--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The only way to be a novelist, to think…" description: "\"The only way to be a novelist, to think that you can create something others will give themselves up to for a dozen hours or more, is to have psychotic..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb5/nicola-griffith-21745_create_the-only-way-to-be-a-novelist-to-think-t_2634250.jpg" --- # The only way to be a novelist, to think that you can… ![“The only way to be a novelist, to think that you can create something others will give themselves up to for a dozen hours or more, is to have psychotic self-belief.” quote by Nicola Griffith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb5/nicola-griffith-21745_create_the-only-way-to-be-a-novelist-to-think-t_2634250.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb5/nicola-griffith-21745_create_the-only-way-to-be-a-novelist-to-think-t_2634250.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb5/nicola-griffith-21745_create_the-only-way-to-be-a-novelist-to-think-t_2634250.jpg) > “The only way to be a novelist, to think that you can create something others will give themselves up to for a dozen hours or more, is to have psychotic self-belief.” [Nicola Griffith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicola-griffith/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Becoming a novelist requires extreme self‑belief, bordering on madness, to convince readers to invest many hours in your work. **In simple terms:** Novelists need crazy confidence to engage readers. Key Takeaway Cultivate strong self‑belief to pursue writing. Themes writing confidence commitment Mood motivational reflective Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - novel writing - creative projects - long‑form storytelling Key Concepts self‑belief authorial risk Questions to Reflect On - What fuels your belief in a story? - How do you test reader engagement? A Different Perspective Overconfidence may lead to ignoring audience feedback. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Creativity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creativity/) [Novelist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novelist/) [Self belief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-belief/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [Let's put it this way: if you are a novelist, I think you start out with a 20 word idea, and you work at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-carle/let-s-put-it-this-way-if-you-are-a-novelist-i-think-you-start-out/) [Eric Carle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-carle/) > [I'm a novelist. I think fiction is important or I wouldn't be doing it, but most of it's bad.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-peck/i-m-a-novelist-i-think-fiction-is-important-or-i-wouldn-t-be-doing-it/) [Dale Peck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-peck/) > [I don't think I knew that you could be a novelist. 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They set traps, asking you to do things,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-greene/let-me-spell-it-out-with-the-psychotic-boss-nothing-you-do-is-ever/) [Robert Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-greene/) > [Love is psychotic infatuation x10](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fade-wane/love-is-psychotic-infatuation-x10/) Fade Wane ## More by Nicola Griffith > [“She liked time at the edges of things -- the edge of the crowd, the edge of the pool, the edge of the wood…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicola-griffith/she-liked-time-at-the-edges-of-things-the-edge-of-the-crowd-the-edge/) [Nicola Griffith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicola-griffith/) > [“Hwl’s thumping began to slow as her cream turned to butter.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicola-griffith/hwl-s-thumping-began-to-slow-as-her-cream-turned-to-butter/) [Nicola Griffith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicola-griffith/) > [“Hild fetched a lump of grey salt for Mildburh and mortar and pestle to crush it in. She loved the gritty crunch and thump…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicola-griffith/hild-fetched-a-lump-of-grey-salt-for-mildburh-and-mortar-and-pestle/) [Nicola Griffith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicola-griffith/) > [I'm tired of being considered a lesbian writer, tired of being a science-fiction writer, tired of being a thriller writer. I'm a writer. Period.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicola-griffith/i-m-tired-of-being-considered-a-lesbian-writer-tired-of-being-a/) [Nicola Griffith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicola-griffith/) > [Everyone has this notion of the Middle Ages - certainly the early Middle Ages - as being this very superstitious era. I think that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicola-griffith/everyone-has-this-notion-of-the-middle-ages-certainly-the-early/) [Nicola Griffith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicola-griffith/) > [There are days when I should be writing, and I am so tired that I can't. 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If you can dream it, you can become it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-arthur-ward/if-you-can-imagine-it-you-can-create-it-if-you-can-dream-it-you-can/) [William Arthur Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-arthur-ward/) > [For a long time at Blackburn and at Fulham last season, I was playing on the right wing. I've never seen myself as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-cairney/for-a-long-time-at-blackburn-and-at-fulham-last-season-i-was-playing/) [Tom Cairney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-cairney/) > [We've got to get back to a country that can get things done. And my whole career has been marching and charging at and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cory-booker/we-ve-got-to-get-back-to-a-country-that-can-get-things-done-and-my/) [Cory Booker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cory-booker/) Browse all 5,654 Create quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The only way to be a novelist, to think that you can create something others will give themselves up to for a dozen hours or more, is to have psychotic self-belief.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Nicola Griffith" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicola-griffith/the-only-way-to-be-a-novelist-to-think-that-you-can-create-something/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Create" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicola-griffith/the-only-way-to-be-a-novelist-to-think-that-you-can-create-something/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb5/nicola-griffith-21745_create_the-only-way-to-be-a-novelist-to-think-t_2634250.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb5/nicola-griffith-21745_create_the-only-way-to-be-a-novelist-to-think-t_2634250.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb5/nicola-griffith-21745_create_the-only-way-to-be-a-novelist-to-think-t_2634250.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The only way to be a novelist, to think that you can create something others will give themselves up to for…” — Nicola Griffith", "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": "Nicola Griffith", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicola-griffith/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The only way to be a...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicola-griffith/the-only-way-to-be-a-novelist-to-think-that-you-can-create-something/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicola-griffith/the-only-way-to-be-a-novelist-to-think-that-you-can-create-something/#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 } } ] } ```