--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It's hard enough to make a novel a novel…" description: "\"It's hard enough to make a novel a novel. I wouldn't know how to make it something else at the same time\" — Matthew Specktor" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/698/matthew-specktor-12423_books_it-s-hard-enough-to-make-a-novel-a-novel_1148669.jpg" --- # It's hard enough to make a novel a novel. I wouldn't know… ![“It's hard enough to make a novel a novel. I wouldn't know how to make it something else at the same time” quote by Matthew Specktor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/698/matthew-specktor-12423_books_it-s-hard-enough-to-make-a-novel-a-novel_1148669.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/698/matthew-specktor-12423_books_it-s-hard-enough-to-make-a-novel-a-novel_1148669.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/698/matthew-specktor-12423_books_it-s-hard-enough-to-make-a-novel-a-novel_1148669.jpg) > “It's hard enough to make a novel a novel. I wouldn't know how to make it something else at the same time” [Matthew Specktor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-specktor/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Creating a novel is already a complex task; attempting to transform it into something else simultaneously is unrealistic. **In simple terms:** Making a novel is hard; changing it too is harder. Key Takeaway Focus on one goal at a time. Themes creativity writing focus Mood determined reflective Type advice inspirational When to use this quote - Publishing - editing - genre experimentation Key Concepts Narrative structure artistic integrity Questions to Reflect On - How can you prioritize one creative vision? - What compromises arise when juggling goals? A Different Perspective Balancing multiple creative directions can dilute quality. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Enough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enough/) [Hard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hard/) [Hard Make](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hard-make/) [Know how](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/know-how/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [Make Novel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/make-novel-231008/) [Novel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novel/) [Novel Novel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novel-novel-1041157/) [Novel Wouldn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novel-wouldn-2963949/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [I'm not particularly inventive. If you left me in а room and told me to write a novel, I wouldn't be able to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-gilbert/i-m-not-particularly-inventive-if-you-left-me-in-room-and-told-me-to/) [Elizabeth Gilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-gilbert/) > [A novel wouldn't be a book if there weren't some flights of fancy on the part of the author, stopping time to examine things,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ned-vizzini/a-novel-wouldn-t-be-a-book-if-there-weren-t-some-flights-of-fancy-on/) [Ned Vizzini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ned-vizzini/) > [One easy mistake to make with the first novel is to expand the short story. 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You will spoil both.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/don-t-make-a-novel-to-establish-a-principle-of-political-economy-you/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > ['The Turnaround' isn't even really a crime novel. But you need conflict to make a novel, any kind of novel, and I don't know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-pelecanos/the-turnaround-isn-t-even-really-a-crime-novel-but-you-need-conflict/) [George Pelecanos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-pelecanos/) > [Yes. To write a novel is to risk my sanity. 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One word doesn't make a novel, but one word does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurell-k-hamilton/it-all-adds-up-never-discount-your-efforts-because-small-efforts/) [Laurell K. Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurell-k-hamilton/) > [One novel in five hundred or a thousand has the quality a novel should have to make it a novel -- the quality of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/one-novel-in-five-hundred-or-a-thousand-has-the-quality-a-novel/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [Life is a journey you have to take and its your choice on how you want to live it and in the end, on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-a-journey-you-have-to-take-and-its-your-choice-on-how-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I was trying to make a novel about something no one wanted to read about into something they couldn't put down or look away…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-chee/i-was-trying-to-make-a-novel-about-something-no-one-wanted-to-read/) [Alexander Chee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-chee/) ## More by Matthew Specktor > [We go to literature because it shows us some set of humane values. It is showing us how to live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-specktor/we-go-to-literature-because-it-shows-us-some-set-of-humane-values-it/) [Matthew Specktor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-specktor/) > [I've always found too that somewhere in whatever you've just written lies the seed of what you're going to write next.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-specktor/i-ve-always-found-too-that-somewhere-in-whatever-you-ve-just-written/) [Matthew Specktor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-specktor/) > [My own sense is that fiction is inching its way over to join poetry on the cultural margin. 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Sooner or later, spectacle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-specktor/100-million-dollars-used-to-be-the-limit-of-what-a-movie-might-cost/) [Matthew Specktor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-specktor/) > [A lot of talent, a lot of the currency that movies used to have, has spilled over into TV. People talk about TV the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-specktor/a-lot-of-talent-a-lot-of-the-currency-that-movies-used-to-have-has/) [Matthew Specktor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-specktor/) > [Much to my surprise, there's a sense for people in the cable industry that fiction writers might actually be good at script writing. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-specktor/much-to-my-surprise-there-s-a-sense-for-people-in-the-cable-industry/) [Matthew Specktor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-specktor/) > [Even though I think writers can sometimes thrive from being misread. It can give them something to push off of.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-specktor/even-though-i-think-writers-can-sometimes-thrive-from-being-misread/) [Matthew Specktor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-specktor/) > [I'm going to write what I feel like writing, which is a great place to be. But it can be hard to get there.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-specktor/i-m-going-to-write-what-i-feel-like-writing-which-is-a-great-place-to/) [Matthew Specktor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-specktor/) > [The feature film business, the studio film business, feels to me like there's just nowhere else to go. It's like a record that's just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-specktor/the-feature-film-business-the-studio-film-business-feels-to-me-like/) [Matthew Specktor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-specktor/) > [There's a kind of perverseness or betrayal in that idea that art is somehow superior to life. Or that it's more important to write…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-specktor/there-s-a-kind-of-perverseness-or-betrayal-in-that-idea-that-art-is/) [Matthew Specktor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-specktor/) > [Great books are written from a sense that there is nothing to lose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-specktor/great-books-are-written-from-a-sense-that-there-is-nothing-to-lose/) [Matthew Specktor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-specktor/) > [The '90s were a time when not just the movie business, but every aspect of American life, became a lot more corporate. There's a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-specktor/the-90s-were-a-time-when-not-just-the-movie-business-but-every-aspect/) [Matthew Specktor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-specktor/) > [Hollywood is famous for breeding monsters, and having worked in the business, I've known a lot of them. But only intermittently have I ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-specktor/hollywood-is-famous-for-breeding-monsters-and-having-worked-in-the/) [Matthew Specktor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-specktor/) [Explore all 55 Matthew Specktor quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-specktor/) ## 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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Some fine day you'll die of a misprint.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-herz/be-careful-about-reading-health-books-some-fine-day-you-ll-die-of-a/) [Markus Herz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/markus-herz/) > [But editors are still the world's readers. And thus the eyes of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/but-editors-are-still-the-world-s-readers-and-thus-the-eyes-of-the/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) [Browse all 59,485 Books quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It's hard enough to make a novel a novel. 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