--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: For after my marriage I had made various…" description: "\"For after my marriage I had made various attempts to write fiction. They were clearly failures.\" — Mary Augusta Ward" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce0/mary-augusta-ward-14616_failure_for-after-my-marriage-i-had-made-various_416210.jpg" --- # For after my marriage I had made various attempts to write… ![“For after my marriage I had made various attempts to write fiction. They were clearly failures.” quote by Mary Augusta Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce0/mary-augusta-ward-14616_failure_for-after-my-marriage-i-had-made-various_416210.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce0/mary-augusta-ward-14616_failure_for-after-my-marriage-i-had-made-various_416210.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce0/mary-augusta-ward-14616_failure_for-after-my-marriage-i-had-made-various_416210.jpg) > “For after my marriage I had made various attempts to write fiction. They were clearly failures.” [Mary Augusta Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-augusta-ward/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Attempts at writing after marriage failed, highlighting personal doubts and the difficulty of creative pursuits during life transitions. **In simple terms:** Post‑marriage writing attempts failed. Key Takeaway Accept setbacks as part of the creative process. Themes self‑doubt creativity life change Mood reflective somber Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - writing workshops - journaling - support groups - creative retreats Key Concepts perfectionism identity shift Questions to Reflect On - What support could improve creative confidence? - How does life change affect artistic output? A Different Perspective Personal circumstances may limit time and confidence. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) [Failures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failures/) [Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) [Marriage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marriage/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [In modern America, anyone who attempts to write satirically about the events of the day finds it difficult to concoct a situation so bizarre…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/calvin-trillin/in-modern-america-anyone-who-attempts-to-write-satirically-about-the/) [Calvin Trillin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/calvin-trillin/) > [I don't want to write poems that are just really clear about how I'm aware of all the traps involved in writing poetry; I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-lerner/i-don-t-want-to-write-poems-that-are-just-really-clear-about-how-i-m/) [Ben Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-lerner/) > [I remember reading an interview with a writer who said that in nonfiction if you have one lie it sort of messes it up.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwidge-danticat/i-remember-reading-an-interview-with-a-writer-who-said-that-in/) [Edwidge Danticat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwidge-danticat/) > [Because I write fiction, I don't write autobiography, and to me they are very different things. The first-person narrative is a very intimate thing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-atkinson/because-i-write-fiction-i-don-t-write-autobiography-and-to-me-they/) [Kate Atkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-atkinson/) > [“Write non-fiction like fiction, so the reader is constantly turning the page to find out what happens next, and write fiction like non-fiction, so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-robinson/write-non-fiction-like-fiction-so-the-reader-is-constantly-turning/) [Jeffrey Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-robinson/) > [I think it's hard to have a full-time job and write fiction, but for essays, you need to be in the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sloane-crosley/i-think-it-s-hard-to-have-a-full-time-job-and-write-fiction-but-for/) [Sloane Crosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sloane-crosley/) > [At least for me, it takes more knowledge to write fiction than nonfiction. At least about someplace that I begin with a lot of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-t-vollmann/at-least-for-me-it-takes-more-knowledge-to-write-fiction-than/) [William T. Vollmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-t-vollmann/) > [Whether I'll get the chance to write fiction, I don't know. I could do political conspiracy thrillers, couldn't I? With an investigative journalist as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-brooke/whether-i-ll-get-the-chance-to-write-fiction-i-don-t-know-i-could-do/) [Heather Brooke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-brooke/) > [“When pondering who I am, I write the fiction that I want directly over the facts that I hate. However, what I’ve discovered is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/when-pondering-who-i-am-i-write-the-fiction-that-i-want-directly-over/) [Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/) > [So much of what I write in fiction is based on true stories.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-kurlansky/so-much-of-what-i-write-in-fiction-is-based-on-true-stories/) [Mark Kurlansky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-kurlansky/) > [For a while, when I got out of college, I tried to write fiction. I'd grown up more around novelists, and my initial attraction…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grann/for-a-while-when-i-got-out-of-college-i-tried-to-write-fiction-i-d/) [David Grann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grann/) > [Fiction is lies; we're writing about people who never existed and events that never happened when we write fiction, whether its science fiction or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-r-r-martin-2/fiction-is-lies-we-re-writing-about-people-who-never-existed-and/) [George R. R. Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-r-r-martin-2/) > [If I write nothing but fiction for some time I begin to get stupid, and to feel rather as if it had been a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-mary-yonge/if-i-write-nothing-but-fiction-for-some-time-i-begin-to-get-stupid/) [Charlotte Mary Yonge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-mary-yonge/) > [Wanted to write fiction since I was 11, since I first read 'In Our Time' by Hemingway.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-heller/wanted-to-write-fiction-since-i-was-11-since-i-first-read-in-our-time/) [Peter Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-heller/) > [I thought I was going to write fiction but I fell backwards into non-fiction. It started when I got locked out of two apartments…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sloane-crosley/i-thought-i-was-going-to-write-fiction-but-i-fell-backwards-into-non/) [Sloane Crosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sloane-crosley/) ## More by Mary Augusta Ward > [The delight in natural things - colors, forms, scents - when there was nothing to restrain or hamper it, has often been a kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-augusta-ward/the-delight-in-natural-things-colors-forms-scents-when-there-was/) [Mary Augusta Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-augusta-ward/) > [Customers must be delicately angled for at a safe distance - show yourself too much, and, like trout, they flashed away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-augusta-ward/customers-must-be-delicately-angled-for-at-a-safe-distance-show/) [Mary Augusta Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-augusta-ward/) > [I cannot hope that what I have to say will be very interesting to many.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-augusta-ward/i-cannot-hope-that-what-i-have-to-say-will-be-very-interesting-to-many/) [Mary Augusta Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-augusta-ward/) > [There is a tyrannical element in all fanaticism, an element which makes opposition a torment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-augusta-ward/there-is-a-tyrannical-element-in-all-fanaticism-an-element-which/) [Mary Augusta Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-augusta-ward/) > [So as the years draw on toward the Biblical limit, the inclination to look back, and to tell some sort of story of what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-augusta-ward/so-as-the-years-draw-on-toward-the-biblical-limit-the-inclination-to/) [Mary Augusta Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-augusta-ward/) > [Place before your eyes two Precepts, and two only. One is, Preach the Gospel; and the other is--Put down enthusiasm!The Church of England in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-augusta-ward/place-before-your-eyes-two-precepts-and-two-only-one-is-preach-the/) [Mary Augusta Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-augusta-ward/) > [The answer, of course, in the mouth of a Christian teacher is that in Christianity alone is there both present joy and future hope.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-augusta-ward/the-answer-of-course-in-the-mouth-of-a-christian-teacher-is-that-in/) [Mary Augusta Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-augusta-ward/) > [Every man is bound to leave a story better than he found it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-augusta-ward/every-man-is-bound-to-leave-a-story-better-than-he-found-it/) [Mary Augusta Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-augusta-ward/) > [The thoughts and opinions of one human being, if they are sincere, must always have an interest for some other human beings. The world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-augusta-ward/the-thoughts-and-opinions-of-one-human-being-if-they-are-sincere-must/) [Mary Augusta Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-augusta-ward/) > [English girls' schools today providing the higher education are, so far as my knowledge goes, worthily representative of that astonishing rise in the intellectual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-augusta-ward/english-girls-schools-today-providing-the-higher-education-are-so-far/) [Mary Augusta Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-augusta-ward/) > [My grandmother made her home at Fox How under the shelter of the fells, with her four daughters, the youngest of whom was only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-augusta-ward/my-grandmother-made-her-home-at-fox-how-under-the-shelter-of-the/) [Mary Augusta Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-augusta-ward/) > [But the mind travels far - and mysteriously - in sleep.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-augusta-ward/but-the-mind-travels-far-and-mysteriously-in-sleep/) [Mary Augusta Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-augusta-ward/) > [To reconceive the Christ! It is the special task of our age.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-augusta-ward/to-reconceive-the-christ-it-is-the-special-task-of-our-age/) [Mary Augusta Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-augusta-ward/) > [I regard the whole university system as a wretched sham. Knowledge! It has no more to do with knowledge than my boots.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-augusta-ward/i-regard-the-whole-university-system-as-a-wretched-sham-knowledge-it/) [Mary Augusta Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-augusta-ward/) > [The only thing which can keep journalism alive - journalism, which is born of the moment, serves the moment, and, as a rule, dies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-augusta-ward/the-only-thing-which-can-keep-journalism-alive-journalism-which-is/) [Mary Augusta Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-augusta-ward/) [Explore all 46 Mary Augusta Ward quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-augusta-ward/) ## More Failure quotes > [When you do things they're absolutely right at that time for you and it can always teach you something about yourself. You can take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kym-marsh/when-you-do-things-they-re-absolutely-right-at-that-time-for-you-and/) [Kym Marsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kym-marsh/) > [Failures happen. You can't cry over them. You just take it in your stride because you know that you have done your best... Sometimes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/divya-dutta/failures-happen-you-can-t-cry-over-them-you-just-take-it-in-your/) [Divya Dutta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/divya-dutta/) > [No one is completely unhappy at the failure of his best friend.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/groucho-marx/no-one-is-completely-unhappy-at-the-failure-of-his-best-friend/) [Groucho Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/groucho-marx/) > [“Rhiannon's Law #28: If you're going to fuck up, be sure to fuck up good and proper. Nothing makes failure acceptable, so you might…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/rhiannon-s-law-28-if-you-re-going-to-fuck-up-be-sure-to-fuck-up-good/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Failure is a part of life and you have to learn to deal with it. Failure is something that is part of life's cycle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-powell/failure-is-a-part-of-life-and-you-have-to-learn-to-deal-with-it/) [Colin Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-powell/) > [If my child had prejudice in his head, I'd be ashamed. I would see it as my failure as a parent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/if-my-child-had-prejudice-in-his-head-i-d-be-ashamed-i-would-see-it/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [First action was a mistake. What about the second? third? fourth and fifth?...Mehn you are bad...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/first-action-was-a-mistake-what-about-the-second-third-fourth-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [God's love never fail :)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/god-s-love-never-fail/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Don’t you just hate nights like that, when you think over every mistake you’ve made, every hurt you’ve received, every bit of meanness you’ve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlaine-harris/don-t-you-just-hate-nights-like-that-when-you-think-over-every/) [Charlaine Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlaine-harris/) > [“Our failure to understand another being's inner reality doesn't make that reality any less real, or any less valuable to that being. (p.255)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-schulz/our-failure-to-understand-another-being-s-inner-reality-doesn-t-make/) [Kathryn Schulz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathryn-schulz/) > [I hope that the Palestinians don't make the mistake of unleashing a new intifada. They've tried it twice before, and the consequences were bad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-segev/i-hope-that-the-palestinians-don-t-make-the-mistake-of-unleashing-a/) [Tom Segev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-segev/) > [Don't take too much comfort in the fact that you're successful today because tomorrow could bring failure. There's no surety in life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-savage/don-t-take-too-much-comfort-in-the-fact-that-you-re-successful-today/) [Michael Savage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-savage/) > [“It took me years to learn to sit at my desk for more than two minutes at a time, to put up with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/it-took-me-years-to-learn-to-sit-at-my-desk-for-more-than-two-minutes/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [failure in the theater is more public, more brilliant, more unreal than in any other field.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lillian-hellman/failure-in-the-theater-is-more-public-more-brilliant-more-unreal-than/) [Lillian Hellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lillian-hellman/) > [As we are coming to the end of the year, I want you to forget about the past, the failure, the negative thoughts or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/as-we-are-coming-to-the-end-of-the-year-i-want-you-to-forget-about/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 27,498 Failure quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "For after my marriage I had made various attempts to write fiction. 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