--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I find it only natural for a storyteller…" description: "\"I find it only natural for a storyteller to be interested in storytelling and, for anyone who spends the better part of his or her life writing fiction..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/26f/norman-lock-21222_fiction_i-find-it-only-natural-for-a-storyteller_80106.jpg" --- # I find it only natural for a storyteller to be interested… ![“I find it only natural for a storyteller to be interested in storytelling and, for anyone who spends the better part of his or her life writing fiction, it is hardly surprising that the pleasures, worries, and mechanics of fiction-making should enter the work.” quote by Norman Lock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/26f/norman-lock-21222_fiction_i-find-it-only-natural-for-a-storyteller_80106.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/26f/norman-lock-21222_fiction_i-find-it-only-natural-for-a-storyteller_80106.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/26f/norman-lock-21222_fiction_i-find-it-only-natural-for-a-storyteller_80106.jpg) > “I find it only natural for a storyteller to be interested in storytelling and, for anyone who spends the better part of his or her life writing fiction, it is hardly surprising that the pleasures, worries, and mechanics of fiction-making should enter the work.” [Norman Lock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-lock/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The author argues that a writer's deep immersion in fiction naturally influences their broader work, as their preoccupations with narrative shape their perspective. **In simple terms:** Fiction writers carry storytelling instincts into all their output. Key Takeaway Creative work reflects the writer's narrative mindset. Themes creativity narrative identity craft metacognition Mood reflective introspective Type observation insight When to use this quote - writing fiction - teaching literature - editing manuscripts - authoring essays Key Concepts storytelling fiction authorial perspective Practical Applications - developing narrative-driven content - enhancing storytelling in non-fiction Questions to Reflect On - How does a writer's fiction experience shape their other projects? - What benefits arise from integrating storytelling into varied domains? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) [Mechanic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mechanic/) [Pleasure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pleasure/) [Storyteller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/storyteller/) [Storytelling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/storytelling/) [Worry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/worry/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Writing fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-fiction/) ## Related quotes > [Whether or not you're writing fiction or you're making sculptures. You're trying to create a space. You're trying to make something where your own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denison-witmer/whether-or-not-you-re-writing-fiction-or-you-re-making-sculptures-you/) [Denison Witmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denison-witmer/) > [I'm not a natural storyteller at all. If anything, I'm a natural interviewer, a natural listener, but I'm not a natural storyteller.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ira-glass/i-m-not-a-natural-storyteller-at-all-if-anything-i-m-a-natural/) [Ira Glass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ira-glass/) > [The traditional route to success in science fiction is by making a name for yourself in short fiction, so people who read science fiction…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-j-sawyer/the-traditional-route-to-success-in-science-fiction-is-by-making-a/) [Robert J. Sawyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-j-sawyer/) > [“There was part of me listening that didn't think what I said was fiction. I was making up a true story.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-bach/there-was-part-of-me-listening-that-didn-t-think-what-i-said-was/) [Richard Bach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-bach/) > [I was just about to begin writing 'Mirror Mirror', within about a week of it, when September 11, 2001 happened. I found myself incapable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-maguire/i-was-just-about-to-begin-writing-mirror-mirror-within-about-a-week/) [Gregory Maguire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-maguire/) > [I also thought of playing improvisational jazz and I did take lessons for a while. At first I tried to write fiction by making…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-tan/i-also-thought-of-playing-improvisational-jazz-and-i-did-take-lessons/) [Amy Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-tan/) > [I profoundly believe in - and teach - the proposition that photography is inherently a fiction-making process. Don't speak to me of the document;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tod-papageorge/i-profoundly-believe-in-and-teach-the-proposition-that-photography-is/) [Tod Papageorge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tod-papageorge/) > [I was always very interested in the storytelling decisions that went into directing. It just held this real allure for me. You know, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-savage/i-was-always-very-interested-in-the-storytelling-decisions-that-went/) [Fred Savage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-savage/) > [I'm always interested in storytelling and whatever form that comes in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-numrich/i-m-always-interested-in-storytelling-and-whatever-form-that-comes-in/) [Seth Numrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-numrich/) > [I'm very interested in storytelling and anything that plays with structure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-bourne/i-m-very-interested-in-storytelling-and-anything-that-plays-with/) [Matthew Bourne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-bourne/) > [You imagine a reader and try to keep the reader interested. That's storytelling. You also hope to reward the reader with a sense of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/you-imagine-a-reader-and-try-to-keep-the-reader-interested-that-s/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [I get some flak for and some resistance from colleagues for because I'm interested in storytelling. I mean what I like about songwriting is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-sondheim/i-get-some-flak-for-and-some-resistance-from-colleagues-for-because-i/) [Stephen Sondheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-sondheim/) > [I'm interested in storytelling. I love being an artist now and connecting through art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-kidman/i-m-interested-in-storytelling-i-love-being-an-artist-now-and/) [Nicole Kidman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-kidman/) > [I was always interested in storytelling, particularly in theater and film. I liked creative things. My mom and dad are wonderful people, but both…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-platt/i-was-always-interested-in-storytelling-particularly-in-theater-and/) [Marc Platt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-platt/) > [I am really interested in storytelling in general - nothing is off-limits!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brianna-hildebrand/i-am-really-interested-in-storytelling-in-general-nothing-is-off/) [Brianna Hildebrand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brianna-hildebrand/) ## More by Norman Lock > [I admitted that I did not understand life. What I meant was that I am bewildered by human hearts and motivations, including my own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-lock/i-admitted-that-i-did-not-understand-life-what-i-meant-was-that-i-am/) [Norman Lock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-lock/) > [I had hoped to be a poet, and for a long time I tried to write poetry. My first published pieces were poems.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-lock/i-had-hoped-to-be-a-poet-and-for-a-long-time-i-tried-to-write-poetry/) [Norman Lock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-lock/) > [Each piece of writing I undertake, whether a story, novel, play, or poem, begins with an image.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-lock/each-piece-of-writing-i-undertake-whether-a-story-novel-play-or-poem/) [Norman Lock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-lock/) > [I very much like the idea of the unreliable narrator. Shaping my fictions as monologues - by introducing the "I" - allows me to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-lock/i-very-much-like-the-idea-of-the-unreliable-narrator-shaping-my/) [Norman Lock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-lock/) > [I do seem to favor a deathbed confession as the occasion for my dramatic monologues.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-lock/i-do-seem-to-favor-a-deathbed-confession-as-the-occasion-for-my/) [Norman Lock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-lock/) > [I do believe we are actors in our own dramas, which, moment by moment, we ourselves write; that we are characters in our own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-lock/i-do-believe-we-are-actors-in-our-own-dramas-which-moment-by-moment/) [Norman Lock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-lock/) > [The critique of social inequality, which is very much a part of my story, came about naturally from my recollection of Huck and Tom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-lock/the-critique-of-social-inequality-which-is-very-much-a-part-of-my/) [Norman Lock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-lock/) > [Theatre aside, my penchant for the extended monologue began with my reading of Browning's dramatic monologues, in high school. My inclination to adopt the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-lock/theatre-aside-my-penchant-for-the-extended-monologue-began-with-my/) [Norman Lock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-lock/) > [In nearly everything I write, I am like a ventriloquist, throwing my voice into my characters, animating them by the slightest twitch as I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-lock/in-nearly-everything-i-write-i-am-like-a-ventriloquist-throwing-my/) [Norman Lock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-lock/) > [It may be old hat, but I see no reason to close off what is for me a fruitful subject of inquiry, especially so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-lock/it-may-be-old-hat-but-i-see-no-reason-to-close-off-what-is-for-me-a/) [Norman Lock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-lock/) > [Emotional, physical, and spiritual estrangement and ontological and religious doubt inform my personality, my thoughts, and my characters, which are, more often than not,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-lock/emotional-physical-and-spiritual-estrangement-and-ontological-and/) [Norman Lock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-lock/) > [Many of my short fictions use theatre as a metaphor for situations in which characters find themselves estranged from the larger, uncontrollable world that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-lock/many-of-my-short-fictions-use-theatre-as-a-metaphor-for-situations-in/) [Norman Lock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-lock/) > [I used to teach writing in a federal prison, and for my students' benefit, I would liken the narrative use of this highly personal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-lock/i-used-to-teach-writing-in-a-federal-prison-and-for-my-students/) [Norman Lock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-lock/) > [I haven't the stature to critique one of our literature's great novels, Tobias; and I'm not one of those who believe The Adventures of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-lock/i-haven-t-the-stature-to-critique-one-of-our-literature-s-great/) [Norman Lock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-lock/) > [Eventually, I came to believe, stupidly, that I had exhausted that story's "original" form with its single use. I went on to other stories,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-lock/eventually-i-came-to-believe-stupidly-that-i-had-exhausted-that-story/) [Norman Lock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-lock/) [Explore all 29 Norman Lock quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-lock/) ## More Fiction quotes > [“…progress isn't necessarily about change but about things turning out as we want them to”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-hogan/progress-isn-t-necessarily-about-change-but-about-things-turning-out/) Phil Hogan > [The thing about science fiction is that it's totally wide open. But it's wide open in a conditional way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavia-butler/the-thing-about-science-fiction-is-that-it-s-totally-wide-open-but-it/) [Octavia Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavia-butler/) > [I do think that theater is a great venue for science fiction, and not just adaptations but also original work. I also think some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-einhorn/i-do-think-that-theater-is-a-great-venue-for-science-fiction-and-not/) Edward Einhorn > [Fiction is a way of exploring possibilities present but undreamt of in the living of a single life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/fiction-is-a-way-of-exploring-possibilities-present-but-undreamt-of/) [Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) > [I love writing fiction and can do it anywhere - I once even missed a flight because I was so engrossed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/prue-leith/i-love-writing-fiction-and-can-do-it-anywhere-i-once-even-missed-a/) [Prue Leith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/prue-leith/) > [“The fiction will seek the real.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/coheed-and-cambria/the-fiction-will-seek-the-real/) Coheed and Cambria > [I think that most of us, anyway, read these stories that we know are not "true" because we're hungry for another kind of truth:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/i-think-that-most-of-us-anyway-read-these-stories-that-we-know-are/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [The danger that may really threaten (crime fiction) is that soon there will be more writers than readers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-barzun/the-danger-that-may-really-threaten-crime-fiction-is-that-soon-there/) [Jacques Barzun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-barzun/) > [There's always that discussion about fiction about how do you market it - these are books for boys, these are books for girls, these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-a-weatherly/there-s-always-that-discussion-about-fiction-about-how-do-you-market/) [L.A. Weatherly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-a-weatherly/) > [Inspiration comes from so many sources. Music, other fiction, the non-fiction I read, TV shows, films, news reports, people I know, stories I hear,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trudi-canavan/inspiration-comes-from-so-many-sources-music-other-fiction-the-non/) [Trudi Canavan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trudi-canavan/) > [I'm not interested in making a diagnostic novel or a concern. I'm 100 percent committed in fiction to the pleasure principle - that's what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/i-m-not-interested-in-making-a-diagnostic-novel-or-a-concern-i-m-100/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) > [“His hands on my waist he gently pulled me n embrace. I could feel his breath on my face our lips were about to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-eglinger/his-hands-on-my-waist-he-gently-pulled-me-n-embrace-i-could-feel-his/) [Nicole Eglinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-eglinger/) > [In early drafts, one of the trickiest things for me to do was to realize that the techniques and devices that make readable and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-rooney/in-early-drafts-one-of-the-trickiest-things-for-me-to-do-was-to/) [Kathleen Rooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-rooney/) > [I don't think it's always a sign of respect for persons (inside or outside of fiction) to pretend to be able to represent, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-lerner/i-don-t-think-it-s-always-a-sign-of-respect-for-persons-inside-or/) [Ben Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-lerner/) > [Metafiction says something. It has to do with taking a large fiction itself and writing within it; that kind of self-reflecting writing that emerges…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-coover/metafiction-says-something-it-has-to-do-with-taking-a-large-fiction/) [Robert Coover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-coover/) [Browse all 7,410 Fiction quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I find it only natural for a storyteller to be interested in storytelling and, for anyone who spends the better part of his or her life writing fiction, it is hardly surprising that the pleasures, worries, and mechanics of fiction-making should enter the work.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Norman Lock" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-lock/i-find-it-only-natural-for-a-storyteller-to-be-interested-in/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Fiction" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-lock/i-find-it-only-natural-for-a-storyteller-to-be-interested-in/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/26f/norman-lock-21222_fiction_i-find-it-only-natural-for-a-storyteller_80106.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/26f/norman-lock-21222_fiction_i-find-it-only-natural-for-a-storyteller_80106.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/26f/norman-lock-21222_fiction_i-find-it-only-natural-for-a-storyteller_80106.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I find it only natural for a storyteller to be interested in storytelling and, for anyone who spends the…” — Norman Lock", "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": "Norman Lock", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-lock/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I find it only natural for...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-lock/i-find-it-only-natural-for-a-storyteller-to-be-interested-in/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-lock/i-find-it-only-natural-for-a-storyteller-to-be-interested-in/#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 } } ] } ```