--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I'm bothered, as a reader, when I feel…" description: "\"I'm bothered, as a reader, when I feel the writer is filling in too much. Again, whether it's nonfiction or fiction, I think writers are providing a ki..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a7/lynne-tillman-5609_books_i-m-bothered-as-a-reader-when-i-feel-the_333819.jpg" --- # I'm bothered, as a reader, when I feel the writer is… ![“I'm bothered, as a reader, when I feel the writer is filling in too much. Again, whether it's nonfiction or fiction, I think writers are providing a kind of template or platform for thinking and imagining.” quote by Lynne Tillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a7/lynne-tillman-5609_books_i-m-bothered-as-a-reader-when-i-feel-the_333819.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a7/lynne-tillman-5609_books_i-m-bothered-as-a-reader-when-i-feel-the_333819.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a7/lynne-tillman-5609_books_i-m-bothered-as-a-reader-when-i-feel-the_333819.jpg) > “I'm bothered, as a reader, when I feel the writer is filling in too much. Again, whether it's nonfiction or fiction, I think writers are providing a kind of template or platform for thinking and imagining.” [Lynne Tillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-tillman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writers should avoid over‑structuring, allowing readers space to imagine and think freely. **In simple terms:** Avoid over‑directing readers. Key Takeaway Leave room for reader imagination. Themes creativity freedom writing style Mood contemplative analytical Type literary reflective When to use this quote - fiction writing - nonfiction essays - creative workshops Key Concepts narrative autonomy reader agency Questions to Reflect On - How much guidance is helpful? - When does structure become a constraint? A Different Perspective Too much guidance can limit interpretation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [I think many writers really believe that being published is a traumatic experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-tillman/i-think-many-writers-really-believe-that-being-published-is-a/) [Lynne Tillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-tillman/) > [Gentle reader, may you never feel what I then felt! 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Done right, it is woven into the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-wilson/sensory-experience-should-not-be-draped-on-top-of-the-story-as-sort/) [Douglas Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-wilson/) > [I try to be aware of what I'm concerned about, aware of how I feel about myself in the world, aware of how I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chang-rae-lee/i-try-to-be-aware-of-what-i-m-concerned-about-aware-of-how-i-feel/) [Chang-Rae Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chang-rae-lee/) ## More by Lynne Tillman > [There may be an art to conversation, and some are better at it than others, but conversation's virtue lies in randomness and possibility: people,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-tillman/there-may-be-an-art-to-conversation-and-some-are-better-at-it-than/) [Lynne Tillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-tillman/) > [I'd studied English literature and American history, but the English literature, which I thought was going to be helpful to me in an immediate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-tillman/i-d-studied-english-literature-and-american-history-but-the-english/) [Lynne Tillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-tillman/) > [I subject my sentences and the words to a kind of Grand Inquisition.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-tillman/i-subject-my-sentences-and-the-words-to-a-kind-of-grand-inquisition/) [Lynne Tillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-tillman/) > [Laughing and crying are very similar. 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Not that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-tillman/in-a-practical-sense-pain-kept-me-from-sitting-down-as-much-so-that/) [Lynne Tillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-tillman/) > [It wasn't that I wanted to be an artist. But when I took my first drawing class with the painter Doug Ohlson, I could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-tillman/it-wasn-t-that-i-wanted-to-be-an-artist-but-when-i-took-my-first/) [Lynne Tillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-tillman/) > [I'm interested in reality but I'm not interested in realism at all. I'm interested in the ways that I think people want to relate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-tillman/i-m-interested-in-reality-but-i-m-not-interested-in-realism-at-all-i/) [Lynne Tillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-tillman/) > [It's true you have to screen out a lot living in the city. 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It doesn't mean they're not fascinating.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-tillman/there-are-lots-of-unlikable-characters-in-literature-it-doesn-t-mean/) [Lynne Tillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-tillman/) > [People, no matter the economic class, find ways to feed their narcissism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-tillman/people-no-matter-the-economic-class-find-ways-to-feed-their-narcissism/) [Lynne Tillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-tillman/) [Explore all 100 Lynne Tillman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-tillman/) ## 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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