-kelly/) > [Before I got addicted to comedy, I was seriously thinking about playing tennis full time. I joined the tennis team and played with a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrot-top/before-i-got-addicted-to-comedy-i-was-seriously-thinking-about/) [Carrot Top](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrot-top/) > [But even before I was in the military, I was extremely jumpy when asleep.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-kyle/but-even-before-i-was-in-the-military-i-was-extremely-jumpy-when/) [Chris Kyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-kyle/) > [When I'm making stuff, the thing that excites me most is not the result, but the process and trying to do something I've never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spike-jonze/when-i-m-making-stuff-the-thing-that-excites-me-most-is-not-the/) [Spike Jonze](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/spike-jonze/) > [I've pulled ticks off of me before.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-miller/i-ve-pulled-ticks-off-of-me-before/) [Jim Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-miller/) > [You know, before I would think, my cab driver hates me. Now I think my limo driver hates me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-romano/you-know-before-i-would-think-my-cab-driver-hates-me-now-i-think-my/) [Ray Romano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-romano/) Browse all 4,123 Before quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Writing is the hardest thing I know, but it was the only thing I wanted to do. I wrote for 20 years and published nothing before my first book.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Kent Haruf" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kent-haruf/writing-is-the-hardest-thing-i-know-but-it-was-the-only-thing-i/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Before" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kent-haruf/writing-is-the-hardest-thing-i-know-but-it-was-the-only-thing-i/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/466/kent-haruf-18766_before_writing-is-the-hardest-thing-i-know-but_2560910.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/466/kent-haruf-18766_before_writing-is-the-hardest-thing-i-know-but_2560910.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/466/kent-haruf-18766_before_writing-is-the-hardest-thing-i-know-but_2560910.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Writing is the hardest thing I know, but it was the only thing I wanted to do. I wrote for 20 years and…” — Kent Haruf", "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": "Kent Haruf", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kent-haruf/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Writing is the hardest thing I...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kent-haruf/writing-is-the-hardest-thing-i-know-but-it-was-the-only-thing-i/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kent-haruf/writing-is-the-hardest-thing-i-know-but-it-was-the-only-thing-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 } } ] } ```