--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: One good reason for writing novels based…" description: "\"One good reason for writing novels based on your life is that you have something to read in old age when you've forgotten what happened.\" — Nina Bawden" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4be/nina-bawden-20102_age_one-good-reason-for-writing-novels-based_1823595.png" --- # One good reason for writing novels based on your life is… ![“One good reason for writing novels based on your life is that you have something to read in old age when you've forgotten what happened.” quote by Nina Bawden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4be/nina-bawden-20102_age_one-good-reason-for-writing-novels-based_1823595.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4be/nina-bawden-20102_age_one-good-reason-for-writing-novels-based_1823595.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4be/nina-bawden-20102_age_one-good-reason-for-writing-novels-based_1823595.png) > “One good reason for writing novels based on your life is that you have something to read in old age when you've forgotten what happened.” [Nina Bawden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-bawden/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writing from life preserves memories for future reflection when recollection fades. **In simple terms:** Life stories become books for later. Key Takeaway Write now to remember later. Themes memory legacy writing Mood reflective melancholic Type personal inspirational When to use this quote - journaling - memoir writing - family storytelling Key Concepts autobiography nostalgia self‑reflection Questions to Reflect On - What moments do you fear forgetting? - How might you balance truth and narrative? A Different Perspective Personal bias may distort recollections. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Age](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/age/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Forgotten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forgotten/) [Happened](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happened/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life is](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-is/) [Novel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novel/) [Novels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novels/) [Novels Based](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novels-based-2214205/) [Old age](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/old-age/) [Read Old](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/read-old-751184/) [Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Writing Novels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-novels/) ## Related quotes > [“The whole world's writing novels, but nobody's reading them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-galbraith/the-whole-world-s-writing-novels-but-nobody-s-reading-them/) [Robert Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-galbraith/) > [I won't read novels while writing novels.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wally-lamb/i-won-t-read-novels-while-writing-novels/) [Wally Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wally-lamb/) > [When I am writing novels I don't read a lot of novels so I try to catch up in-between.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/when-i-am-writing-novels-i-don-t-read-a-lot-of-novels-so-i-try-to/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [I strongly believe that the art of the novel works best when the writer identifies with whoever he or she is writing about. Novels…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orhan-pamuk/i-strongly-believe-that-the-art-of-the-novel-works-best-when-the/) [Orhan Pamuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orhan-pamuk/) > [I believe there are two ways of writing novels. One is mine, making a sort of musical comedy without music and ignoring real life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-g-wodehouse-2/i-believe-there-are-two-ways-of-writing-novels-one-is-mine-making-a/) [P. G. Wodehouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-g-wodehouse-2/) > [I looked at the world of books and just went, Oh my gosh, if I'm writing novels, I'm on the same shelves as Jane…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/i-looked-at-the-world-of-books-and-just-went-oh-my-gosh-if-i-m/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [I'd probably still be a financial journalist now if it weren't for writing novels. Mmm. Fun! I'm much happier writing novels!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-kinsella/i-d-probably-still-be-a-financial-journalist-now-if-it-weren-t-for/) [Sophie Kinsella](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-kinsella/) > [Freedom to tell any story I want, with all the imaginary tools of my trade, is why I love writing novels. I love taking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marjorie-liu/freedom-to-tell-any-story-i-want-with-all-the-imaginary-tools-of-my/) [Marjorie Liu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marjorie-liu/) > [I really enjoy writing novels. It's like the ocean. You can just build a boat and take off.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-johnson/i-really-enjoy-writing-novels-it-s-like-the-ocean-you-can-just-build/) [Denis Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-johnson/) > [I've got a particular way of writing novels, and that carries over into the way I write comics and games, too. I'm a news…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-traviss/i-ve-got-a-particular-way-of-writing-novels-and-that-carries-over/) [Karen Traviss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-traviss/) > [My first attraction to writing novels was the plot, that almost extinct animal. Those novels I read which made me want to be a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-irving/my-first-attraction-to-writing-novels-was-the-plot-that-almost/) [John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-irving/) > [“Tell her the Town told you to come read old dreams.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/tell-her-the-town-told-you-to-come-read-old-dreams/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [There are three things that grow more precious with age; old wood to burn, old books to read, and old friends to enjoy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ford/there-are-three-things-that-grow-more-precious-with-age-old-wood-to/) [Henry Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ford/) > [I doubt if I shall ever have time to read the book again -- there are too many new ones coming out all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-doubt-if-i-shall-ever-have-time-to-read-the-book-again-there-are/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Naturally, since I myself am a writer, I do not wish the ordinary reader to read no modern books. But if he must read…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/naturally-since-i-myself-am-a-writer-i-do-not-wish-the-ordinary/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Nina Bawden > [I like stirring the pot - I think it's part of my duty, to shake people up a bit - make them look at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-bawden/i-like-stirring-the-pot-i-think-it-s-part-of-my-duty-to-shake-people/) [Nina Bawden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-bawden/) > [All writers are liars. They twist events to suit themselves. They make use of their own tragedies to make a better story... They are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-bawden/all-writers-are-liars-they-twist-events-to-suit-themselves-they-make/) [Nina Bawden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-bawden/) > [I would hate to live in the country, unless I was living on a farm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-bawden/i-would-hate-to-live-in-the-country-unless-i-was-living-on-a-farm/) [Nina Bawden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-bawden/) > [I met Richard Burton, an RAF cadet on a two-term course. I would have flirted more enthusiastically if it had not been for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-bawden/i-met-richard-burton-an-raf-cadet-on-a-two-term-course-i-would-have/) [Nina Bawden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-bawden/) > [I was born in a small suburb of Ilford in a rather nasty housing estate that my mother despised. 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That's why I occasionally moralise in my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-bawden/life-isn-t-so-complicated-for-children-they-have-more-time-to-think/) [Nina Bawden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-bawden/) > [I've never found it made the slightest difference being a woman - though there is a sort of feeling that as you get older…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-bawden/i-ve-never-found-it-made-the-slightest-difference-being-a-woman/) [Nina Bawden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-bawden/) > [All writers are thieves; theft is a necessary tool of the trade.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-bawden/all-writers-are-thieves-theft-is-a-necessary-tool-of-the-trade/) [Nina Bawden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-bawden/) > [I am not a victim. I am an angry survivor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-bawden/i-am-not-a-victim-i-am-an-angry-survivor/) [Nina Bawden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-bawden/) > [People who don't read seem to me mysterious. I don't know how they think or learn about other people. Novels are a very important…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-bawden/people-who-don-t-read-seem-to-me-mysterious-i-don-t-know-how-they/) [Nina Bawden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-bawden/) > [Adults get more confused by social worker jargon. Unlike children, they are also less likely to see two sides of an argument, and they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-bawden/adults-get-more-confused-by-social-worker-jargon-unlike-children-they/) [Nina Bawden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-bawden/) > [I wanted to be a war reporter - scrabbling around, exposing things. I didn't want to go to university, I wanted to get a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-bawden/i-wanted-to-be-a-war-reporter-scrabbling-around-exposing-things-i/) [Nina Bawden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-bawden/) > [Children often have a much stronger concept of morality than adults.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-bawden/children-often-have-a-much-stronger-concept-of-morality-than-adults/) [Nina Bawden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-bawden/) > [I dislike the word 'victim.' I dislike being told that I 'lost' my husband - as if I had idly abandoned you by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-bawden/i-dislike-the-word-victim-i-dislike-being-told-that-i-lost-my-husband/) [Nina Bawden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-bawden/) > [I was cleaning out the pigsty at a farm in Wales, where my mother had rented a room, when the results of my final…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-bawden/i-was-cleaning-out-the-pigsty-at-a-farm-in-wales-where-my-mother-had/) [Nina Bawden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-bawden/) [Explore all 31 Nina Bawden quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-bawden/) ## More Age quotes > [I need a bath." He chuckled. "You smell of smoke, as do I." The duke turned, leaning heavily on his cane. "Jameson, open the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-hawkins/i-need-a-bath-he-chuckled-you-smell-of-smoke-as-do-i-the-duke-turned/) [Karen Hawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-hawkins/) > [While we've youth in our hearts, we can never grow old.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/while-we-ve-youth-in-our-hearts-we-can-never-grow-old/) [Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/) > [It's easier to change a law than an age-old mentality. Deep down, many prejudices, many hostilities, many fears persist. But if we take a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dacia-maraini/it-s-easier-to-change-a-law-than-an-age-old-mentality-deep-down-many/) [Dacia Maraini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dacia-maraini/) > [When I first started writing, when I was 15, I would go to work with people and they would tell me my lyrics were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sabrina-claudio/when-i-first-started-writing-when-i-was-15-i-would-go-to-work-with/) [Sabrina Claudio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sabrina-claudio/) > [Real people speak in my books about the main events of the age, such as the war, the Chernobyl disaster, and the downfall of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/svetlana-alexievich/real-people-speak-in-my-books-about-the-main-events-of-the-age-such/) [Svetlana Alexievich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/svetlana-alexievich/) > [As a child I was very involved with sports and I knew at age 9 that I wanted to be an Olympic champion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marion-jones/as-a-child-i-was-very-involved-with-sports-and-i-knew-at-age-9-that-i/) [Marion Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marion-jones/) > [If there is any period one would desire to be born in, is it not the age of Revolution; when the old and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-there-is-any-period-one-would-desire-to-be-born-in-is-it-not-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [By making conscious choices in our behavior and where we focus our attention, we can transform our experience of our body, decrease our biological…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/by-making-conscious-choices-in-our-behavior-and-where-we-focus-our/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [I am just enjoying the dream of being Milan coach at the age of 40.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gennaro-gattuso/i-am-just-enjoying-the-dream-of-being-milan-coach-at-the-age-of-40/) [Gennaro Gattuso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gennaro-gattuso/) > [Age is an accumulation of life and loss. Adulthood is a series of lines crossed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-goodman/age-is-an-accumulation-of-life-and-loss-adulthood-is-a-series-of/) [Ellen Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-goodman/) > [I calculated that if I live up to the age of 80, then I end up using 450 toothbrushes in my life. All that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dia-mirza/i-calculated-that-if-i-live-up-to-the-age-of-80-then-i-end-up-using/) [Dia Mirza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dia-mirza/) > [Why is wisdom so fair? Why is beauty so wise? 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That was a hard work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-kaulitz/we-have-started-to-make-music-at-age-seven-that-was-a-hard-work/) [Bill Kaulitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-kaulitz/) [Browse all 18,948 Age quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/age/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "One good reason for writing novels based on your life is that you have something to read in old age when you've forgotten what happened.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Nina Bawden" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-bawden/one-good-reason-for-writing-novels-based-on-your-life-is-that-you/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Age" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-bawden/one-good-reason-for-writing-novels-based-on-your-life-is-that-you/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4be/nina-bawden-20102_age_one-good-reason-for-writing-novels-based_1823595.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4be/nina-bawden-20102_age_one-good-reason-for-writing-novels-based_1823595.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4be/nina-bawden-20102_age_one-good-reason-for-writing-novels-based_1823595.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“One good reason for writing novels based on your life is that you have something to read in old age when…” — Nina Bawden", "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": "Nina Bawden", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-bawden/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "One good reason for writing novels...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-bawden/one-good-reason-for-writing-novels-based-on-your-life-is-that-you/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-bawden/one-good-reason-for-writing-novels-based-on-your-life-is-that-you/#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 } } ] } ```