--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I think watching TV has influenced my…" description: "\"I think watching TV has influenced my books, but I don't think writing TV has.\" — Megan Abbott" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/405/megan-abbott-9549_books_i-think-watching-tv-has-influenced-my-bo_1306619.png" --- # I think watching TV has influenced my books, but I don't… ![“I think watching TV has influenced my books, but I don't think writing TV has.” quote by Megan Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/405/megan-abbott-9549_books_i-think-watching-tv-has-influenced-my-bo_1306619.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/405/megan-abbott-9549_books_i-think-watching-tv-has-influenced-my-bo_1306619.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/405/megan-abbott-9549_books_i-think-watching-tv-has-influenced-my-bo_1306619.png) > “I think watching TV has influenced my books, but I don't think writing TV has.” [Megan Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-abbott/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Television influences narrative style and pacing in novels, but the reverse—novelists shaping TV scripts—is less common. **In simple terms:** TV shapes books, not vice‑versa. Key Takeaway Leverage TV techniques in writing. Themes influence media writing Mood creative analytical Type inspirational observational When to use this quote - creative writing - screenwriting - storyboarding - teaching Key Concepts narrative structure cross‑media Questions to Reflect On - How does TV affect your storytelling? - Can you adapt TV pacing to prose? A Different Perspective TV may dominate cultural trends, limiting literary impact. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Watching tv](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/watching-tv/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [I must say, I was a very filmy kid. I used to watch a lot of TV and get very influenced by Bollywood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ranveer-singh/i-must-say-i-was-a-very-filmy-kid-i-used-to-watch-a-lot-of-tv-and-get/) [Ranveer Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ranveer-singh/) > [My life has been greatly influenced by many books which I have never read.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashleigh-brilliant/my-life-has-been-greatly-influenced-by-many-books-which-i-have-never/) [Ashleigh Brilliant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashleigh-brilliant/) > [Generally speaking, men are influenced by books which clarify their own thought, which express their own notions well, or which suggest to them ideas…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/generally-speaking-men-are-influenced-by-books-which-clarify-their/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I am influenced by books which don't have their eye on the endgame, but which try to be entertaining on each and every page.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-toltz/i-am-influenced-by-books-which-don-t-have-their-eye-on-the-endgame/) [Steve Toltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-toltz/) > [I am influenced by books which dont have their eye on the endgame, but which try to be entertaining on each and every page.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-toltz/i-am-influenced-by-books-which-dont-have-their-eye-on-the-endgame-but/) [Steve Toltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-toltz/) > [I am impressed when I go on the internet and see a lot of young people who've been influenced by the books, or I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-greene/i-am-impressed-when-i-go-on-the-internet-and-see-a-lot-of-young/) [Robert Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-greene/) > [The ideas get under your skin. I am honored and deeply excited by the thought that the next generation of writers, or whomever, are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-greene/the-ideas-get-under-your-skin-i-am-honored-and-deeply-excited-by-the/) [Robert Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-greene/) > [There are more books in the world than hours in which to read them. We are thus deeply influenced by books we haven't read,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/there-are-more-books-in-the-world-than-hours-in-which-to-read-them-we/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) > [My life has been more influenced by books than by any other one thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-vreeland/my-life-has-been-more-influenced-by-books-than-by-any-other-one-thing/) [Diana Vreeland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-vreeland/) > [I didn't know I was going to write for TV until I was suddenly writing for TV, so that kind of stuff can bewilder…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michaela-coel/i-didn-t-know-i-was-going-to-write-for-tv-until-i-was-suddenly/) [Michaela Coel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michaela-coel/) > [Limitations are something that I latch onto - like working in genre, or if you're writing TV, there are act breaks, there's a length…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joss-whedon/limitations-are-something-that-i-latch-onto-like-working-in-genre-or/) [Joss Whedon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joss-whedon/) > [I think that we're in a really amazing time, where there are really a lot of really fantastic female actresses and comedians. I imagine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whitney-cummings/i-think-that-we-re-in-a-really-amazing-time-where-there-are-really-a/) [Whitney Cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/whitney-cummings/) > [Hundreds of people who've never written before send in 'Dr. Who' scripts. They may have good ideas, but what they fail to realise is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/hundreds-of-people-who-ve-never-written-before-send-in-dr-who-scripts/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) > [ Acting is fun; it's easier than writing, and if you get on a \[TV\] show, it draws people to your stand-up. That's ultimately what… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannibal-buress/acting-is-fun-it-s-easier-than-writing-and-if-you-get-on-a-tv-show-it/) [Hannibal Buress](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannibal-buress/) > [My only close-to-game-plan is to follow good writing. If the writing is in TV or if it's in theater or in film, that's it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-driver/my-only-close-to-game-plan-is-to-follow-good-writing-if-the-writing/) [Adam Driver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-driver/) ## More by Megan Abbott > [“She said I'd better not make her unhappy because I oughta know that she's never unhappy alone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-abbott/she-said-i-d-better-not-make-her-unhappy-because-i-oughta-know-that/) [Megan Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-abbott/) > [Reading Dorothy B. Hughes's novel 'In a Lonely Place' for the first time is like finding the long-lost final piece to an enormous puzzle.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-abbott/reading-dorothy-b-hughes-s-novel-in-a-lonely-place-for-the-first-time/) [Megan Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-abbott/) > [“Bobby pins crunching under my feet, I walk through, surveying the damaged girlness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-abbott/bobby-pins-crunching-under-my-feet-i-walk-through-surveying-the/) [Megan Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-abbott/) > [If it hadn't been what it was, it would've been beautiful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-abbott/if-it-hadn-t-been-what-it-was-it-would-ve-been-beautiful/) [Megan Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-abbott/) > [I'm always surprised at the negative response to the women in my books who are openly ambitious or experience aggression.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-abbott/i-m-always-surprised-at-the-negative-response-to-the-women-in-my/) [Megan Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-abbott/) > [I will read anything at all by Kate Atkinson, Daniel Woodrell, and William Kennedy, who are all fearless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-abbott/i-will-read-anything-at-all-by-kate-atkinson-daniel-woodrell-and/) [Megan Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-abbott/) > [“But she became Gabby’s friend in that way that can happen, because the girl with the cool boots always finds the girl with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-abbott/but-she-became-gabby-s-friend-in-that-way-that-can-happen-because-the/) [Megan Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-abbott/) > [“Where’d that world go, that world when you’re a kid, and now I can’t remember noticing anything, not the smell of the leaves or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-abbott/where-d-that-world-go-that-world-when-you-re-a-kid-and-now-i-can-t/) [Megan Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-abbott/) > [“This girl, this girl, and he a man with a business and a secretary and a house with a furnace and bills and a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-abbott/this-girl-this-girl-and-he-a-man-with-a-business-and-a-secretary-and/) [megan abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-abbott/) > [The speed of the TV stuff vs. the self-imposed pace of novel writing has been a big adjustment, and going back and forth often…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-abbott/the-speed-of-the-tv-stuff-vs-the-self-imposed-pace-of-novel-writing/) [Megan Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-abbott/) > [“We’re all the same under our skin, aren’t we? We’re all wanting things we don’t understand. Things we can’t even name. The yearning so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-abbott/we-re-all-the-same-under-our-skin-aren-t-we-we-re-all-wanting-things/) [Megan Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-abbott/) > [“I think she might cry. In her way, she is.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-abbott/i-think-she-might-cry-in-her-way-she-is/) [Megan Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-abbott/) > [The more I did it-the more it owned me. It made things matter. It put a spine into my spineless life and that spine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-abbott/the-more-i-did-it-the-more-it-owned-me-it-made-things-matter-it-put-a/) [Megan Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-abbott/) > [“Here he is, the man who knows things and who should want to help me. 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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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There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [“Be careful about reading health books. 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 > [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": "I think watching TV has influenced my books, but I don't think writing TV has.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Megan Abbott" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-abbott/i-think-watching-tv-has-influenced-my-books-but-i-don-t-think-writing/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Books" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-abbott/i-think-watching-tv-has-influenced-my-books-but-i-don-t-think-writing/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/405/megan-abbott-9549_books_i-think-watching-tv-has-influenced-my-bo_1306619.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/405/megan-abbott-9549_books_i-think-watching-tv-has-influenced-my-bo_1306619.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/405/megan-abbott-9549_books_i-think-watching-tv-has-influenced-my-bo_1306619.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I think watching TV has influenced my books, but I don't think writing TV has.” — Megan Abbott", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Megan Abbott", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-abbott/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I think watching TV has influenced...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-abbott/i-think-watching-tv-has-influenced-my-books-but-i-don-t-think-writing/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-abbott/i-think-watching-tv-has-influenced-my-books-but-i-don-t-think-writing/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```