--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I can tell from about 20 yards away when…" description: "\"I can tell from about 20 yards away when someone has a manuscript for me. I can just tell - they have that look.\" — Mark Leyner" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/126/mark-leyner-10696_i-can_i-can-tell-from-about-20-yards-away-when_1702559.png" --- # I can tell from about 20 yards away when someone has a… ![“I can tell from about 20 yards away when someone has a manuscript for me. I can just tell - they have that look.” quote by Mark Leyner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/126/mark-leyner-10696_i-can_i-can-tell-from-about-20-yards-away-when_1702559.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/126/mark-leyner-10696_i-can_i-can-tell-from-about-20-yards-away-when_1702559.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/126/mark-leyner-10696_i-can_i-can-tell-from-about-20-yards-away-when_1702559.png) > “I can tell from about 20 yards away when someone has a manuscript for me. I can just tell - they have that look.” [Mark Leyner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-leyner/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He claims an intuitive ability to recognize a manuscript’s quality by a visual cue, suggesting a gut feeling about creative work. **In simple terms:** He can spot a good manuscript by its look. Key Takeaway Trust your instinct when evaluating writing. Themes creativity intuition writing Mood curious analytical Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - literary agents - editorial meetings - author pitches - creative workshops Key Concepts pattern recognition aesthetic judgment Questions to Reflect On - What visual cues indicate a strong manuscript? - Can intuition replace thorough review? A Different Perspective Intuition may be biased by personal taste. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [20 Yards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/20-yards-479567/) [Away Manuscript](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/away-manuscript-1163542/) [I can](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/i-can/) [Looks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/looks/) [Manuscript](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/manuscript/) [Manuscript Just](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/manuscript-just-1163543/) [Yards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/yards/) [Yards Away](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/yards-away-935641/) ## Related quotes > [This manuscript of yours that has just come back from another editor is a precious package. Don't consider it rejected. Consider that you've addressed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/this-manuscript-of-yours-that-has-just-come-back-from-another-editor/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [They're in the red zone. They're in the last 20 yards, and you can't let them cross that goal line. You can't let them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-netanyahu/they-re-in-the-red-zone-they-re-in-the-last-20-yards-and-you-can-t/) [Benjamin Netanyahu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-netanyahu/) > [I was in the back part of the bunker, so I had to carry the whole bunker. 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I used to stand like 15, 20…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-jefferson/i-remember-my-hands-used-to-be-stinging-in-pain-just-from-trying-to/) [Justin Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-jefferson/) > [Whether I have 20 yards or 200 yards, I still come to work the next week with the same mindset and stay on top…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darren-waller/whether-i-have-20-yards-or-200-yards-i-still-come-to-work-the-next/) [Darren Waller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darren-waller/) > [If I scramble, I might get 5, 10, 15, 20 yards, but I'm not that fast. I always want to get it to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carson-wentz/if-i-scramble-i-might-get-5-10-15-20-yards-but-i-m-not-that-fast-i/) [Carson Wentz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carson-wentz/) > [“The range had been exceptional. An apartment balcony fourteen hundred yards away had been identified as the rifleman’s hide. 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We all went away on safari recently.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angus-deayton/i-live-300-yards-away-from-my-ex-and-son-i-see-them-all-the-time-we/) [Angus Deayton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angus-deayton/) > [And in the distance a few yards away another shattered life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boondox/and-in-the-distance-a-few-yards-away-another-shattered-life/) [Boondox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boondox/) > [To me, all the juice of a book is in an unpublished manuscript, and the published book is like a dead tree - just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-stead/to-me-all-the-juice-of-a-book-is-in-an-unpublished-manuscript-and-the/) [Christina Stead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-stead/) > [A thing may in itself be the finest piece of writing one has ever done, and yet have absolutely no place in the manuscript…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-forche/a-thing-may-in-itself-be-the-finest-piece-of-writing-one-has-ever/) [Carolyn Forche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-forche/) ## More by Mark Leyner > [People have no idea how much work it is for a man to produce an ejaculation. You have this seminal vesicle churning out this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-leyner/people-have-no-idea-how-much-work-it-is-for-a-man-to-produce-an/) [Mark Leyner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-leyner/) > [“Yes, the hermitage is underground--miles beneath the surface of Antarctica. And yes, Ike refers to it as unten--literally 'under' or 'below.' But, hello, it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-leyner/yes-the-hermitage-is-underground-miles-beneath-the-surface-of/) [Mark Leyner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-leyner/) > [I was an infinitely hot and dense dot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-leyner/i-was-an-infinitely-hot-and-dense-dot/) [Mark Leyner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-leyner/) > [“One of the things about Ike that makes him so indisputably a hero is that he doesn't leave his own contradictions to the effete…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-leyner/one-of-the-things-about-ike-that-makes-him-so-indisputably-a-hero-is/) [Mark Leyner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-leyner/) > [“I also think my mom 'suffers' from something one might call Pollyanna's paranoia, an irrational suspicion that there are people out there secretly trying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-leyner/i-also-think-my-mom-suffers-from-something-one-might-call-pollyanna-s/) [Mark Leyner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-leyner/) > [“There are enigmas that we can gnaw on throughout our lives from which we derive sustenance, some kind of spiritual nourishment...I'm thinking of certain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-leyner/there-are-enigmas-that-we-can-gnaw-on-throughout-our-lives-from-which/) [Mark Leyner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-leyner/) > [I'm fascinated with video games, though I can't really play them. It's definitely an art form that intrigues me to no end, though.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-leyner/i-m-fascinated-with-video-games-though-i-can-t-really-play-them-it-s/) [Mark Leyner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-leyner/) > [My relationship with my readers is somewhat theatrical. One of the main things I try to do in my work is delight my readers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-leyner/my-relationship-with-my-readers-is-somewhat-theatrical-one-of-the/) [Mark Leyner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-leyner/) > [“Do it, my fellow Americans! Do it for every adolescent anomic skank genius cloistered in his room, getting cranked, rabidly humping his sampler as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-leyner/do-it-my-fellow-americans-do-it-for-every-adolescent-anomic-skank/) [Mark Leyner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-leyner/) > [“fate is the ultimate preexisting condition.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-leyner/fate-is-the-ultimate-preexisting-condition/) [Mark Leyner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-leyner/) > [As far as what I do, my value as a writer is certainly not to try to recapitulate a 19th century form. Certain styles…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-leyner/as-far-as-what-i-do-my-value-as-a-writer-is-certainly-not-to-try-to/) [Mark Leyner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-leyner/) > [I always thought of my work as being animated by a spirit of unhinged generosity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-leyner/i-always-thought-of-my-work-as-being-animated-by-a-spirit-of-unhinged/) [Mark Leyner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-leyner/) > [“I really think this kind of consensual cannibalism is such a perfect analogue for the reciprocal relationship between writer and reader, and especially between…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-leyner/i-really-think-this-kind-of-consensual-cannibalism-is-such-a-perfect/) [Mark Leyner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-leyner/) > [It's in great joy that we grasp truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-leyner/it-s-in-great-joy-that-we-grasp-truth/) [Mark Leyner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-leyner/) > [I think of memory as a game, that is as something one engages in with a very profound kind of "playfulness."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-leyner/i-think-of-memory-as-a-game-that-is-as-something-one-engages-in-with/) [Mark Leyner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-leyner/) [Explore all 63 Mark Leyner quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-leyner/) ## More I can quotes > [Only within yourself exists the other reality for which you long. 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Especially for the kids and everybody, showing my example of what I can achieve so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-sharapova/i-love-playing-for-my-country-getting-the-support-especially-for-the/) [Maria Sharapova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-sharapova/) > [I always step on the plane with my right foot and touch the outside of the plane with my left hand. Sometimes you know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hope-davis/i-always-step-on-the-plane-with-my-right-foot-and-touch-the-outside/) [Hope Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hope-davis/) > [From as long as I can remember, I was always fond of drawing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/st-lucia/from-as-long-as-i-can-remember-i-was-always-fond-of-drawing/) [St. Lucia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/st-lucia/) > [I don't want to be famous famous. I'm happy on the second tier, where I have autonomy on a professional level but I can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabrielle-reece/i-don-t-want-to-be-famous-famous-i-m-happy-on-the-second-tier-where-i/) [Gabrielle Reece](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-reece/) > [It's very easy to fool yourself that you're working, you know, when you're really not working very hard. I mean, I'm very lazy. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-caro/it-s-very-easy-to-fool-yourself-that-you-re-working-you-know-when-you/) [Robert Caro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-caro/) > [From my experience of having served for 3000 days, I can say that anything can be achieved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/narendra-modi/from-my-experience-of-having-served-for-3000-days-i-can-say-that/) [Narendra Modi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/narendra-modi/) > [I can still function when I don't have that balance I crave. I had a tendency to be precious about acting, thinking of it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-regan/i-can-still-function-when-i-don-t-have-that-balance-i-crave-i-had-a/) [Laura Regan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-regan/) > [I take the responsibility of playing another ethnicity very, very seriously, and I promise myself and those people that I will represent them with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cliff-curtis/i-take-the-responsibility-of-playing-another-ethnicity-very-very/) [Cliff Curtis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cliff-curtis/) > [I can't say that there are 'things' that make me come alive. 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Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) [Browse all 24,836 I can quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/i-can/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I can tell from about 20 yards away when someone has a manuscript for me. 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