--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: My students are often asking me, 'What do…" description: "\"My students are often asking me, 'What do you think are the most important qualities for a writer?' And one thing I always tells them is that it's help..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/770/laura-van-den-berg-4314_books_my-students-are-often-asking-me-what-do_262974.jpg" --- # My students are often asking me, 'What do you think are… ![“My students are often asking me, 'What do you think are the most important qualities for a writer?' And one thing I always tells them is that it's helpful to be willing to sit in a space of uncertainty. There are entire years, especially with novels, where you really don't know where the project…” quote by Laura van den Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/770/laura-van-den-berg-4314_books_my-students-are-often-asking-me-what-do_262974.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/770/laura-van-den-berg-4314_books_my-students-are-often-asking-me-what-do_262974.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/770/laura-van-den-berg-4314_books_my-students-are-often-asking-me-what-do_262974.jpg) > “My students are often asking me, 'What do you think are the most important qualities for a writer?' And one thing I always tells them is that it's helpful to be willing to sit in a space of uncertainty. There are entire years, especially with novels, where you really don't know where the project is going.” [Laura van den Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-van-den-berg/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Encourages writers to sit comfortably with uncertainty, as it’s essential for creative development. **In simple terms:** Accept uncertainty in writing. Key Takeaway Embrace doubt, let it guide exploration. Themes writing uncertainty creativity growth learning Mood encouraging practical Type educational motivational When to use this quote - novel drafting - creative brainstorming - teaching workshops Key Concepts psychology process writing risk‑taking Questions to Reflect On - How do you navigate unknowns in projects? - What practices help you stay productive amid doubt? A Different Perspective Uncertainty can stall progress if not managed. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Qualities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/qualities/) [Space](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/space/) [Uncertainty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/uncertainty/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [It's often said that the most important qualities in a chief executive are character and judgment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-b-stewart/it-s-often-said-that-the-most-important-qualities-in-a-chief/) [James B. Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-b-stewart/) > [Balance is the most important of all qualities. We don't want a little bit of rapid growth and then to stagnate. We want continual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/balance-is-the-most-important-of-all-qualities-we-don-t-want-a-little/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [What are the most important qualities that make a successful entrepreneur? The ability to communicate. The ability to express your idea with certainty. That's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-o-leary/what-are-the-most-important-qualities-that-make-a-successful/) [Kevin O'Leary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-o-leary/) > [For me, a sexy man has three very important qualities: a great sense of humour, intelligence, and loyalty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/urvashi-rautela/for-me-a-sexy-man-has-three-very-important-qualities-a-great-sense-of/) [Urvashi Rautela](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/urvashi-rautela/) > [Nothing can destroy the good writer. The only thing that can alter the good writer is death. Good ones don't have time to bother…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-faulkner/nothing-can-destroy-the-good-writer-the-only-thing-that-can-alter-the/) [William Faulkner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-faulkner/) > [Every writer has to find the thing to keep her eye on about which she has strong opinions. That's of course deeply personal, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/every-writer-has-to-find-the-thing-to-keep-her-eye-on-about-which-she/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [“Being a writer, I take thing seriously (not too seriously). I may be a young writer/self publisher, I do love to write and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simi-sunny/being-a-writer-i-take-thing-seriously-not-too-seriously-i-may-be-a/) [Simi Sunny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simi-sunny/) > [I know I am a writer; it is the only thing I am sure of.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oriana-fallaci/i-know-i-am-a-writer-it-is-the-only-thing-i-am-sure-of/) [Oriana Fallaci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oriana-fallaci/) > [Every single path is so different, but I would definitely say that the idea of what a writer is or should be is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-todd/every-single-path-is-so-different-but-i-would-definitely-say-that-the/) [Anna Todd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-todd/) > [I have this identity for myself as a writer and the only thing that can happen is that I chip away from it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitchell-hurwitz/i-have-this-identity-for-myself-as-a-writer-and-the-only-thing-that/) [Mitchell Hurwitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitchell-hurwitz/) > [I know when I go and see a writer, the first thing I think to myself is, 'Are they the character in the book?'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvine-welsh/i-know-when-i-go-and-see-a-writer-the-first-thing-i-think-to-myself/) [Irvine Welsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvine-welsh/) > [You sure about this writer thing son?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-moore/you-sure-about-this-writer-thing-son/) [Christopher Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-moore/) > [I think the first thing - if you want to be a writer - the first thing you need to do is write. Which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cheryl-strayed/i-think-the-first-thing-if-you-want-to-be-a-writer-the-first-thing/) [Cheryl Strayed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cheryl-strayed/) > [The truth is, I hadn't grown up really wanting to be a writer. The whole thing was a weird aberration in some ways, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-garland/the-truth-is-i-hadn-t-grown-up-really-wanting-to-be-a-writer-the/) [Alex Garland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-garland/) > [Good art can come out of thieves, bootleggers, or horse swipes. People really are afraid to find out just how much hardship and poverty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-faulkner/good-art-can-come-out-of-thieves-bootleggers-or-horse-swipes-people/) [William Faulkner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-faulkner/) ## More by Laura van den Berg > [I was born and raised in Orlando, where the economy and culture has been powerfully shaped by tourism, and so I've long been interested…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-van-den-berg/i-was-born-and-raised-in-orlando-where-the-economy-and-culture-has/) [Laura van den Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-van-den-berg/) > [I lived in Boston for three years, and during that time, I wrote my first collection of stories, 'What the World Will Look Like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-van-den-berg/i-lived-in-boston-for-three-years-and-during-that-time-i-wrote-my/) [Laura van den Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-van-den-berg/) > [I take a pretty expansive view of craft, which is to say I don't see craft as just being technique - it's also process;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-van-den-berg/i-take-a-pretty-expansive-view-of-craft-which-is-to-say-i-don-t-see/) [Laura van den Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-van-den-berg/) > [To me, in general, something that's really rich in terms of identity about transit spaces is that they're so intimate. Especially thinking about long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-van-den-berg/to-me-in-general-something-that-s-really-rich-in-terms-of-identity/) [Laura van den Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-van-den-berg/) > [To a certain degree, I think both self-narrativizing and selective memory are essential survival skills.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-van-den-berg/to-a-certain-degree-i-think-both-self-narrativizing-and-selective/) [Laura van den Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-van-den-berg/) > [There's the public self that we present to the outer world. There's the private self, which maybe takes more time to access. 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You're still learning the terms of the world and of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-van-den-berg/youth-is-such-a-fascinating-and-volatile-concoction-of-vulnerability/) [Laura van den Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-van-den-berg/) > [As a genre, the best horror poses central human questions - Who can you trust? What is the cost of our secrets? 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I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-van-den-berg/ever-since-i-started-writing-in-college-i-have-save-for-a-few-short/) [Laura van den Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-van-den-berg/) > [I wager we have a vast amount of literature out there that tends to the stories of men, so I've never really worried too…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-van-den-berg/i-wager-we-have-a-vast-amount-of-literature-out-there-that-tends-to/) [Laura van den Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-van-den-berg/) > [When I'm absorbed in a work of fiction, time and place melts away, as though I've drifted away from my usual reality and been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-van-den-berg/when-i-m-absorbed-in-a-work-of-fiction-time-and-place-melts-away-as/) [Laura van den Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-van-den-berg/) [Explore all 113 Laura van den Berg quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-van-den-berg/) ## More Books quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [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/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [“Within the pages of books, I've journeyed to Mandalay, the Milky Way and Santa Fe, without once having to leave my armchair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-ansbro/within-the-pages-of-books-i-ve-journeyed-to-mandalay-the-milky-way/) [Kevin Ansbro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-ansbro/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [“Tacitus did not write a most dangerous book. His readers made it so.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-k-krebs/tacitus-did-not-write-a-most-dangerous-book-his-readers-made-it-so/) Christopher K. 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Some fine day you'll die of a misprint.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-herz/be-careful-about-reading-health-books-some-fine-day-you-ll-die-of-a/) Markus Herz > [But editors are still the world's readers. And thus the eyes of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/but-editors-are-still-the-world-s-readers-and-thus-the-eyes-of-the/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) [Browse all 59,485 Books quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "My students are often asking me, 'What do you think are the most important qualities for a writer?' And one thing I always tells them is that it's helpful to be willing to sit in a space of uncertainty. 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