--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I kept starting 'Anansi Boys' as a movie…" description: "\"I kept starting 'Anansi Boys' as a movie and stopping, and eventually wrote the novel and was happy.\" — Neil Gaiman" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bdf/neil-gaiman-29_books_i-kept-starting-anansi-boys-as-a-movie-a_688778.jpg" --- # I kept starting 'Anansi Boys' as a movie and stopping, and… ![“I kept starting 'Anansi Boys' as a movie and stopping, and eventually wrote the novel and was happy.” quote by Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bdf/neil-gaiman-29_books_i-kept-starting-anansi-boys-as-a-movie-a_688778.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bdf/neil-gaiman-29_books_i-kept-starting-anansi-boys-as-a-movie-a_688778.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bdf/neil-gaiman-29_books_i-kept-starting-anansi-boys-as-a-movie-a_688778.jpg) > “I kept starting 'Anansi Boys' as a movie and stopping, and eventually wrote the novel and was happy.” [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Creative projects can evolve across media, and persistence leads to fulfillment in the final form. **In simple terms:** Projects may shift media; persistence brings satisfaction. Key Takeaway Embrace flexibility and keep completing your work. Themes creativity persistence media adaptation Mood inspirational encouraging Type advisory motivational When to use this quote - writing - film adaptation - creative entrepreneurship - goal completion Key Concepts storytelling artistic process Questions to Reflect On - When did you change a project’s medium? - What kept you motivated? A Different Perspective Changing formats can cause loss of original vision. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Anansi Boys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anansi-boys-5476885/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Boys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boys/) [Eventually](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eventually/) [Eventually Wrote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eventually-wrote-5476883/) [Happy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happy/) [Kept Starting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kept-starting-5476884/) [Movie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/movie/) [Novel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novel/) [Novel Happy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novel-happy-1022473/) [Starting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/starting/) [Stopping](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stopping/) [Wrote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wrote/) [Wrote Novel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wrote-novel/) ## Related quotes > [For years (decades even), I genuinely believed that world would beat a path to my books and stories, but eventually, as everything I wrote…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-bradfield/for-years-decades-even-i-genuinely-believed-that-world-would-beat-a/) [Scott Bradfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-bradfield/) > [“I felt like a Jane Austen heroine all of a sudden, confusedly looking on at all the people she loves, their myriad unpredictable couplings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-powell/i-felt-like-a-jane-austen-heroine-all-of-a-sudden-confusedly-looking/) [Julie Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-powell/) > [I hadn't written a love story before and I hadn't written a novel with a happy ending before.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-hadn-t-written-a-love-story-before-and-i-hadn-t-written-a-novel/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [“What lived on-in me- was the discomfort of how completely I'd outgrown the novel I'd once been so happy to live in”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/what-lived-on-in-me-was-the-discomfort-of-how-completely-i-d-outgrown/) [Jonathan Franzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-franzen/) > [I couldn't get you to the ocean, but there was nothing stopping me bringing the ocean to you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/i-couldn-t-get-you-to-the-ocean-but-there-was-nothing-stopping-me/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [“Someone once wrote that a novel should deliver a series of small astonishments. 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I shut up and wrote twenty-three more.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-connelly/you-know-what-i-did-after-i-wrote-my-first-novel-i-shut-up-and-wrote/) [Michael Connelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-connelly/) > [I wrote my first novel in the same conditions as most first novelists - I had a full-time job, I shared an apartment, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-dee/i-wrote-my-first-novel-in-the-same-conditions-as-most-first-novelists/) [Jonathan Dee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-dee/) > [I guess I've always been an aspiring novelist. I went to Princeton and wrote a novel for my thesis.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-gordon/i-guess-i-ve-always-been-an-aspiring-novelist-i-went-to-princeton-and/) [Howard Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-gordon/) > [I'd never written a novel before, and I wrote a novel, and that turned out OK.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainbow-rowell/i-d-never-written-a-novel-before-and-i-wrote-a-novel-and-that-turned/) [Rainbow Rowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainbow-rowell/) > [Each time I write a new piece, whether a novel, a picture book, a speech or anything, really, it has so much to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-maclachlan/each-time-i-write-a-new-piece-whether-a-novel-a-picture-book-a-speech/) [Patricia MacLachlan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-maclachlan/) ## More by Neil Gaiman > [“People talk about books that write themselves, and it's a lie. Books don't write themselves. It takes thought and research and a backache and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/people-talk-about-books-that-write-themselves-and-it-s-a-lie-books/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [“Like all sentient beings, Fat Charlie had a weirdness quotient. 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If all you have is a beginning, then once you've written…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/you-need-more-than-a-beginning-if-you-re-going-to-start-a-book-if-all/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [You can tell the date of an old science fiction novel by every word on the page. Nothing dates harder and faster and more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/you-can-tell-the-date-of-an-old-science-fiction-novel-by-every-word/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [“The quickest way is sometimes the longest.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/the-quickest-way-is-sometimes-the-longest/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [“They were spells, spelled with words to make worlds, waiting for me, in the pages of books.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/they-were-spells-spelled-with-words-to-make-worlds-waiting-for-me-in/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [Finish what you're writing. Whatever you have to do to finish it, finish it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/finish-what-you-re-writing-whatever-you-have-to-do-to-finish-it/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [What do stars do? They shine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/what-do-stars-do-they-shine/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [“What," asked Mr Croup, "do you want?" "What," asked the Marquis de Carabas, a little more rhetorically, "does anyone want?" "Dead things," suggested Mr…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/what-asked-mr-croup-do-you-want-what-asked-the-marquis-de-carabas-a/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [You get on with your own life. Lettie gave it to you. You just have to grow up and try and be worth it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/you-get-on-with-your-own-life-lettie-gave-it-to-you-you-just-have-to/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [“Eyes will not see you. Minds will not hold you. 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