--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Fiction writing and journalism, in my…" description: "\"Fiction writing and journalism, in my experience, are really excellent training grounds for each other.\" — Monica Hesse" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3d5/monica-hesse-26966_experience_fiction-writing-and-journalism-in-my-exp_277194.jpg" --- # Fiction writing and journalism, in my experience, are… ![“Fiction writing and journalism, in my experience, are really excellent training grounds for each other.” quote by Monica Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3d5/monica-hesse-26966_experience_fiction-writing-and-journalism-in-my-exp_277194.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3d5/monica-hesse-26966_experience_fiction-writing-and-journalism-in-my-exp_277194.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3d5/monica-hesse-26966_experience_fiction-writing-and-journalism-in-my-exp_277194.jpg) > “Fiction writing and journalism, in my experience, are really excellent training grounds for each other.” [Monica Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-hesse/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writing fiction sharpens narrative skills, while journalism hones factual clarity; each practice reinforces the other. **In simple terms:** Storytelling and reporting improve each other. Key Takeaway Blend creative and factual writing to enhance both. Themes creativity journalism skill development Mood inspired thoughtful professional Type educational practical When to use this quote - fiction workshops - newsrooms - content creation - education programs Key Concepts narrative structure research clarity voice Questions to Reflect On - How can you maintain accuracy while being creative? - What benefits arise from cross‑disciplinary practice? A Different Perspective Balancing truth and imagination can be challenging. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Experience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/experience/) [Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) [Fiction writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction-writing/) [Fitness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fitness/) [Journalism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/journalism/) [Training](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/training/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [Writing in journalism teaches you to be very comfortable taking criticism, being edited, and rewriting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-drumming/writing-in-journalism-teaches-you-to-be-very-comfortable-taking/) Neil Drumming > [“...looking back, has this journalism experience been a nightmare for you?' 'Not entirely.' 'Did you enjoy any of it?' 'I liked going to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-rachman/looking-back-has-this-journalism-experience-been-a-nightmare-for-you/) [Tom Rachman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-rachman/) > [We have standards. Anybody with the kind of journalism experience and professionalism that you have displayed over these years can not work for my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-stewart/we-have-standards-anybody-with-the-kind-of-journalism-experience-and/) [Jon Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-stewart/) > [I think the deepest thing is that many fiction writers tell stories but are not elegant writers. But, we're not writing journalism when we're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/i-think-the-deepest-thing-is-that-many-fiction-writers-tell-stories/) [Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/) > [I hope to keep writing journalism as long as I write fiction; it's afforded me such amazing adventures and opportunities. It does take a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-egan/i-hope-to-keep-writing-journalism-as-long-as-i-write-fiction-it-s/) [Jennifer Egan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-egan/) > [In a sense, journalism can be both helpful and detrimental to a writer of fiction because the kind of writing you need to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aravind-adiga/in-a-sense-journalism-can-be-both-helpful-and-detrimental-to-a-writer/) [Aravind Adiga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aravind-adiga/) > [I love writing journalism because it's all over in two hours and comes straight off the top of the head. Writing novels is soooooo…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-johnson/i-love-writing-journalism-because-it-s-all-over-in-two-hours-and/) [Rachel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-johnson/) > [And then I met Jerry and he's such a creative fiction writer, and I don't know if there's ever been a team put together…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-lahaye/and-then-i-met-jerry-and-he-s-such-a-creative-fiction-writer-and-i/) [Tim LaHaye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-lahaye/) > [The advice would be the same for any kind of fiction. 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There weren't any more hitches now.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornell-woolrich/that-was-enough-dialogue-for-a-few-pages-he-had-to-get-into-some-fast/) [Cornell Woolrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornell-woolrich/) > [Once you're imagining being the main character, and you're having the conversations and actually being there, the magic in fiction writing takes over.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-hobbs/once-you-re-imagining-being-the-main-character-and-you-re-having-the/) [Will Hobbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-hobbs/) > [“She smiled sinisterly. Light mist started to slowly swirl around us. All I could see was her, the tall rocks and the white wall.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-sehyun-song/she-smiled-sinisterly-light-mist-started-to-slowly-swirl-around-us/) [Erica Sehyun Song](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-sehyun-song/) > [“Grayson: Fiction is just a lie anyway. Brianna: But it's not - it's a different kind of truth - it would be your truth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nora-roberts/grayson-fiction-is-just-a-lie-anyway-brianna-but-it-s-not-it-s-a/) [Nora Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nora-roberts/) > [Metafiction says something. It has to do with taking a large fiction itself and writing within it; that kind of self-reflecting writing that emerges…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-coover/metafiction-says-something-it-has-to-do-with-taking-a-large-fiction/) [Robert Coover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-coover/) ## More by Monica Hesse > [People throughout time have grieved, have fallen in love, have fallen out of love. We are sometimes petty and sometimes heroic, and we have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-hesse/people-throughout-time-have-grieved-have-fallen-in-love-have-fallen/) [Monica Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-hesse/) > [“How do you calculate fish fries in the backyard, kiddie pools in the front yard, and unfettered views of a thousand starts in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-hesse/how-do-you-calculate-fish-fries-in-the-backyard-kiddie-pools-in-the/) [Monica Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-hesse/) > [“Lucky has become such a relative term, when the standards to meet it involve only not being treated like a criminal in your own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-hesse/lucky-has-become-such-a-relative-term-when-the-standards-to-meet-it/) [Monica Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-hesse/) > [“But maybe rural America isn't dying so much as it's Shucker-ing: adjusting, adapting, becoming something new, getting a new outdoor sign and adding jalapeno…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-hesse/but-maybe-rural-america-isn-t-dying-so-much-as-it-s-shucker-ing/) [Monica Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-hesse/) > [I hope people will never stop dressing up as Harry Potter. It feels less to me like something you wear because you think it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-hesse/i-hope-people-will-never-stop-dressing-up-as-harry-potter-it-feels/) [Monica Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-hesse/) > [Like a lot of people, I read 'The Diary of Anne Frank' again and again and again when I was growing up - I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-hesse/like-a-lot-of-people-i-read-the-diary-of-anne-frank-again-and-again/) [Monica Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-hesse/) > [By the end of his life, one has a far easier time picturing Hugh Hefner buying his girlfriend a comfy pair of slippers than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-hesse/by-the-end-of-his-life-one-has-a-far-easier-time-picturing-hugh/) [Monica Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-hesse/) > [Cooking is a weird thing. In homes, I'd wager it's still women who do more of the cooking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-hesse/cooking-is-a-weird-thing-in-homes-i-d-wager-it-s-still-women-who-do/) [Monica Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-hesse/) > [“Jeff Beall. Beall was a tall man with a bristling mustache and a wit as dry as sandpaper. He’d drive thirty miles to loan…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-hesse/jeff-beall-beall-was-a-tall-man-with-a-bristling-mustache-and-a-wit/) [Monica Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-hesse/) > [In fiction, you learn about pacing and how to build tension - which is something you want in a really good nonfiction feature article…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-hesse/in-fiction-you-learn-about-pacing-and-how-to-build-tension-which-is/) [Monica Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-hesse/) > [“As economies change, as landscapes change, nostalgia is the only good America will never stop producing. We gorge on it ourselves and pass it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-hesse/as-economies-change-as-landscapes-change-nostalgia-is-the-only-good/) [Monica Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-hesse/) > [When Holly Madison, Hef's former chief girlfriend, came out with a tell-all book about life in the Mansion, the most bizarre revelation was that,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-hesse/when-holly-madison-hef-s-former-chief-girlfriend-came-out-with-a-tell/) [Monica Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-hesse/) > [I can bend my wrist down to my forearm. I can wrench my fingers backward until they rest on my hand. A hitchhiker's thumb…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-hesse/i-can-bend-my-wrist-down-to-my-forearm-i-can-wrench-my-fingers/) [Monica Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-hesse/) > [“It ended. Of course it did, it finally did, and like a lot of things, by the time it actually ended, people were starting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-hesse/it-ended-of-course-it-did-it-finally-did-and-like-a-lot-of-things-by/) [Monica Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-hesse/) > [“To talk about arson is to talk about buildings burning down. To talk about the term 'pyromania' is really to talk about the unfathomable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-hesse/to-talk-about-arson-is-to-talk-about-buildings-burning-down-to-talk/) [Monica Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-hesse/) [Explore all 21 Monica Hesse quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-hesse/) ## More Experience quotes > [Experience makes a lesson to us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/experience-makes-a-lesson-to-us/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The Derby experience had not been good for me and the way it finished left a very bad taste in my mouth so I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-pearson/the-derby-experience-had-not-been-good-for-me-and-the-way-it-finished/) [Nigel Pearson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-pearson/) > [Well, I've been politically involved for a really long time. Growing up in the segregated South, it was a very painful experience for me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cybill-shepherd/well-i-ve-been-politically-involved-for-a-really-long-time-growing-up/) [Cybill Shepherd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cybill-shepherd/) > [From my experience of having served for 3000 days, I can say that anything can be achieved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/narendra-modi/from-my-experience-of-having-served-for-3000-days-i-can-say-that/) [Narendra Modi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/narendra-modi/) > [My favorite job is the next one. Its such a gratifying experience getting to creatively keep trying something new and push things in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-craig-smith/my-favorite-job-is-the-next-one-its-such-a-gratifying-experience/) [Roger Craig Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-craig-smith/) > [I happen to think it's the politics that makes you electable, but the reason for that is politicians sometimes talk about electability as if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-blair/i-happen-to-think-it-s-the-politics-that-makes-you-electable-but-the/) [Tony Blair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-blair/) > [Iranians hate Arabs. They're a fairly well-educated population and they have centuries of experience with self-government.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ledeen/iranians-hate-arabs-they-re-a-fairly-well-educated-population-and/) [Michael Ledeen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ledeen/) > [Education is a lifelong experience. Experience is a lifelong education. Education plus experience equals expertise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bugeja/education-is-a-lifelong-experience-experience-is-a-lifelong-education/) Michael Bugeja > [Prison experience puts distance between me and any person who hasn't been there, done that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-mcconnell/prison-experience-puts-distance-between-me-and-any-person-who-hasn-t/) [Patricia McConnell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-mcconnell/) > [Experience is a thorough teacher.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-jane-holmes/experience-is-a-thorough-teacher/) [Mary Jane Holmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-jane-holmes/) > [It definitely helps to have the acting experience going into singing, because when you're singing, you have to portray the emotion you were feeling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-newman/it-definitely-helps-to-have-the-acting-experience-going-into-singing/) Ryan Newman > [I have no physical genius about me. I can't dribble a ball and run at the same time, I can't do lay-ups - I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rich-mullins/i-have-no-physical-genius-about-me-i-can-t-dribble-a-ball-and-run-at/) [Rich Mullins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rich-mullins/) > [I've had a great experience with pretty much everybody I've worked with.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mia-wasikowska/i-ve-had-a-great-experience-with-pretty-much-everybody-i-ve-worked/) [Mia Wasikowska](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mia-wasikowska/) > [It wasn't a mistake, it was a fun learning experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-wasn-t-a-mistake-it-was-a-fun-learning-experience/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I worked a lot in Chicago's theater scene as a fight choreographer. And so I do have a lot of experience in stage combat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-offerman/i-worked-a-lot-in-chicago-s-theater-scene-as-a-fight-choreographer/) [Nick Offerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-offerman/) [Browse all 11,792 Experience quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/experience/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Fiction writing and journalism, in my experience, are really excellent training grounds for each other.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Monica Hesse" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-hesse/fiction-writing-and-journalism-in-my-experience-are-really-excellent/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Experience" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-hesse/fiction-writing-and-journalism-in-my-experience-are-really-excellent/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3d5/monica-hesse-26966_experience_fiction-writing-and-journalism-in-my-exp_277194.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3d5/monica-hesse-26966_experience_fiction-writing-and-journalism-in-my-exp_277194.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3d5/monica-hesse-26966_experience_fiction-writing-and-journalism-in-my-exp_277194.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Fiction writing and journalism, in my experience, are really excellent training grounds for each other.” — Monica Hesse", "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": "Monica Hesse", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-hesse/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Fiction writing and journalism, in my...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-hesse/fiction-writing-and-journalism-in-my-experience-are-really-excellent/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-hesse/fiction-writing-and-journalism-in-my-experience-are-really-excellent/#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 } } ] } ```