--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: You spend so much time as a writer…" description: "\"You spend so much time as a writer telling straight and linear stories.\" — Nathan Englander" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ab/nathan-englander-8048_linear_you-spend-so-much-time-as-a-writer-telli_1421980.jpg" --- # You spend so much time as a writer telling straight and… ![“You spend so much time as a writer telling straight and linear stories.” quote by Nathan Englander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ab/nathan-englander-8048_linear_you-spend-so-much-time-as-a-writer-telli_1421980.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ab/nathan-englander-8048_linear_you-spend-so-much-time-as-a-writer-telli_1421980.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ab/nathan-englander-8048_linear_you-spend-so-much-time-as-a-writer-telli_1421980.jpg) > “You spend so much time as a writer telling straight and linear stories.” [Nathan Englander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-englander/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writers often default to straightforward storytelling, missing complexity. **In simple terms:** Writers stick to simple stories. Key Takeaway Explore non‑linear structures. Themes creativity storytelling complexity Mood analytical inquisitive Type literary educational When to use this quote - novel writing - screenwriting - creative workshops Key Concepts narrative theory literary innovation Questions to Reflect On - Why choose linear over experimental? - What benefits do complex narratives offer? A Different Perspective Linear stories can be effective for some audiences. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [I don't make unconventional stories; I don't make non-linear stories. I like linear storytelling a lot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-spielberg/i-don-t-make-unconventional-stories-i-don-t-make-non-linear-stories-i/) [Steven Spielberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-spielberg/) > [You can't solve many of today's problems by straight linear thinking. It takes leaps of faith to sense the connections that are not necessarily…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-can-t-solve-many-of-today-s-problems-by-straight-linear-thinking/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [That awkward moment when someone is telling you a straight up lie when you know the truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kylee/that-awkward-moment-when-someone-is-telling-you-a-straight-up-lie/) [Kylee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kylee/) > [As an actor, you tell part of a story. As a writer, you get more of telling that story. But as a director, they're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonah-hill/as-an-actor-you-tell-part-of-a-story-as-a-writer-you-get-more-of/) [Jonah Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonah-hill/) > [It looks like the writer is telling you a story. What the writer is actually doing, however, is using words to evoke a series…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-r-delany/it-looks-like-the-writer-is-telling-you-a-story-what-the-writer-is/) [Samuel R. Delany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-r-delany/) > [I think it's true that, as is often observed, the writer is always an outsider. A writer is someone who is telling stories about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/i-think-it-s-true-that-as-is-often-observed-the-writer-is-always-an/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [I see manuscripts and books that are spoiled for the literary reader because they are one long stream of top-of-the-head writing, a writer telling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sol-stein/i-see-manuscripts-and-books-that-are-spoiled-for-the-literary-reader/) [Sol Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sol-stein/) > [“Could it be we stifle our children's genius by languaging them too quickly away from their hearts and into the straight and narrow confines…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-villasenor/could-it-be-we-stifle-our-children-s-genius-by-languaging-them-too/) [Victor Villaseñor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-villasenor/) > [Reading is not a straightforward linear movement, a merely cumulative affair: our initial speculations generate a frame of reference within which to interpret what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/reading-is-not-a-straightforward-linear-movement-a-merely-cumulative/) [Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/) > [Chronological time is what we measure by clocks and calendars; it is always linear, orderly, quantifiable, and mechanical. Kairotic time is organic, rhythmic, bodily,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/chronological-time-is-what-we-measure-by-clocks-and-calendars-it-is/) [Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) > [Modern anthropology ... opposes the utilitarian assumption that the primitive chants as he sows seed because he believes that otherwise it will not grow,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-carroll/modern-anthropology-opposes-the-utilitarian-assumption-that-the/) [John Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-carroll/) > [A favorite strategy was the paragraph-terminating: Right? Followed immediately by Wrong. This linear invitation to a mugging was considered a strategy of wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/renata-adler/a-favorite-strategy-was-the-paragraph-terminating-right-followed/) [Renata Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/renata-adler/) > [...mysticism and empiricism go together in opposition to scholasticism...they base themselves on the non-linear world of experience rather than the linear world of letters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/mysticism-and-empiricism-go-together-in-opposition-to-scholasticism/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [If we fail to appreciate the soul that Easternism gives us, then what we have is a disconnected, Greco-Roman, Western, egocentric, compartmentalized, reductionist, fragmented,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-salatin/if-we-fail-to-appreciate-the-soul-that-easternism-gives-us-then-what/) [Joel Salatin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-salatin/) > [I like small things, I like small moments that are almost elliptical, that are not necessarily linear; they're natural things that happen in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-carter/i-like-small-things-i-like-small-moments-that-are-almost-elliptical/) [Keith Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-carter/) ## More by Nathan Englander > [I would drink gallons of coffee a day. Even now, off caffeine, I talk faster than anyone you've ever met. I finally recognized that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-englander/i-would-drink-gallons-of-coffee-a-day-even-now-off-caffeine-i-talk/) [Nathan Englander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-englander/) > [I know nobody believes in peace anymore, but what else is there to work toward? As the years have gone by, peace seems like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-englander/i-know-nobody-believes-in-peace-anymore-but-what-else-is-there-to/) [Nathan Englander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-englander/) > [“How terribly unfair that his whole self aches because of the shape of a shoulder, the soft line of a hip.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-englander/how-terribly-unfair-that-his-whole-self-aches-because-of-the-shape-of/) [Nathan Englander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-englander/) > [I feel very lucky that I have this career that allows me to say, 'I'm ready to start now on this project,' and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-englander/i-feel-very-lucky-that-i-have-this-career-that-allows-me-to-say-i-m/) [Nathan Englander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-englander/) > [“If Z had only known in his perfectly lovely two rooms in Paris what he'd come to know in his single 6x8 block somewhere,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-englander/if-z-had-only-known-in-his-perfectly-lovely-two-rooms-in-paris-what/) [Nathan Englander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-englander/) > [I always call myself either an optimistic pessimist or a pessimistic optimist - I'm not sure which way it goes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-englander/i-always-call-myself-either-an-optimistic-pessimist-or-a-pessimistic/) [Nathan Englander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-englander/) > [Empathy is what obsesses me. And watching empathy recede in the world is terrifying.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-englander/empathy-is-what-obsesses-me-and-watching-empathy-recede-in-the-world/) [Nathan Englander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-englander/) > [There's an Armed Forces Haggadah and an Alcoholics Anonymous Haggadah and an LGBT Haggadah. Some people make a new Haggadah every year. It's a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-englander/there-s-an-armed-forces-haggadah-and-an-alcoholics-anonymous-haggadah/) [Nathan Englander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-englander/) > [Harder than waking from a nightmare was trying to wake herself into one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-englander/harder-than-waking-from-a-nightmare-was-trying-to-wake-herself-into/) [Nathan Englander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-englander/) > [When you see 'editor' on a book, there are many permutations of what that title can mean.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-englander/when-you-see-editor-on-a-book-there-are-many-permutations-of-what/) [Nathan Englander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-englander/) > [So writing stories is not easier in comparison to the playwriting or translation; the stories are easier in league with them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-englander/so-writing-stories-is-not-easier-in-comparison-to-the-playwriting-or/) [Nathan Englander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-englander/) > [The thing you start noticing as books go by, is that you become aware not only of a shape of a career, but of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-englander/the-thing-you-start-noticing-as-books-go-by-is-that-you-become-aware/) [Nathan Englander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-englander/) > [I feel like people who become writers are people who have been saved by books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-englander/i-feel-like-people-who-become-writers-are-people-who-have-been-saved/) [Nathan Englander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-englander/) > [I don't think it's the writer's job to give answers or to give opinions. In fact, when a writer has answers, I think the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-englander/i-don-t-think-it-s-the-writer-s-job-to-give-answers-or-to-give/) [Nathan Englander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-englander/) > [I didn't sleep the night I finished 'Sister Hills.' It was so unsettling. I felt really wild. I didn't have a clue. It's a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-englander/i-didn-t-sleep-the-night-i-finished-sister-hills-it-was-so-unsettling/) [Nathan Englander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-englander/) [Explore all 84 Nathan Englander quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-englander/) ## More Linear quotes > [I like small things, I like small moments that are almost elliptical, that are not necessarily linear; they're natural things that happen in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-carter/i-like-small-things-i-like-small-moments-that-are-almost-elliptical/) [Keith Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-carter/) > [If we fail to appreciate the soul that Easternism gives us, then what we have is a disconnected, Greco-Roman, Western, egocentric, compartmentalized, reductionist, fragmented,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-salatin/if-we-fail-to-appreciate-the-soul-that-easternism-gives-us-then-what/) [Joel Salatin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-salatin/) > [...mysticism and empiricism go together in opposition to scholasticism...they base themselves on the non-linear world of experience rather than the linear world of letters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/mysticism-and-empiricism-go-together-in-opposition-to-scholasticism/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [A favorite strategy was the paragraph-terminating: Right? Followed immediately by Wrong. This linear invitation to a mugging was considered a strategy of wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/renata-adler/a-favorite-strategy-was-the-paragraph-terminating-right-followed/) [Renata Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/renata-adler/) > [Modern anthropology ... opposes the utilitarian assumption that the primitive chants as he sows seed because he believes that otherwise it will not grow,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-carroll/modern-anthropology-opposes-the-utilitarian-assumption-that-the/) [John Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-carroll/) > [Chronological time is what we measure by clocks and calendars; it is always linear, orderly, quantifiable, and mechanical. Kairotic time is organic, rhythmic, bodily,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/chronological-time-is-what-we-measure-by-clocks-and-calendars-it-is/) [Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) > [Reading is not a straightforward linear movement, a merely cumulative affair: our initial speculations generate a frame of reference within which to interpret what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/reading-is-not-a-straightforward-linear-movement-a-merely-cumulative/) [Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/) > [“Could it be we stifle our children's genius by languaging them too quickly away from their hearts and into the straight and narrow confines…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-villasenor/could-it-be-we-stifle-our-children-s-genius-by-languaging-them-too/) [Victor Villaseñor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-villasenor/) > [“: " hidup tak selamanya linear, tubuh tak seharusnya tersier ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/efek-rumah-kaca-tubuhmu-membiru-tragis/hidup-tak-selamanya-linear-tubuh-tak-seharusnya-tersier/) Efek Rumah Kaca - Tubuhmu Membiru Tragis > [Life's not linear at all. It happens in lighting flashes. So fast you don't see those lay-you-out cold moments coming at you until you're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-marie-moning/life-s-not-linear-at-all-it-happens-in-lighting-flashes-so-fast-you/) [Karen Marie Moning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-marie-moning/) > [There are certain things that I'll hear about and that I think will make a great book and I put it in a file.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jodi-picoult/there-are-certain-things-that-i-ll-hear-about-and-that-i-think-will/) [Jodi Picoult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jodi-picoult/) > [We have a whole industry which is gigantic: games. Games is very successful. It's its own art form, though, and it's not the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-catmull/we-have-a-whole-industry-which-is-gigantic-games-games-is-very/) [Edwin Catmull](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-catmull/) > [With one linear centimeter of your lower colon there lives and works more bacteria (about 100 billion) that all humans who have ever been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/with-one-linear-centimeter-of-your-lower-colon-there-lives-and-works/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [I think it's been confusing for people because I haven't had a linear career.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/selma-blair/i-think-it-s-been-confusing-for-people-because-i-haven-t-had-a-linear/) [Selma Blair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/selma-blair/) > [Change is not a linear process; it's an all-encompassing process, and it's alive in different ways.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/genesis-p-orridge/change-is-not-a-linear-process-it-s-an-all-encompassing-process-and/) [Genesis P-Orridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/genesis-p-orridge/) Browse all 323 Linear quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "You spend so much time as a writer telling straight and linear stories.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Nathan Englander" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-englander/you-spend-so-much-time-as-a-writer-telling-straight-and-linear-stories/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Linear" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-englander/you-spend-so-much-time-as-a-writer-telling-straight-and-linear-stories/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ab/nathan-englander-8048_linear_you-spend-so-much-time-as-a-writer-telli_1421980.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ab/nathan-englander-8048_linear_you-spend-so-much-time-as-a-writer-telli_1421980.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ab/nathan-englander-8048_linear_you-spend-so-much-time-as-a-writer-telli_1421980.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“You spend so much time as a writer telling straight and linear stories.” — Nathan Englander", "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": "Nathan Englander", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-englander/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "You spend so much time as...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-englander/you-spend-so-much-time-as-a-writer-telling-straight-and-linear-stories/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-englander/you-spend-so-much-time-as-a-writer-telling-straight-and-linear-stories/#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 } } ] } ```