--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Writers collect stories of rituals: John…" description: "\"Writers collect stories of rituals: John Cheever putting on a jacket and tie to go down to the basement, where he kept a desk near the boiler room. Kea..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d13/mona-simpson-11854_after_writers-collect-stories-of-rituals-john_2015568.png" --- # Writers collect stories of rituals: John Cheever putting… ![“Writers collect stories of rituals: John Cheever putting on a jacket and tie to go down to the basement, where he kept a desk near the boiler room. Keats buttoning up his clean white shirt to write in, after work.” quote by Mona Simpson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d13/mona-simpson-11854_after_writers-collect-stories-of-rituals-john_2015568.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d13/mona-simpson-11854_after_writers-collect-stories-of-rituals-john_2015568.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d13/mona-simpson-11854_after_writers-collect-stories-of-rituals-john_2015568.png) > “Writers collect stories of rituals: John Cheever putting on a jacket and tie to go down to the basement, where he kept a desk near the boiler room. Keats buttoning up his clean white shirt to write in, after work.” [Mona Simpson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mona-simpson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writers observe everyday rituals to capture authentic moments in their narratives. **In simple terms:** Observing daily habits fuels storytelling. Key Takeaway Notice and record ordinary actions. Themes writing observation rituals Mood thoughtful analytical Type literary inspirational When to use this quote - journaling - character development - scene setting Key Concepts creative process authenticity Questions to Reflect On - How do you transform routine into compelling narrative? - Which habit reveals character best? A Different Perspective Rituals can be mundane, risking cliché if not examined deeply. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [After](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/after/) [Basement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/basement/) [Basements](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/basements/) [Boiler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boiler/) [Boiler room](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boiler-room/) [Clean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clean/) [Collect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/collect/) [Desk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desk/) [Desks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desks/) [Down](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/down/) [Go](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/go/) [He](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/he/) [His](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/his/) [Jacket](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jacket/) [Jackets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jackets/) [John](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/john/) [Keats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/keats/) [Keats Buttoning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/keats-buttoning-3622928/) [Kept](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kept/) [Near](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/near/) [Putting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/putting/) [Ritual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ritual/) [Rituals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rituals/) [Room](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/room/) [Room Keats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/room-keats-3622927/) [Rooms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rooms/) [Shirt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shirt/) [Shirts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shirts/) [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) [Stories Rituals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories-rituals-3622929/) [Tie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tie/) [Ties](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ties/) [Up](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/up/) [Where](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/where/) [White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/white/) [White shirts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/white-shirts/) [Work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/work/) [Write](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/write/) [Write Work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/write-work-939330/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writers/) [Writers Collect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writers-collect-3622930/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [If I had a story idea that I felt would work best in three volumes I might write a trilogy eventually. 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As for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/i-write-because-it-gives-me-the-greatest-possible-artistic-pleasure/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [When I write, I work off of a theme, an emotion, a narrative - thinking of it and then expounding on it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chance-the-rapper/when-i-write-i-work-off-of-a-theme-an-emotion-a-narrative-thinking-of/) [Chance The Rapper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chance-the-rapper/) > [What is a historian? Someone who doesn't write well enough to work on a daily.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/what-is-a-historian-someone-who-doesn-t-write-well-enough-to-work-on/) [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) > [I would be honored if someone reads my books and it inspires them to write their own work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-bracken/i-would-be-honored-if-someone-reads-my-books-and-it-inspires-them-to/) [Alexandra Bracken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-bracken/) > [It's hard for me to teach and write my own work at the same time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-king/it-s-hard-for-me-to-teach-and-write-my-own-work-at-the-same-time/) [Owen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-king/) > [You do not write a novel for praise, or thinking of your audience. You write for yourself; you work out between you and your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bret-easton-ellis/you-do-not-write-a-novel-for-praise-or-thinking-of-your-audience-you/) [Bret Easton Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bret-easton-ellis/) > [I asked him, How could we have a press column if we can't write about other work done in the press?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sydney-schanberg/i-asked-him-how-could-we-have-a-press-column-if-we-can-t-write-about/) [Sydney Schanberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sydney-schanberg/) > [You go out into the world, you read everything you can read, you imitate the things you love, and you learn how hard it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-banks/you-go-out-into-the-world-you-read-everything-you-can-read-you/) [Russell Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-banks/) > [I think that's great - I just try not to be one of those people. I find the more I think about it, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chang-rae-lee/i-think-that-s-great-i-just-try-not-to-be-one-of-those-people-i-find/) [Chang-Rae Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chang-rae-lee/) > [Writers don't always know what they mean - that's why they write. Their work stands in for them. On the page, the reader meets…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lahr/writers-don-t-always-know-what-they-mean-that-s-why-they-write-their/) [John Lahr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lahr/) > [A non-fiction writer pretty much has the shape of the figure in front of him or her and goes about refining it. A work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chaim-potok/a-non-fiction-writer-pretty-much-has-the-shape-of-the-figure-in-front/) [Chaim Potok](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chaim-potok/) > [Writing is work. It takes a lot of contemplation, concentration, and out-and-out sweat. People tend to romanticize it, that somehow your work appears by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendelin-van-draanen/writing-is-work-it-takes-a-lot-of-contemplation-concentration-and-out/) [Wendelin Van Draanen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendelin-van-draanen/) > [“Write It, Work It, Publish”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cherry-ann-carew/write-it-work-it-publish/) [Cherry-Ann Carew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cherry-ann-carew/) ## More by Mona Simpson > [“Is it true? Is it kind? Is it necessary? Does it improve upon the silence?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mona-simpson/is-it-true-is-it-kind-is-it-necessary-does-it-improve-upon-the-silence/) [Mona Simpson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mona-simpson/) > [I've never had an exclusive relationship to a room where I write. I used to want one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mona-simpson/i-ve-never-had-an-exclusive-relationship-to-a-room-where-i-write-i/) [Mona Simpson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mona-simpson/) > [I do have food in my books. Different people eat different ways.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mona-simpson/i-do-have-food-in-my-books-different-people-eat-different-ways/) [Mona Simpson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mona-simpson/) > [I grew up as an only child with a single mother. Because we were poor and because I knew my father had emigrated from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mona-simpson/i-grew-up-as-an-only-child-with-a-single-mother-because-we-were-poor/) [Mona Simpson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mona-simpson/) > [“A mother's happiness; something you recognize and then forget; it didn't seem to matter much, though it spread through our bodies.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mona-simpson/a-mother-s-happiness-something-you-recognize-and-then-forget-it-didn/) [Mona Simpson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mona-simpson/) > [I'm a simple cook, and there's a lot I don't eat. But food is important. It translates so easily into pleasure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mona-simpson/i-m-a-simple-cook-and-there-s-a-lot-i-don-t-eat-but-food-is-important/) [Mona Simpson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mona-simpson/) > [I knew I would hate my best memory because it would prove that people could fake love or that love could end or worst…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mona-simpson/i-knew-i-would-hate-my-best-memory-because-it-would-prove-that-people/) [Mona Simpson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mona-simpson/) > [Once upon a time, my mother lived in the posh downtown of Homs, Syria. She described my grandfather as a king in a storybook,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mona-simpson/once-upon-a-time-my-mother-lived-in-the-posh-downtown-of-homs-syria/) [Mona Simpson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mona-simpson/) > [In my 30s, I wrote in the back house of a ramshackle Spanish Revival we rented across from the ocean in the Santa Monica…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mona-simpson/in-my-30s-i-wrote-in-the-back-house-of-a-ramshackle-spanish-revival/) [Mona Simpson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mona-simpson/) > [I read a lot of books about psychopaths. I read a wonderful book Amy Hempel gave me about the guy who created criminal profiling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mona-simpson/i-read-a-lot-of-books-about-psychopaths-i-read-a-wonderful-book-amy/) [Mona Simpson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mona-simpson/) > [Fashion is what seems beautiful now but looks ugly later; art can be ugly at first but it becomes beautiful later.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mona-simpson/fashion-is-what-seems-beautiful-now-but-looks-ugly-later-art-can-be/) [Mona Simpson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mona-simpson/) > [I eventually made the reunion with my father that I'd used as a default daydream throughout my childhood, but by then, we'd both outgrown…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mona-simpson/i-eventually-made-the-reunion-with-my-father-that-i-d-used-as-a/) [Mona Simpson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mona-simpson/) > [I remember the excitement of finding a great pancake recipe in 'Gourmet.' It felt as if it were mine. And it was Berkeley, of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mona-simpson/i-remember-the-excitement-of-finding-a-great-pancake-recipe-in/) [Mona Simpson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mona-simpson/) > [Gossip is essentially storytelling: storytelling about people whom we know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mona-simpson/gossip-is-essentially-storytelling-storytelling-about-people-whom-we/) [Mona Simpson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mona-simpson/) > ['Casebook' is my attempt at a love story. I had a vision of a difficult love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mona-simpson/casebook-is-my-attempt-at-a-love-story-i-had-a-vision-of-a-difficult/) [Mona Simpson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mona-simpson/) [Explore all 57 Mona Simpson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mona-simpson/) ## More After quotes > [At the drop of a hat, people will say there are no roles for women after 40. It's there with a bunch of other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lesley-nicol/at-the-drop-of-a-hat-people-will-say-there-are-no-roles-for-women/) [Lesley Nicol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lesley-nicol/) > [When my main character in 'Heat' climbs the tower, the highest diving platform, hoping to resume competitive diving after an injury, I am there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cadnum/when-my-main-character-in-heat-climbs-the-tower-the-highest-diving/) [Michael Cadnum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cadnum/) > [I was strictly after hits when it came down to the Jackson 5. That's all I was concerned with.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deke-richards/i-was-strictly-after-hits-when-it-came-down-to-the-jackson-5-that-s/) [Deke Richards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deke-richards/) > [It's important for American soldiers to be culturally sensitive when deployed in foreign countries. But it's just as important for the U.S. never to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-bauer/it-s-important-for-american-soldiers-to-be-culturally-sensitive-when/) [Gary Bauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-bauer/) > [No lusting after your neighbor's house - or wife or servant or maid or ox or donkey. Don't set your heart on anything that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moses/no-lusting-after-your-neighbor-s-house-or-wife-or-servant-or-maid-or/) [Moses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moses/) > [After I finished college, I got a job on Wall Street as a derivatives trader, but after a couple years of it, I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philipp-meyer/after-i-finished-college-i-got-a-job-on-wall-street-as-a-derivatives/) [Philipp Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philipp-meyer/) > [When good media takes a bounded form, and comes once in a period of time, it begs to be consumed as a whole -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-battelle/when-good-media-takes-a-bounded-form-and-comes-once-in-a-period-of/) [John Battelle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-battelle/) > [Markets are designed to allow individuals to look after their private needs and to pursue profit. It's really a great invention and I wouldn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-soros/markets-are-designed-to-allow-individuals-to-look-after-their-private/) [George Soros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-soros/) > [I have a lot of success and make a good living, but after while, you start going 'Why? Why are you doing all this?'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyra-banks/i-have-a-lot-of-success-and-make-a-good-living-but-after-while-you/) [Tyra Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyra-banks/) > [See to do good, and you will find that happiness will run after you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-freeman-clarke/see-to-do-good-and-you-will-find-that-happiness-will-run-after-you/) [James Freeman Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-freeman-clarke/) > [I went to school at night in L.A. to brush up on my engineering while I applied to the astronaut program. I really did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mae-jemison/i-went-to-school-at-night-in-l-a-to-brush-up-on-my-engineering-while/) [Mae Jemison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mae-jemison/) > [Sometimes after a compliment about my characterization skills, I'm asked if I model my characters on real people. Emphatically, no. And sort of, yes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brent-weeks/sometimes-after-a-compliment-about-my-characterization-skills-i-m/) [Brent Weeks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brent-weeks/) > [After The Wizard Of Oz I was typecast as a lion, and there aren't all that many parts for lions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bert-lahr/after-the-wizard-of-oz-i-was-typecast-as-a-lion-and-there-aren-t-all/) [Bert Lahr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bert-lahr/) > [I'm pretty cautious and not very athletic, so I've only had really dumb injuries, like sprained ankles and allergic reactions. 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