--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It takes three or four years before the…" description: "\"“It takes three or four years before the present day sinks in to you as a novelist. It has not just to be accepted in the mind but travel down your spi..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b60/martin-amis-704_fiction_it-takes-three-or-four-years-before-the_1786155.jpg" --- # It takes three or four years before the present day sinks… ![“It takes three or four years before the present day sinks in to you as a novelist. It has not just to be accepted in the mind but travel down your spine and fill your body and you can’t respond immediately to immediate events, there is this incubation period. Source…” quote by Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b60/martin-amis-704_fiction_it-takes-three-or-four-years-before-the_1786155.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b60/martin-amis-704_fiction_it-takes-three-or-four-years-before-the_1786155.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b60/martin-amis-704_fiction_it-takes-three-or-four-years-before-the_1786155.jpg) > ““It takes three or four years before the present day sinks in to you as a novelist. It has not just to be accepted in the mind but travel down your spine and fill your body and you can’t respond immediately to immediate events, there is this incubation period. Source: http://www.euronews.com/2013/06/25/ma... ”” [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A novelist needs several years for experiences to become internalized, allowing deep, embodied responses rather than instant reactions. **In simple terms:** Writers must let time shape their insight before reacting. Key Takeaway Give ideas time to mature. Themes creativity patience craft identity Mood reflective contemplative Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - writing - personal growth - artistic development Key Concepts incubation embodiment delayed gratification Questions to Reflect On - How does time change your perception of events? - What practices help you wait for incubation? A Different Perspective Immediate reactions may miss deeper truth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) [Fiction writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction-writing/) [Incubation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/incubation/) [Incubation Period](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/incubation-period-1547881/) [Novelist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novelist/) [Novelist Just](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novelist-just-1001235/) [Novels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novels/) [Present day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/present-day/) [Takes Years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/takes-years/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Writing life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-life/) [Writing process](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-process/) ## Related quotes > [“...this life is the incubation period!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-p-moreland/this-life-is-the-incubation-period/) [J.P. Moreland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-p-moreland/) > [The creative act always requires a stepping back. It's called the incubation period. The incubation period - one of the four phases of creativity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-weiner/the-creative-act-always-requires-a-stepping-back-it-s-called-the/) [Eric Weiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-weiner/) > [Smallpox can be personally devastating. After a 14-day incubation period, patients experience high fevers, headaches, and sometimes severe abdominal pain. A rash resembling chicken…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-gottlieb/smallpox-can-be-personally-devastating-after-a-14-day-incubation/) [Scott Gottlieb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-gottlieb/) > [There are so many other people involved in the making of a play or a television series or whatever... even if you're a novelist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-morgan/there-are-so-many-other-people-involved-in-the-making-of-a-play-or-a/) [Peter Morgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-morgan/) > [I've always wanted to be a novelist, so I just try to write really great narrative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-heller/i-ve-always-wanted-to-be-a-novelist-so-i-just-try-to-write-really/) [Peter Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-heller/) > [Pundits always have something to write about; the novelist just has a blank screen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-mawer/pundits-always-have-something-to-write-about-the-novelist-just-has-a/) [Simon Mawer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-mawer/) > [People might ask me, What do you propose instead? I propose nothing. I am a mere novelist, I just write about the world as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/people-might-ask-me-what-do-you-propose-instead-i-propose-nothing-i/) [Jose Saramago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-saramago/) > [I don't really consider myself a novelist, it just came out purely by accident.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/i-don-t-really-consider-myself-a-novelist-it-just-came-out-purely-by/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [As a novelist you have just unlimited budget, total creative control. You really get to have your cake - all the cake - and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-novik/as-a-novelist-you-have-just-unlimited-budget-total-creative-control/) [Naomi Novik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-novik/) > [I love novels, but I'm not a novelist. I'm just a dramatist, which means I write lines for actors. That's all I have ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-logan/i-love-novels-but-i-m-not-a-novelist-i-m-just-a-dramatist-which-means/) [John Logan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-logan/) > [The "germ," wherever gathered, has ever been for me, "the germ of a story," and most of the stories strained to shape under my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-james/the-germ-wherever-gathered-has-ever-been-for-me-the-germ-of-a-story/) [Henry James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-james/) > [I have wished to see chemistry applied to domestic objects, to malting, for instance, brewing, making cider, to fermentation and distillation generally, to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/i-have-wished-to-see-chemistry-applied-to-domestic-objects-to-malting/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [You must have a room, or a certain hour or so a day, where you don’t know what was in the newspapers that morning,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/you-must-have-a-room-or-a-certain-hour-or-so-a-day-where-you-don-t/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [I think hanging out is the best incubation for cultural creation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/torrey-peters/i-think-hanging-out-is-the-best-incubation-for-cultural-creation/) [Torrey Peters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/torrey-peters/) > [I was on automatic pilot; ideas for gadgets kept coming, fed by a force of energy flowing through me and around me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trevor-baylis/i-was-on-automatic-pilot-ideas-for-gadgets-kept-coming-fed-by-a-force/) [Trevor Baylis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trevor-baylis/) ## More by Martin Amis > [“Yeah,' I said and started smoking another cigarette. Unless I inform you otherwise, I'm always smoking another cigarette.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/yeah-i-said-and-started-smoking-another-cigarette-unless-i-inform-you/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) > [“barrios; each barrio has two or three gangs, and all the gangs are theoretically”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/barrios-each-barrio-has-two-or-three-gangs-and-all-the-gangs-are/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) > [I'm not interested in making a diagnostic novel or a concern. I'm 100 percent committed in fiction to the pleasure principle - that's what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/i-m-not-interested-in-making-a-diagnostic-novel-or-a-concern-i-m-100/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) > [“If we all downed tools and joined hands for ten minutes and stopped believing in money, then money would no longer exist. We never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/if-we-all-downed-tools-and-joined-hands-for-ten-minutes-and-stopped/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) > [When I see a lot of young faces in the audience, it's just sort of sinking in how important that is. Because you're old…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/when-i-see-a-lot-of-young-faces-in-the-audience-it-s-just-sort-of/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) > [“I was informed by my viscera that now was the time to put my arm around her shoulders. I ignored them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/i-was-informed-by-my-viscera-that-now-was-the-time-to-put-my-arm/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) > [You use a different part of your heart with girls.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/you-use-a-different-part-of-your-heart-with-girls/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) > [It's becoming clearer and clearer to me that the world is there to be celebrated by writers, and in fact this is what all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/it-s-becoming-clearer-and-clearer-to-me-that-the-world-is-there-to-be/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) > [In her final months Princess Diana was being shat upon by the tabloids -- basically for sleeping with an Arab. When she died, these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/in-her-final-months-princess-diana-was-being-shat-upon-by-the/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) > [If you feel you have a strong constituency among the young, you can really die happy, because the great unanswered question, the only valid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/if-you-feel-you-have-a-strong-constituency-among-the-young-you-can/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) > [My life looked good on paper - where, in fact, almost all of it was being lived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/my-life-looked-good-on-paper-where-in-fact-almost-all-of-it-was-being/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) > [I say, 'If I had a serious brain injury I might well write a children's book', but otherwise the idea of being conscious of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/i-say-if-i-had-a-serious-brain-injury-i-might-well-write-a-children-s/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) > [The future could go this way, that way. The future's futures have never looked so rocky. Don't put money on it. Take my advice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/the-future-could-go-this-way-that-way-the-future-s-futures-have-never/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) > [Each life is a game of chess that went to hell on the seventh move(...)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/each-life-is-a-game-of-chess-that-went-to-hell-on-the-seventh-move/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) > [ “There exists a subterranean world where pathological fantasies disguised as ideas are churned out by crooks and half-educated fanatics \[notably the lower clergy\] for… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/there-exists-a-subterranean-world-where-pathological-fantasies/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) [Explore all 393 Martin Amis quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) ## More Fiction quotes > [“…progress isn't necessarily about change but about things turning out as we want them to”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-hogan/progress-isn-t-necessarily-about-change-but-about-things-turning-out/) [Phil Hogan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-hogan/) > [The thing about science fiction is that it's totally wide open. But it's wide open in a conditional way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavia-butler/the-thing-about-science-fiction-is-that-it-s-totally-wide-open-but-it/) [Octavia Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavia-butler/) > [I do think that theater is a great venue for science fiction, and not just adaptations but also original work. I also think some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-einhorn/i-do-think-that-theater-is-a-great-venue-for-science-fiction-and-not/) [Edward Einhorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-einhorn/) > [Fiction is a way of exploring possibilities present but undreamt of in the living of a single life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/fiction-is-a-way-of-exploring-possibilities-present-but-undreamt-of/) [Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) > [I love writing fiction and can do it anywhere - I once even missed a flight because I was so engrossed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/prue-leith/i-love-writing-fiction-and-can-do-it-anywhere-i-once-even-missed-a/) [Prue Leith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/prue-leith/) > [“The fiction will seek the real.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/coheed-and-cambria/the-fiction-will-seek-the-real/) [Coheed and Cambria](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/coheed-and-cambria/) > [I think that most of us, anyway, read these stories that we know are not "true" because we're hungry for another kind of truth:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/i-think-that-most-of-us-anyway-read-these-stories-that-we-know-are/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [The danger that may really threaten (crime fiction) is that soon there will be more writers than readers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-barzun/the-danger-that-may-really-threaten-crime-fiction-is-that-soon-there/) [Jacques Barzun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-barzun/) > [There's always that discussion about fiction about how do you market it - these are books for boys, these are books for girls, these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-a-weatherly/there-s-always-that-discussion-about-fiction-about-how-do-you-market/) [L.A. Weatherly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-a-weatherly/) > [Inspiration comes from so many sources. Music, other fiction, the non-fiction I read, TV shows, films, news reports, people I know, stories I hear,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trudi-canavan/inspiration-comes-from-so-many-sources-music-other-fiction-the-non/) [Trudi Canavan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trudi-canavan/) > [I'm not interested in making a diagnostic novel or a concern. I'm 100 percent committed in fiction to the pleasure principle - that's what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/i-m-not-interested-in-making-a-diagnostic-novel-or-a-concern-i-m-100/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) > [“His hands on my waist he gently pulled me n embrace. I could feel his breath on my face our lips were about to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-eglinger/his-hands-on-my-waist-he-gently-pulled-me-n-embrace-i-could-feel-his/) [Nicole Eglinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-eglinger/) > [In early drafts, one of the trickiest things for me to do was to realize that the techniques and devices that make readable and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-rooney/in-early-drafts-one-of-the-trickiest-things-for-me-to-do-was-to/) [Kathleen Rooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-rooney/) > [I don't think it's always a sign of respect for persons (inside or outside of fiction) to pretend to be able to represent, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-lerner/i-don-t-think-it-s-always-a-sign-of-respect-for-persons-inside-or/) [Ben Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-lerner/) > [Metafiction says something. It has to do with taking a large fiction itself and writing within it; that kind of self-reflecting writing that emerges…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-coover/metafiction-says-something-it-has-to-do-with-taking-a-large-fiction/) [Robert Coover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-coover/) [Browse all 7,410 Fiction quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It takes three or four years before the present day sinks in to you as a novelist. It has not just to be accepted in the mind but travel down your spine and fill your body and you can’t respond immediately to immediate events, there is this incubation period. 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