--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Writing fiction, for me, is a more…" description: "\"Writing fiction, for me, is a more indirect form of self-exploration than writing verse. When I'm working on a novel I'm moving characters around and I..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bfe/nick-laird-17405_character_writing-fiction-for-me-is-a-more-indirec_179543.jpg" --- # Writing fiction, for me, is a more indirect form of… ![“Writing fiction, for me, is a more indirect form of self-exploration than writing verse. When I'm working on a novel I'm moving characters around and I'm thinking about plot and there's a lot of other things going on at the level of structure and story. With a poem, a single idea or line or…” quote by Nick Laird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bfe/nick-laird-17405_character_writing-fiction-for-me-is-a-more-indirec_179543.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bfe/nick-laird-17405_character_writing-fiction-for-me-is-a-more-indirec_179543.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bfe/nick-laird-17405_character_writing-fiction-for-me-is-a-more-indirec_179543.jpg) > “Writing fiction, for me, is a more indirect form of self-exploration than writing verse. When I'm working on a novel I'm moving characters around and I'm thinking about plot and there's a lot of other things going on at the level of structure and story. With a poem, a single idea or line or emotion can sometimes be enough - there's often a sense, in the best poems, of capturing a single instant. Perhaps poems differ from prose in the degree of solace they can offer - by speaking so personally, so directly, about shared experience. A few lines of poetry can provide comfort.” [Nick Laird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-laird/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Fiction explores complex narratives and structures, while poetry captures singular emotions, offering different depths of personal solace. **In simple terms:** Fiction builds worlds; poetry captures moments. Key Takeaway Use both forms for varied self‑exploration. Themes writing self‑exploration artistic expression Mood introspective inspirational Type philosophical creative When to use this quote - novel writing - poetry workshops - creative retreats - mental health therapy Key Concepts narrative structure emotional resonance literary form Questions to Reflect On - Which form best serves your current emotional need? - How can you blend narrative depth with poetic immediacy? A Different Perspective Poetry may not address broader story arcs. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Comfort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comfort/) [Emotion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emotion/) [Enough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enough/) [Indirect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/indirect/) [Instant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/instant/) [Moving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moving/) [Novel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novel/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Prose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prose/) [Solace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/solace/) [Sometimes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sometimes/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Verse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/verse/) [Verses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/verses/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Writing fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-fiction/) [Writing Verse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-verse-784599/) ## Related quotes > [The main problem with writing in verse is, if your fourth line doesn't come out right, you've got to throw four lines away and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-seuss/the-main-problem-with-writing-in-verse-is-if-your-fourth-line-doesn-t/) [Dr. Seuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-seuss/) > [What I do say is that I can write verse, and that the writing of verse in strict form is the best possible training…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/what-i-do-say-is-that-i-can-write-verse-and-that-the-writing-of-verse/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [Because I was writing verse, my instructor suggested I study Shakespeare. The Shakespeare teacher insisted you couldn't understand the text without seeing it on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamey-sheridan/because-i-was-writing-verse-my-instructor-suggested-i-study/) [Jamey Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamey-sheridan/) > [Cursed be the verse, how well so e'er it flow, That tends to make one worthy man my foe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/cursed-be-the-verse-how-well-so-e-er-it-flow-that-tends-to-make-one/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [Being an art form, verse cannot be "free" in the sense of having no limitations or guiding principle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-carlos-williams/being-an-art-form-verse-cannot-be-free-in-the-sense-of-having-no/) [William Carlos Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-carlos-williams/) > [Verse by verse, the Bible becomes more than theory. It becomes my firsthand experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-batterson/verse-by-verse-the-bible-becomes-more-than-theory-it-becomes-my/) [Mark Batterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-batterson/) > [As for literature It gives no man a sinecure. And no one knows, at sight, a masterpiece. And give up verse, my boy, There's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-pound/as-for-literature-it-gives-no-man-a-sinecure-and-no-one-knows-at/) [Ezra Pound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-pound/) > [Rhime being no necessary Adjunct or true Ornament of Poem or good Verse, in longer Works especially, but the Invention of a barbarous Age,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/rhime-being-no-necessary-adjunct-or-true-ornament-of-poem-or-good/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [I think everything should be in verse. 'The New York Times' should be in verse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-ives/i-think-everything-should-be-in-verse-the-new-york-times-should-be-in/) [David Ives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-ives/) > [I then carefully searched through the pages until I was able to find the verse that was crystal clear... It read: "Rejoice always."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-c-neal/i-then-carefully-searched-through-the-pages-until-i-was-able-to-find/) [Mary C. Neal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-c-neal/) > [No more pronouncements on lousy verse. No more hidden competition. No more struggling not to be a square.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-bogan/no-more-pronouncements-on-lousy-verse-no-more-hidden-competition-no/) [Louise Bogan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-bogan/) > [Let's be off before he gets his great horsey teeth into my poor lines of verse!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelia-funke/let-s-be-off-before-he-gets-his-great-horsey-teeth-into-my-poor-lines/) [Cornelia Funke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelia-funke/) > [I ought to warn you that my verse is of no interest to people who can think.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-betjeman/i-ought-to-warn-you-that-my-verse-is-of-no-interest-to-people-who-can/) [John Betjeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-betjeman/) > [ELEGY, n. A composition in verse, in which, without employing any of the methods of humor, the writer aims to produce in the reader's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/elegy-n-a-composition-in-verse-in-which-without-employing-any-of-the/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [Anyone may be an honorable man, and yet write verse badly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moliere/anyone-may-be-an-honorable-man-and-yet-write-verse-badly/) [Moliere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moliere/) ## More by Nick Laird > [What passes for love is imperfect knowledge. Not knowing, initially, allows faithlessness to dress up as its opposite; casts the inarticulate as enigmatic, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-laird/what-passes-for-love-is-imperfect-knowledge-not-knowing-initially/) [Nick Laird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-laird/) > [When you're rereading or editing your book and you start to expect that this work is going to be reviewed, and you can sort…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-laird/when-you-re-rereading-or-editing-your-book-and-you-start-to-expect/) [Nick Laird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-laird/) > [I think all writing is an attempt to complicate and subvert the dominant narrative. Writing personalizes statistics. It puts a face and a name…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-laird/i-think-all-writing-is-an-attempt-to-complicate-and-subvert-the/) [Nick Laird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-laird/) > [That's what Samuel Johnson said: "Read over your compositions, and wherever you meet with a passage which you think particularly fine, strike it out."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-laird/that-s-what-samuel-johnson-said-read-over-your-compositions-and/) [Nick Laird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-laird/) > [You become a writer because you like to be alone in a room with your books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-laird/you-become-a-writer-because-you-like-to-be-alone-in-a-room-with-your/) [Nick Laird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-laird/) > [With an age difference comes a great gap in cultural references, and so on. It's not all about race and gender. It interests me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-laird/with-an-age-difference-comes-a-great-gap-in-cultural-references-and/) [Nick Laird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-laird/) > [Most of the poems I write go through forty versions and then stay in a file on my computer. I'm not very good at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-laird/most-of-the-poems-i-write-go-through-forty-versions-and-then-stay-in/) [Nick Laird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-laird/) > [Poetry is a way of being alone without feeling alone. It allows you to experience another mind, I suppose. And it does that more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-laird/poetry-is-a-way-of-being-alone-without-feeling-alone-it-allows-you-to/) [Nick Laird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-laird/) > [Publishing a book is a great thing, and I'm grateful, but it's also a horrible, exposing thing. Once you've published a book, you never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-laird/publishing-a-book-is-a-great-thing-and-i-m-grateful-but-it-s-also-a/) [Nick Laird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-laird/) > [There is such a shelter in each other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-laird/there-is-such-a-shelter-in-each-other/) [Nick Laird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-laird/) > [Nabokov quote: "I think like a genius, I write like a distinguished author, and I speak like a child."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-laird/nabokov-quote-i-think-like-a-genius-i-write-like-a-distinguished/) [Nick Laird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-laird/) > [There used to be one writer rather than a team of writers. It's the old line about a camel being a horse designed by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-laird/there-used-to-be-one-writer-rather-than-a-team-of-writers-it-s-the/) [Nick Laird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-laird/) > [I'm always reading books, I'm always having encounters, I'm always taking trips. Whatever it is you come up with about how you got started,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-laird/i-m-always-reading-books-i-m-always-having-encounters-i-m-always/) [Nick Laird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-laird/) > [The whole process of having to put the thing into the world seems so antithetical to the act of writing. Poetry is slightly easier,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-laird/the-whole-process-of-having-to-put-the-thing-into-the-world-seems-so/) [Nick Laird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-laird/) > [New York is great for writers insofar as you can pay someone to bring you food, to take your washing out and bring it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-laird/new-york-is-great-for-writers-insofar-as-you-can-pay-someone-to-bring/) [Nick Laird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-laird/) [Explore all 37 Nick Laird quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-laird/) ## More Character quotes > [This may sound strange, but although I feel like I know everything about my characters, the brand of shampoo they use, how many cavities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-honeyman/this-may-sound-strange-but-although-i-feel-like-i-know-everything/) [Gail Honeyman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-honeyman/) > [I always like a character who makes me laugh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachael-stirling/i-always-like-a-character-who-makes-me-laugh/) [Rachael Stirling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachael-stirling/) > [Social responsibility above the level of family, or at most of tribe, requires imagination-- devotion, loyalty, all the higher virtues -- which a man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/social-responsibility-above-the-level-of-family-or-at-most-of-tribe/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [I'm often moved by the circumstances around some of my characters, but I don't think I've actually cried watching myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-winslet/i-m-often-moved-by-the-circumstances-around-some-of-my-characters-but/) [Kate Winslet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-winslet/) > [When you're on a daytime drama you get one page, you better damn well know your character. You better know what she would do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hudgins/when-you-re-on-a-daytime-drama-you-get-one-page-you-better-damn-well/) [David Hudgins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hudgins/) > [It can sometimes make people fold into themselves and kind of run away, but I think in this case these characters are being forced…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-deschanel/it-can-sometimes-make-people-fold-into-themselves-and-kind-of-run/) [Emily Deschanel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-deschanel/) > [If you are well-mannered towards those whose views are similar to yours, you may be said to exhibit a fairly good character. But, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-you-are-well-mannered-towards-those-whose-views-are-similar-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Democracy is based on the conviction that man has the moral and intellectual capacity, as well as the inalienable right, to govern himself with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-s-truman/democracy-is-based-on-the-conviction-that-man-has-the-moral-and/) [Harry S. Truman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-s-truman/) > [In the fight between biology and morality, biology has commonly won in the end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/semir-zeki/in-the-fight-between-biology-and-morality-biology-has-commonly-won-in/) [Semir Zeki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/semir-zeki/) > [Your looks don't make you pretty, it's the person inside who makes you pretty!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-chan/your-looks-don-t-make-you-pretty-it-s-the-person-inside-who-makes-you/) [Aaron Chan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-chan/) > [I'm not a huge social media kind of guy, so I don't really know, I don't really ever get... at least in real life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freddie-stroma/i-m-not-a-huge-social-media-kind-of-guy-so-i-don-t-really-know-i-don/) [Freddie Stroma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freddie-stroma/) > [If you stood me in a costume next to a computer graphic of the same-looking character, I think there would be a difference. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warwick-davis/if-you-stood-me-in-a-costume-next-to-a-computer-graphic-of-the-same/) [Warwick Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warwick-davis/) > [Courage: the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can't practice any other virtue consistently](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/courage-the-most-important-of-all-the-virtues-because-without-courage/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [I'm a character actor - always have been, always will be - and historically, character actors don't come into their own until later in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-potts/i-m-a-character-actor-always-have-been-always-will-be-and/) [Annie Potts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-potts/) [Browse all 32,707 Character quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Writing fiction, for me, is a more indirect form of self-exploration than writing verse. When I'm working on a novel I'm moving characters around and I'm thinking about plot and there's a lot of other things going on at the level of structure and story. With a poem, a single idea or line or emotion can sometimes be enough - there's often a sense, in the best poems, of capturing a single instant. Perhaps poems differ from prose in the degree of solace they can offer - by speaking so personally, so directly, about shared experience. 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