--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Writing for a newspaper is like running a…" description: "\"Writing for a newspaper is like running a revolutionary war. You go to battle not when you are ready, but when action offers itself.\" — Norman Mailer" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/785/norman-mailer-839_action_writing-for-a-newspaper-is-like-running_31204.png" --- # Writing for a newspaper is like running a revolutionary… ![“Writing for a newspaper is like running a revolutionary war. You go to battle not when you are ready, but when action offers itself.” quote by Norman Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/785/norman-mailer-839_action_writing-for-a-newspaper-is-like-running_31204.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/785/norman-mailer-839_action_writing-for-a-newspaper-is-like-running_31204.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/785/norman-mailer-839_action_writing-for-a-newspaper-is-like-running_31204.png) > “Writing for a newspaper is like running a revolutionary war. You go to battle not when you are ready, but when action offers itself.” [Norman Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-mailer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Journalism demands immediate engagement; writers must act when news arises, not when they feel prepared. **In simple terms:** News writing requires seizing the moment. Key Takeaway Act when opportunity presents. Themes journalism urgency courage imperfection action Mood determined energetic urgent Type maxaphor motivational When to use this quote - breaking news coverage - investigative reporting - live event commentary Key Concepts news cycles ethical dilemmas public discourse Practical Applications - timely article production - responsive editorial planning Questions to Reflect On - How does urgency shape journalistic integrity? - When should a journalist wait for preparation? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Action](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/action/) [Battle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/battle/) [Newspapers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/newspapers/) [Revolutionary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/revolutionary/) [Revolutionary war](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/revolutionary-war/) [Running](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/running/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [I don't think there's a difference between writing for a newspaper or magazine and doing a chapter in a book.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-bragg/i-don-t-think-there-s-a-difference-between-writing-for-a-newspaper-or/) [Rick Bragg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-bragg/) > [When you're a kid, you see your parents reading the newspaper and you're like, 'God, why are they reading the newspaper?' When you're young,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-durst/when-you-re-a-kid-you-see-your-parents-reading-the-newspaper-and-you/) [Fred Durst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-durst/) > [Revisiting the Revolutionary War is a bracing reminder that the fate of a continent, and the shape of the modern world, turned on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/revisiting-the-revolutionary-war-is-a-bracing-reminder-that-the-fate/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Rick Perry said America's revolutionary war was fought in the 16th century. When told it was actually the 18th century, Perry apologized and said,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conan-o-brien/rick-perry-said-america-s-revolutionary-war-was-fought-in-the-16th/) [Conan O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conan-o-brien/) > [ \[It was\] the poverty caused by the bad influence of the English bankers on the Parliament which has caused in the colonies hatred of… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/it-was-the-poverty-caused-by-the-bad-influence-of-the-english-bankers/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [Let us therefore rely on the goodness of the cause, and the aid of the supreme Being, in whose hands victory is, to animate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-washington/let-us-therefore-rely-on-the-goodness-of-the-cause-and-the-aid-of-the/) [George Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-washington/) > [It is only in revolutionary struggle against the capitalists of every country, and only in union with the working women and men of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-kollontai/it-is-only-in-revolutionary-struggle-against-the-capitalists-of-every/) Alexandra Kollontai > [Reading is learning, but applying is also learning and the more important kind of learning at that. 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Occasionally you will see the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garrison-keillor/the-relationship-between-truth-and-a-newspaper-is-like-the/) [Garrison Keillor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garrison-keillor/) > [Trying to be a first-rate reporter on the average American newspaper is like trying to play Bach's St Matthew Passion on a ukulele: The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-bagdikian/trying-to-be-a-first-rate-reporter-on-the-average-american-newspaper/) [Ben Bagdikian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-bagdikian/) > [Anyone anywhere - as long as you live in a country that does not censor the Internet - can now read this newspaper. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-boot/anyone-anywhere-as-long-as-you-live-in-a-country-that-does-not-censor/) [Max Boot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-boot/) > [Reading someone else's newspaper is like sleeping with someone else's wife. Nothing seems to be precisely in the right place, and when you find…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-bradbury/reading-someone-else-s-newspaper-is-like-sleeping-with-someone-else-s/) [Malcolm Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-bradbury/) > [A city with one newspaper... is like a man with one eye, and often the eye is glass.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-j-liebling/a-city-with-one-newspaper-is-like-a-man-with-one-eye-and-often-the/) [A. J. Liebling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-j-liebling/) ## More by Norman Mailer > [Conservatives are people who look at a tree and feel instinctively that it is more beautiful than anything they can name. But when it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-mailer/conservatives-are-people-who-look-at-a-tree-and-feel-instinctively/) [Norman Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-mailer/) > [There's a subterranean impetus towards pornography so powerful that half the business world is juiced by the sort of half sex that one finds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-mailer/there-s-a-subterranean-impetus-towards-pornography-so-powerful-that/) [Norman Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-mailer/) > [So the blind will lead the blind, and the deaf shout warnings to one another until their voices are lost.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-mailer/so-the-blind-will-lead-the-blind-and-the-deaf-shout-warnings-to-one/) [Norman Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-mailer/) > [I would introduce myself if it were not useless. 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We were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-mailer/part-of-the-oncoming-demise-of-new-york-during-its-terrible-fiscal/) [Norman Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-mailer/) > [I have always had this very strong, call it a feeling, call it a prejudice, call it a conviction ... that the mysteries are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-mailer/i-have-always-had-this-very-strong-call-it-a-feeling-call-it-a/) [Norman Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-mailer/) > [I do believe that America's deepest political sickness is that it is a self-righteous nation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-mailer/i-do-believe-that-america-s-deepest-political-sickness-is-that-it-is/) [Norman Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-mailer/) > [America is a hurricane, and the only people who do not hear the sound are those fortunate if incredibly stupid and smug White Protestants…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-mailer/america-is-a-hurricane-and-the-only-people-who-do-not-hear-the-sound/) [Norman Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-mailer/) > [Armstrong, sitting in the commander's seat, spacesuit on, helmet on, plugged into electrical and environmental umbilical's, is a man who is not only a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-mailer/armstrong-sitting-in-the-commander-s-seat-spacesuit-on-helmet-on/) [Norman Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-mailer/) > [I was thinking that surgeons had to be the happiest people on earth. 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