--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I don't have a plan for a story when I…" description: "\"I don't have a plan for a story when I sit down to write. I would get quite bored carrying it out.\" — Michael Ondaatje" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/46c/michael-ondaatje-940_bored_i-don-t-have-a-plan-for-a-story-when-i-s_2407987.png" --- # I don't have a plan for a story when I sit down to write… ![“I don't have a plan for a story when I sit down to write. I would get quite bored carrying it out.” quote by Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/46c/michael-ondaatje-940_bored_i-don-t-have-a-plan-for-a-story-when-i-s_2407987.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/46c/michael-ondaatje-940_bored_i-don-t-have-a-plan-for-a-story-when-i-s_2407987.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/46c/michael-ondaatje-940_bored_i-don-t-have-a-plan-for-a-story-when-i-s_2407987.png) > “I don't have a plan for a story when I sit down to write. I would get quite bored carrying it out.” [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Spontaneous writing can be more engaging than rigid planning, allowing creativity to flow. **In simple terms:** Writing without a strict plan can keep you interested. Key Takeaway Embrace improvisation in writing. Themes creativity spontaneity writing process Mood curious inspired Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - novel writing - journal entries - story brainstorming - overcoming writer's block Key Concepts flow state creative freedom Questions to Reflect On - How does improvisation affect story quality? - Can you balance spontaneity with coherence? A Different Perspective Lack of structure may lead to incoherence. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bored](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bored/) [Bored Carrying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bored-carrying-628235/) [Quite Bored](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quite-bored-877698/) [Sit Write](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sit-write/) [Story Sit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/story-sit-4194305/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [“Plot grows out of character. 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I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lenny-kravitz/i-never-sit-down-to-write-when-i-m-moved-i-do-it-i-just-wait-for-it/) [Lenny Kravitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lenny-kravitz/) ## More by Michael Ondaatje > [“In spite of this, our table's status on the Oronsay continued to be minimal, while those at the Captain's Table were constantly toasting to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/in-spite-of-this-our-table-s-status-on-the-oronsay-continued-to-be/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) > [He will hear the rain before he feels it, a clicking on the dry grass, on the olive leaves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/he-will-hear-the-rain-before-he-feels-it-a-clicking-on-the-dry-grass/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) > [“Whenever her father was alone with a dog in a house he would lean over and smell the skin at the base of its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/whenever-her-father-was-alone-with-a-dog-in-a-house-he-would-lean/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) > [“...those who had risked everything at a riverbend on a left turn and so discovered a fortune.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/those-who-had-risked-everything-at-a-riverbend-on-a-left-turn-and-so/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) > [“All over the world there must be people like us, Anna had said then, wounded in some way by falling in love - seemingly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/all-over-the-world-there-must-be-people-like-us-anna-had-said-then/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) > [Her father had taught her about hands. About a dog's paws. Whenever her father was alone with a dog in a house he would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/her-father-had-taught-her-about-hands-about-a-dog-s-paws-whenever-her/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) > [What is interesting and important happens mostly in secret, in places where there is no power. 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On…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/the-time-around-scars-a-girl-whom-i-ve-not-spoken-to-or-shared-coffee/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) > [“- Daca ti-as incredinta viata mea, ai scapa-o pe jos. Nu-i asa?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/daca-ti-as-incredinta-viata-mea-ai-scapa-o-pe-jos-nu-i-asa/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) [Explore all 322 Michael Ondaatje quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) ## More Bored quotes > [Normal is so Boring!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/normal-is-so-boring/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“If you're focused, you can't get bored.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alin-sav/if-you-re-focused-you-can-t-get-bored/) [Alin Sav](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alin-sav/) > [I am fairly tired--bored beyond endurance--by the world we live in, and its ideals, and am ready to say so, not violently, but kindly,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-adams/i-am-fairly-tired-bored-beyond-endurance-by-the-world-we-live-in-and/) [Henry Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-adams/) > [Being blonde, for me, means never having to say: 'I'll have the honey-striped half-head of highlights for £200,' to a bored colourist in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-johnson/being-blonde-for-me-means-never-having-to-say-i-ll-have-the-honey/) [Rachel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-johnson/) > [Someone else who liked what I did might turn around and say, "She's reworking and rethinking everything. 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They were familiar… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelia-funke/there-was-another-reason-she-took-her-books-whenever-they-went-away/) [Cornelia Funke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelia-funke/) > [I'm bored of being bored because being bored is very boring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sachithra/i-m-bored-of-being-bored-because-being-bored-is-very-boring/) [Sachithra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sachithra/) > [When I get bored I say fck the police](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-i-get-bored-i-say-fck-the-police/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I always knew that I was kind of bored; the regular life of a child didn't fit me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-ricci/i-always-knew-that-i-was-kind-of-bored-the-regular-life-of-a-child/) [Christina Ricci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-ricci/) > [The only activity a cynic will find contagious is yawning, that is, with other people, at other people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/criss-jami/the-only-activity-a-cynic-will-find-contagious-is-yawning-that-is/) [Criss Jami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/criss-jami/) > [When people look in the mirror, sometimes they see are their shells in the mirror, nothing else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-people-look-in-the-mirror-sometimes-they-see-are-their-shells-in/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I was taking all prints and I brought them to the Magnum meetings, trying the old Josef Koudelka trick: Give them to photographers, who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-van-agtmael/i-was-taking-all-prints-and-i-brought-them-to-the-magnum-meetings/) [Peter van Agtmael](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-van-agtmael/) > [“She wouldn't pick up a fight him just because she was bored.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainbow-rowell/she-wouldn-t-pick-up-a-fight-him-just-because-she-was-bored/) [Rainbow Rowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainbow-rowell/) > [...sometimes I get tired. 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