--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It's never too late-in fiction or in…" description: "\"It's never too late-in fiction or in life-to revise.\" — Nancy Thayer" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d2/nancy-thayer-34986_fiction_it-s-never-too-late-in-fiction-or-in-lif_1505323.jpg" --- # It's never too late-in fiction or in life-to revise. ![“It's never too late-in fiction or in life-to revise.” quote by Nancy Thayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d2/nancy-thayer-34986_fiction_it-s-never-too-late-in-fiction-or-in-lif_1505323.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d2/nancy-thayer-34986_fiction_it-s-never-too-late-in-fiction-or-in-lif_1505323.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d2/nancy-thayer-34986_fiction_it-s-never-too-late-in-fiction-or-in-lif_1505323.jpg) > “It's never too late-in fiction or in life-to revise.” [Nancy Thayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-thayer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Emphasizes that revision and improvement are always possible, regardless of age or medium. **In simple terms:** You can always revise, whether in stories or life. Key Takeaway Keep revising, no matter when. Themes growth creativity learning Mood reflective encouraging Type advice motivational When to use this quote - writing projects - personal goals - career changes - academic work Key Concepts self‑improvement iteration lifelong learning Questions to Reflect On - What would you revise today? - How does revising improve your work? A Different Perspective Revision may be limited by resources or resistance to change. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) [Too late](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/too-late/) ## Related quotes > [I've always loved to write, and I wrote fiction all my life. That's what I thought I was going to do in my life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jake-shears/i-ve-always-loved-to-write-and-i-wrote-fiction-all-my-life-that-s/) [Jake Shears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jake-shears/) > [Part fact part fiction is what life is. And it is always a cover story. I wrote my way out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/part-fact-part-fiction-is-what-life-is-and-it-is-always-a-cover-story/) [Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/) > [Fiction is life with the dull bits left out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-james/fiction-is-life-with-the-dull-bits-left-out/) [Clive James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-james/) > [In general-like not just in fiction but in life-it doesn't work out well when someone imagines someone else as a manic pixie dream girl…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/in-general-like-not-just-in-fiction-but-in-life-it-doesn-t-work-out/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [I'm a believer in using whatever works for fiction, but mostly, that's not life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mona-simpson/i-m-a-believer-in-using-whatever-works-for-fiction-but-mostly-that-s/) [Mona Simpson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mona-simpson/) > [If I've got one thing that I really believe about fiction and life, it's that there are no minor characters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-gardam/if-i-ve-got-one-thing-that-i-really-believe-about-fiction-and-life-it/) [Jane Gardam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-gardam/) > [It's fun to tease people about where fiction and life intersect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-allison/it-s-fun-to-tease-people-about-where-fiction-and-life-intersect/) [Dorothy Allison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-allison/) > [Everything is fiction. You only have your own life to work with in the way that a biographer only has the letters and journals…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-theroux/everything-is-fiction-you-only-have-your-own-life-to-work-with-in-the/) [Paul Theroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-theroux/) > [“Truth is not a saga of alarming episodes; it is a detail, usually a small one, that gives a fiction life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-theroux/truth-is-not-a-saga-of-alarming-episodes-it-is-a-detail-usually-a/) [Paul Theroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-theroux/) > [Imbuing fiction with a life that extends beyond the last word is in some ways the goal: the ending that goes beyond the ending…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-vandermeer/imbuing-fiction-with-a-life-that-extends-beyond-the-last-word-is-in/) [Jeff VanderMeer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-vandermeer/) > [“Fiction is life by design.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-kittredge/fiction-is-life-by-design/) Mary Kittredge > [There's more fiction in my life than in books, so I don't bother with them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-harris/there-s-more-fiction-in-my-life-than-in-books-so-i-don-t-bother-with/) [Richard Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-harris/) > [One of the things that writing has taught me is that fiction has a life of its own. Fictional places are sometimes more real…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanne-harris/one-of-the-things-that-writing-has-taught-me-is-that-fiction-has-a/) [Joanne Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanne-harris/) > [without fiction, either life would be insufficient or the winds from the north would blow too cold.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bowen/without-fiction-either-life-would-be-insufficient-or-the-winds-from/) [Elizabeth Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bowen/) > [“Good fiction is life with all the boring bits taken out, not with all the hardship taken out.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caro-clarke/good-fiction-is-life-with-all-the-boring-bits-taken-out-not-with-all/) Caro Clarke ## More by Nancy Thayer > [I have discovered the meaning of life. It resides in what I can wrest from each day that I live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-thayer/i-have-discovered-the-meaning-of-life-it-resides-in-what-i-can-wrest/) [Nancy Thayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-thayer/) > [“happiness is the best medicine.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-thayer/happiness-is-the-best-medicine/) [Nancy Thayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-thayer/) > [Nantucket is a place where some kind of magic happens, it's where I met my husband 32 years ago, and we've been together since…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-thayer/nantucket-is-a-place-where-some-kind-of-magic-happens-it-s-where-i/) [Nancy Thayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-thayer/) > [Who is getting more pleasure from this rocking, the baby or me?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-thayer/who-is-getting-more-pleasure-from-this-rocking-the-baby-or-me/) [Nancy Thayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-thayer/) > [It is never, never too late, in a story or in real life, to correct.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-thayer/it-is-never-never-too-late-in-a-story-or-in-real-life-to-correct/) [Nancy Thayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-thayer/) > [No matter how wild the winds or rough the seas of life, libraries stand ready, beaming their reliable lights, guiding us toward knowledge, pleasure,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-thayer/no-matter-how-wild-the-winds-or-rough-the-seas-of-life-libraries/) [Nancy Thayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-thayer/) > [“The most terrible thing about marriage, I suppose, is that we know and understand each other’s weaknesses and fears as much as we know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-thayer/the-most-terrible-thing-about-marriage-i-suppose-is-that-we-know-and/) [Nancy Thayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-thayer/) > [No one knows how it is that with one glance a boy can break through into a girl's heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-thayer/no-one-knows-how-it-is-that-with-one-glance-a-boy-can-break-through-2/) [Nancy Thayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-thayer/) > [You know if you pick up a beach read, you're excused from the problems in your own life and safe in a world with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-thayer/you-know-if-you-pick-up-a-beach-read-you-re-excused-from-the-problems/) [Nancy Thayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-thayer/) > [“Often, Bessie would reply, "Child, I don't think that's a question anyone on this earth has the true answer for. The best advice I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-thayer/often-bessie-would-reply-child-i-don-t-think-that-s-a-question-anyone/) [Nancy Thayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-thayer/) > [The universe is always speaking to us... sending us little messages, causing coincidences and serendipities,reminding us to stop, to look around, to believe in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-thayer/the-universe-is-always-speaking-to-us-sending-us-little-messages/) [Nancy Thayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-thayer/) > [“giant paws possessively around the blue-and-white”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-thayer/giant-paws-possessively-around-the-blue-and-white/) [Nancy Thayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-thayer/) [Explore all 13 Nancy Thayer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-thayer/) ## More Fiction quotes > [“…progress isn't necessarily about change but about things turning out as we want them to”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-hogan/progress-isn-t-necessarily-about-change-but-about-things-turning-out/) Phil Hogan > [The thing about science fiction is that it's totally wide open. But it's wide open in a conditional way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavia-butler/the-thing-about-science-fiction-is-that-it-s-totally-wide-open-but-it/) [Octavia Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavia-butler/) > [I do think that theater is a great venue for science fiction, and not just adaptations but also original work. I also think some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-einhorn/i-do-think-that-theater-is-a-great-venue-for-science-fiction-and-not/) Edward Einhorn > [Fiction is a way of exploring possibilities present but undreamt of in the living of a single life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/fiction-is-a-way-of-exploring-possibilities-present-but-undreamt-of/) [Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) > [I love writing fiction and can do it anywhere - I once even missed a flight because I was so engrossed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/prue-leith/i-love-writing-fiction-and-can-do-it-anywhere-i-once-even-missed-a/) [Prue Leith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/prue-leith/) > [“The fiction will seek the real.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/coheed-and-cambria/the-fiction-will-seek-the-real/) Coheed and Cambria > [I think that most of us, anyway, read these stories that we know are not "true" because we're hungry for another kind of truth:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/i-think-that-most-of-us-anyway-read-these-stories-that-we-know-are/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [The danger that may really threaten (crime fiction) is that soon there will be more writers than readers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-barzun/the-danger-that-may-really-threaten-crime-fiction-is-that-soon-there/) [Jacques Barzun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-barzun/) > [There's always that discussion about fiction about how do you market it - these are books for boys, these are books for girls, these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-a-weatherly/there-s-always-that-discussion-about-fiction-about-how-do-you-market/) [L.A. Weatherly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-a-weatherly/) > [Inspiration comes from so many sources. Music, other fiction, the non-fiction I read, TV shows, films, news reports, people I know, stories I hear,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trudi-canavan/inspiration-comes-from-so-many-sources-music-other-fiction-the-non/) [Trudi Canavan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trudi-canavan/) > [I'm not interested in making a diagnostic novel or a concern. I'm 100 percent committed in fiction to the pleasure principle - that's what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/i-m-not-interested-in-making-a-diagnostic-novel-or-a-concern-i-m-100/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) > [“His hands on my waist he gently pulled me n embrace. I could feel his breath on my face our lips were about to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-eglinger/his-hands-on-my-waist-he-gently-pulled-me-n-embrace-i-could-feel-his/) [Nicole Eglinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-eglinger/) > [In early drafts, one of the trickiest things for me to do was to realize that the techniques and devices that make readable and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-rooney/in-early-drafts-one-of-the-trickiest-things-for-me-to-do-was-to/) [Kathleen Rooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-rooney/) > [I don't think it's always a sign of respect for persons (inside or outside of fiction) to pretend to be able to represent, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-lerner/i-don-t-think-it-s-always-a-sign-of-respect-for-persons-inside-or/) [Ben Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-lerner/) > [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/) [Browse all 7,410 Fiction quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It's never too late-in fiction or in life-to revise.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Nancy Thayer" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-thayer/it-s-never-too-late-in-fiction-or-in-life-to-revise/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Fiction" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-thayer/it-s-never-too-late-in-fiction-or-in-life-to-revise/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d2/nancy-thayer-34986_fiction_it-s-never-too-late-in-fiction-or-in-lif_1505323.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d2/nancy-thayer-34986_fiction_it-s-never-too-late-in-fiction-or-in-lif_1505323.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d2/nancy-thayer-34986_fiction_it-s-never-too-late-in-fiction-or-in-lif_1505323.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It's never too late-in fiction or in life-to revise.” — Nancy Thayer", "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": "Nancy Thayer", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-thayer/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "It's never too late-in fiction or...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-thayer/it-s-never-too-late-in-fiction-or-in-life-to-revise/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-thayer/it-s-never-too-late-in-fiction-or-in-life-to-revise/#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 } } ] } ```