Able Quote by Mary Gaitskill
“Writing is… being able to take something whole and fiercely alive that exists inside you in some unknowable combination of thought, feeling, physicality, and spirit, and to then store it like a genie in tense, tiny black symbols on a calm white page. If the wrong reader comes across the words, they will remain just words. But for the right readers, your vision blooms off the page and is absorbed into their minds like smoke, where it will re-form, whole and alive, fully adapted to its new environment.”
About This Quote
Source Book: The Devil All the Time by Mary Gaitskill, 2005
Writing transforms internal, complex experience into tangible symbols that can affect readers differently based on their receptivity.
In simple terms: Writing turns inner life into words that can resonate or not.
Key Takeaway
Craft with that speak to the right audience.
Themes
creativity
expression
communication
Mood
introspective
hopeful
Type
literary
inspirational
When to use this quote
- authoring
- teaching
- publishing
- editing
- reading
Key Concepts
symbolism
subjectivity
interpretation
Questions to Reflect On
- How can you ensure your writing reaches the intended audience?
- What symbols best convey your inner experience?
A Different Perspective
Not all readers will grasp the depth intended.
![“...loading your brain with subliminal messages… How loathsome to turn a sadistic murder into entertainment [in the newspaper] -- and yet how hard not to read about it. What dark comedy to realize that you are scanning for descriptions of torture as you disapprove. Which of course only makes it…” quote by Mary Gaitskill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/1b9/mary-gaitskill-7551_dark-comedy_loading-your-brain-with-subliminal-messa_204085.jpg)
![“The place Joanne is building inside [herself] has rooms for all of this. Not just rooms. Beautiful ones. For Karl and Jerry and Karen and Nate in his cowboy hat and the hot-tub guy and movie directors and old-lady healers and people trying to love their asses and people who think they're stupid…” quote by Mary Gaitskill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/117/mary-gaitskill-7551_cowboy-hat_the-place-joanne-is-building-inside-hers_231488.jpg)
