--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When my sons asked the reason for my…" description: "\"“When my sons asked the reason for my trip, I said that I needed to conduct research for my book. What is it about? the younger one asked. He was const..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/574/nicole-krauss-920_books_when-my-sons-asked-the-reason-for-my-tri_494133.png" --- # When my sons asked the reason for my trip, I said that I… ![“When my sons asked the reason for my trip, I said that I needed to conduct research for my book. What is it about? the younger one asked. He was constantly writing stories, as many as three a day, and would not have been troubled by such a question concerning his own writing. For a long time he’d…” quote by Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/574/nicole-krauss-920_books_when-my-sons-asked-the-reason-for-my-tri_494133.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/574/nicole-krauss-920_books_when-my-sons-asked-the-reason-for-my-tri_494133.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/574/nicole-krauss-920_books_when-my-sons-asked-the-reason-for-my-tri_494133.png) > ““When my sons asked the reason for my trip, I said that I needed to conduct research for my book. What is it about? the younger one asked. He was constantly writing stories, as many as three a day, and would not have been troubled by such a question concerning his own writing. For a long time he’d spelled the words as he thought they might be spelled, without any spaces between them, which, like the Torah’s unbroken string of letters, opened his writing to infinite interpretations. He had only begun to ask us how things were spelled once he’d started to use the electric typewriter he was given for his birthday, as if it were the machine that had demanded it of him—the machine, with its air of professionalism and the reproach of its giant space bar, that required that what was written on it be understood. But my son himself remained ambivalent about the matter. When he wrote by hand, he returned to his old habits.”” [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A child’s evolving writing habits reflect the tension between creative freedom and the desire for clarity and acceptance. **In simple terms:** Writing style shifts with tools and expectations. Key Takeaway Embrace both spontaneity and structure. Themes creativity language growth identity Mood contemplative inquisitive nostalgic Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - education - creative writing workshops - personal journaling - digital vs analog tools Key Concepts writing process technology impact literary development Questions to Reflect On - How does technology shape your expression? - When do you prefer freeform over formal writing? A Different Perspective Over‑structuring can stifle imagination. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Concerning Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/concerning-writing-4222302/) [Like Torah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-torah-4222303/) [Long time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long-time/) [Old habits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/old-habits/) [Opened Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/opened-writing-4222301/) [Typewriter Given](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/typewriter-given-4222300/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Writing Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-long/) [Writing stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-stories/) ## Related quotes > [Confucius is like the Torah, rules to follow. 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It just seemed easier to keep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-hawthorne-deming/i-like-to-joke-that-i-started-writing-long-poems-out-the-anxiety-over/) [Alison Hawthorne Deming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-hawthorne-deming/) > [Writing a long and substantial book is like having a friend and companion at your side, to whom you can always turn for comfort…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/writing-a-long-and-substantial-book-is-like-having-a-friend-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Writing a long essay is probably the most complex constructive act that most human beings areever expected to perform.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-bereiter/writing-a-long-essay-is-probably-the-most-complex-constructive-act/) [Carl Bereiter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-bereiter/) > [I'll probably be writing as long as I'm breathing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kris-kristofferson/i-ll-probably-be-writing-as-long-as-i-m-breathing/) [Kris Kristofferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kris-kristofferson/) ## More by Nicole Krauss > [“Narrative cannot sustain formlessness any more than light can sustain darkness - it is the antithesis of formlessness, and so it can never truly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/narrative-cannot-sustain-formlessness-any-more-than-light-can-sustain/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [I think of novels as houses. 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Come here." I took a few steps into the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/mom-i-said-she-turned-can-i-talk-to-you-about-something-of-course/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [In one's youth, one has tremendous access to one's feelings. And as one gets older, some of those feelings kind of drift away. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/in-one-s-youth-one-has-tremendous-access-to-one-s-feelings-and-as-one/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [Obviously I've been reading Kafka for a long long time, since I was really young, and even before I ever read him I knew…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/obviously-i-ve-been-reading-kafka-for-a-long-long-time-since-i-was/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [“She's kept her love for him as alive as the summer they first met. In order to do this, she's turned life away. 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Some fine day you'll die of a misprint.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-herz/be-careful-about-reading-health-books-some-fine-day-you-ll-die-of-a/) [Markus Herz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/markus-herz/) > [But editors are still the world's readers. And thus the eyes of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/but-editors-are-still-the-world-s-readers-and-thus-the-eyes-of-the/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) [Browse all 59,485 Books quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“When my sons asked the reason for my trip, I said that I needed to conduct research for my book. What is it about? the younger one asked. He was constantly writing stories, as many as three a day, and would not have been troubled by such a question concerning his own writing. For a long time he’d spelled the words as he thought they might be spelled, without any spaces between them, which, like the Torah’s unbroken string of letters, opened his writing to infinite interpretations. He had only begun to ask us how things were spelled once he’d started to use the electric typewriter he was given for his birthday, as if it were the machine that had demanded it of him—the machine, with its air of professionalism and the reproach of its giant space bar, that required that what was written on it be understood. But my son himself remained ambivalent about the matter. 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