--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I took a couple of creative writing…" description: "\"I took a couple of creative writing classes with Joyce Carol Oates at Princeton University, and in my senior year there, I took a long fiction workshop..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f31/mohsin-hamid-798_carols_i-took-a-couple-of-creative-writing-clas_279123.jpg" --- # I took a couple of creative writing classes with Joyce… ![“I took a couple of creative writing classes with Joyce Carol Oates at Princeton University, and in my senior year there, I took a long fiction workshop with Toni Morrison. I fell in love with it.” quote by Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f31/mohsin-hamid-798_carols_i-took-a-couple-of-creative-writing-clas_279123.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f31/mohsin-hamid-798_carols_i-took-a-couple-of-creative-writing-clas_279123.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f31/mohsin-hamid-798_carols_i-took-a-couple-of-creative-writing-clas_279123.jpg) > “I took a couple of creative writing classes with Joyce Carol Oates at Princeton University, and in my senior year there, I took a long fiction workshop with Toni Morrison. I fell in love with it.” [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Studying under renowned authors sparked a deep love for fiction, highlighting mentorship’s role in creative development. **In simple terms:** Mentors ignite passion for writing. Key Takeaway Seek mentorship to nurture creative skills. Themes education creativity mentorship Mood inspired thoughtful Type educational motivational When to use this quote - creative writing courses - writing workshops - academic programs - personal growth Key Concepts Literary influence skill development Questions to Reflect On - Who inspired your creative path? - How can you mentor others? A Different Perspective Mentorship alone may not guarantee success. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Carols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/carols/) [Class](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/class/) [Couple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/couple/) [Creative](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creative/) [Creative writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creative-writing/) [Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Senior year](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/senior-year/) [University](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/university/) [Workshops](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/workshops/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [“EVERY WEDNESDAY, I teach an introductory fiction workshop at Harvard University, and on the first day of class I pass out a bullet-pointed list…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bret-anthony-johnston/every-wednesday-i-teach-an-introductory-fiction-workshop-at-harvard/) [Bret Anthony Johnston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bret-anthony-johnston/) > [I have always enjoyed literature classes, and I took a fiction workshop for writing and analyzing at Curtis... I don't know if would do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-hahn/i-have-always-enjoyed-literature-classes-and-i-took-a-fiction/) [Hilary Hahn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-hahn/) > [Short fiction seems more targeted - hand grenades of ideas, if you will. When they work, they hit, they explode, and you never forget…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paolo-bacigalupi/short-fiction-seems-more-targeted-hand-grenades-of-ideas-if-you-will/) [Paolo Bacigalupi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paolo-bacigalupi/) > [Long fiction is wonderful and you can lose yourself in it as a reader and as a writer, but short stories don't allow the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isobelle-carmody/long-fiction-is-wonderful-and-you-can-lose-yourself-in-it-as-a-reader/) [Isobelle Carmody](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isobelle-carmody/) > [“In any long fiction, Henry James remarked, use of the first-person point of view is barbaric. James may go too far, but his point…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gardner/in-any-long-fiction-henry-james-remarked-use-of-the-first-person/) [John Gardner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gardner/) > [I've felt pressure to produce long fiction for as long as I've been writing fiction. There's just an incredible bias in the publishing industry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-almond/i-ve-felt-pressure-to-produce-long-fiction-for-as-long-as-i-ve-been/) [Steve Almond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-almond/) > [The first piece of 'long' fiction I wrote was a novella parody of Stephen King's 'Christine.' I was in high school, and my version…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelley-armstrong/the-first-piece-of-long-fiction-i-wrote-was-a-novella-parody-of/) [Kelley Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelley-armstrong/) > [I love Joyce Carol Oates. I love Margaret Atwood, T.C. Boyle. Arthur Phillips is always consistent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gillian-flynn/i-love-joyce-carol-oates-i-love-margaret-atwood-t-c-boyle-arthur/) [Gillian Flynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gillian-flynn/) > [Paper is like Joyce Carol Oates: white.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caryl-churchill/paper-is-like-joyce-carol-oates-white/) [Caryl Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caryl-churchill/) > [I don't teach literature from my perspective as 'Joyce Carol Oates.' I try to teach fiction from the perspective of each writer. If I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/i-don-t-teach-literature-from-my-perspective-as-joyce-carol-oates-i/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [“Revenge is living well, without you. -Joyce Carol Oates”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-smith/revenge-is-living-well-without-you-joyce-carol-oates/) [Larry Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-smith/) > [I don’t ask writers about their work habits. I really don’t care. Joyce Carol Oates says somewhere that when writers ask each other what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-roth/i-don-t-ask-writers-about-their-work-habits-i-really-don-t-care-joyce/) [Philip Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-roth/) > [In college, I discovered the Joyce Carol Oates short story 'Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?' which is definitely one of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gillian-flynn/in-college-i-discovered-the-joyce-carol-oates-short-story-where-are/) [Gillian Flynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gillian-flynn/) > [Unless you're Stephen King or Joyce Carol Oates, no one's going to recognize you on the street, and you're promoting your book, not yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debra-dean/unless-you-re-stephen-king-or-joyce-carol-oates-no-one-s-going-to/) [Debra Dean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debra-dean/) > [“I recommend readers to be adventurous and to try things they’ve never heard of or considered reading before. Get out of the comfort zone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-ruiz-zafon/i-recommend-readers-to-be-adventurous-and-to-try-things-they-ve-never/) [Carlos Ruiz Zafón](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-ruiz-zafon/) ## More by Mohsin Hamid > [Pakistan now is like a horror film franchise. You know, it's 'Friday the 13th, Episode 63: The Terrorist from Pakistan.' And each time we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/pakistan-now-is-like-a-horror-film-franchise-you-know-it-s-friday-the/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [A beard is something that is almost like a mirror to the viewer. When someone sees you wearing a beard, they're seeing something in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/a-beard-is-something-that-is-almost-like-a-mirror-to-the-viewer-when/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [And also I think the rise of other, you could say, destinations for international jihadis mean that Pakistan isn't necessarily the place where people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/and-also-i-think-the-rise-of-other-you-could-say-destinations-for/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [“I met her eyes, and for the first time I perceived that there was something broken behind them, like a tiny crack in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/i-met-her-eyes-and-for-the-first-time-i-perceived-that-there-was/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [“muscularity, made more pronounced by her gauntness, and the near-inanimate”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/muscularity-made-more-pronounced-by-her-gauntness-and-the-near/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [“In this group, everyone was foreign, and so, in a sense, no one was.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/in-this-group-everyone-was-foreign-and-so-in-a-sense-no-one-was/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [“It seemed to me then - and to be honest, sir, seems to me still - that America was engaged only in posturing. As…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/it-seemed-to-me-then-and-to-be-honest-sir-seems-to-me-still-that/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [When the uncertain future becomes the past, the past in turn becomes uncertain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/when-the-uncertain-future-becomes-the-past-the-past-in-turn-becomes/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [When the machine of a human being is turned on, it seems to produce a protagonist, just as a television produces an image.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/when-the-machine-of-a-human-being-is-turned-on-it-seems-to-produce-a/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [I think fiction allows you to inhabit new domains and it's you, the reader living in that domain for a few days that results…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/i-think-fiction-allows-you-to-inhabit-new-domains-and-it-s-you-the/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [“Often, during my stay in your country, such comparisons troubled me. In fact, they did more than trouble me: they made me resentful. Four…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/often-during-my-stay-in-your-country-such-comparisons-troubled-me-in/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [Americans need to educate themselves, from elementary school onward, about what their country has done abroad. And they need to play a more active…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/americans-need-to-educate-themselves-from-elementary-school-onward/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [I'm not a representative of Pakistan; I'm just an example that Pakistanis are different from each other. I believe it in my fiction and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/i-m-not-a-representative-of-pakistan-i-m-just-an-example-that/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [“end of a couple is like a death, and the notion of death, of temporariness, can remind us of the value of things,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/end-of-a-couple-is-like-a-death-and-the-notion-of-death-of/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [NYC doesn't have a big sign saying "You must love diversity and the rights of all people." And that's not what makes you love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/nyc-doesn-t-have-a-big-sign-saying-you-must-love-diversity-and-the/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) [Explore all 361 Mohsin Hamid quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) ## More Carols quotes > [When I was 17, I read a profile of Carol Leifer. Since then, I wanted to be her. I still want to be her.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-silverman/when-i-was-17-i-read-a-profile-of-carol-leifer-since-then-i-wanted-to/) [Sarah Silverman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-silverman/) > [Spring comes with joyous laugh, and song, and sunshine, and the burnt sacrifice of the over-ripe boot and the hoary overshoe. The cowboy and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-wilson-nye/spring-comes-with-joyous-laugh-and-song-and-sunshine-and-the-burnt/) [Edgar Wilson Nye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-wilson-nye/) > [For the first time in my life I actually feel sorry for Carol. I'm only seventeen years old, and I already know something she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/for-the-first-time-in-my-life-i-actually-feel-sorry-for-carol-i-m/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [A lot of the carols were not as you hear them now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tori-amos/a-lot-of-the-carols-were-not-as-you-hear-them-now/) [Tori Amos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tori-amos/) > [Christmas was a miserable time for a Jewish child in those days, and I still recall the feeling. ... Decades later, I still feel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/faye-moskowitz/christmas-was-a-miserable-time-for-a-jewish-child-in-those-days-and-i/) [Faye Moskowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/faye-moskowitz/) > [Unfortunately there is nothing more inane than an Easter carol. It is a religious perversion of the activity of Spring in our blood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/unfortunately-there-is-nothing-more-inane-than-an-easter-carol-it-is/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [Civilizations evolve over time, and most scholars of civilization, including people like Carol Quigley, argue that they go through periods of warring states, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-p-huntington/civilizations-evolve-over-time-and-most-scholars-of-civilization/) [Samuel P. Huntington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-p-huntington/) > [Carol Guess's poems are sexy, intuitive, angry, and hopeful. These lyrical narratives measure the impossibly small distance between love and fear. They are a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zachary-schomburg/carol-guess-s-poems-are-sexy-intuitive-angry-and-hopeful-these/) [Zachary Schomburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zachary-schomburg/) > [Only with great care. For thousands, carols will be their only link with a church. At the same time, sentimentality is perhaps the single…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-begbie/only-with-great-care-for-thousands-carols-will-be-their-only-link/) [Jeremy Begbie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-begbie/) > [I took my first acting class at age 6 because I found out that's what Carol Burnett was doing - acting. Also she had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christine-lakin/i-took-my-first-acting-class-at-age-6-because-i-found-out-that-s-what/) [Christine Lakin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christine-lakin/) > [Orson Welles lists Citizen Kane as his best film, Alfred Hitchcock opts for Shadow of a Doubt, and Sir Carol Reed chose The Third…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-cotten/orson-welles-lists-citizen-kane-as-his-best-film-alfred-hitchcock/) Joseph Cotten > [I put the copy of 'A Christmas Carol' that my grandfather had first read to me 60 years ago on my desk, and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whitley-strieber/i-put-the-copy-of-a-christmas-carol-that-my-grandfather-had-first/) [Whitley Strieber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/whitley-strieber/) > [A Christmas Carol is such a fool-proof story you can't louse it up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-maltin/a-christmas-carol-is-such-a-fool-proof-story-you-can-t-louse-it-up/) [Leonard Maltin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-maltin/) > [I'm very surprised at Carol didn't get a best picture. Todd Haynes is an Academy darling, his period pieces are nothing short of brilliant,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bun-b/i-m-very-surprised-at-carol-didn-t-get-a-best-picture-todd-haynes-is/) [Bun B](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bun-b/) > [Most Christmas carols have no obvious religious content, or at least that's noticeable to most people. I mean, it is almost by definition, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-dean/most-christmas-carols-have-no-obvious-religious-content-or-at-least/) [Howard Dean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-dean/) [Browse all 127 Carols quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/carols/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I took a couple of creative writing classes with Joyce Carol Oates at Princeton University, and in my senior year there, I took a long fiction workshop with Toni Morrison. 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