--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When a day goes by and I haven't written…" description: "\"“When a day goes by and I haven't written anything, I better have been doing something worth writing about.”\" — P.S. Bartlett" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/007/p-s-bartlett-92208_books_when-a-day-goes-by-and-i-haven-t-written_13013.jpg" --- # When a day goes by and I haven't written anything, I… ![“When a day goes by and I haven't written anything, I better have been doing something worth writing about.” quote by P.S. Bartlett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/007/p-s-bartlett-92208_books_when-a-day-goes-by-and-i-haven-t-written_13013.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/007/p-s-bartlett-92208_books_when-a-day-goes-by-and-i-haven-t-written_13013.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/007/p-s-bartlett-92208_books_when-a-day-goes-by-and-i-haven-t-written_13013.jpg) > ““When a day goes by and I haven't written anything, I better have been doing something worth writing about.”” [P.S. Bartlett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-s-bartlett/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. If a day passes without writing, one should have done something worth writing about. **In simple terms:** Write by living meaningfully. Key Takeaway Seek experiences that inspire writing. Themes creativity productivity purpose writing inspiration Mood motivational introspective Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - journaling - creative projects - daily routines Key Concepts artistic discipline self‑reflection meaningful living Questions to Reflect On - What daily habits spark your creativity? - How do you define “worth writing”? A Different Perspective Not everyone can produce publishable work daily. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Better Doing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/better-doing-248726/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Haven Written](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/haven-written-372181/) [Worth Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/worth-writing-309885/) [Write](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/write/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Written Better](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/written-better-373141/) ## Related quotes > [I love to read poetry but I haven't written anything that I'm willing to show anybody.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-verghese/i-love-to-read-poetry-but-i-haven-t-written-anything-that-i-m-willing/) [Abraham Verghese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-verghese/) > [If you haven't written a novel by the time you're forty you never will!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-yates/if-you-haven-t-written-a-novel-by-the-time-you-re-forty-you-never-will/) [Richard Yates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-yates/) > [I haven't written anything in four years. I'm sort of dried up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thom-gunn/i-haven-t-written-anything-in-four-years-i-m-sort-of-dried-up/) [Thom Gunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thom-gunn/) > [Don't judge people by their cover. Most of their books haven't been written.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/uknown/don-t-judge-people-by-their-cover-most-of-their-books-haven-t-been/) [Uknown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/uknown/) > [I'm not a writer. I haven't written anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-stone/i-m-not-a-writer-i-haven-t-written-anything/) [Emma Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-stone/) > [If you haven't surprised yourself, you haven't written.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/if-you-haven-t-surprised-yourself-you-haven-t-written/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [“If there's a better book than this, I haven't written it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-colbert/if-there-s-a-better-book-than-this-i-haven-t-written-it/) [Stephen Colbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-colbert/) > [Write how you want, the critic shall show the world you could have written better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-goldsmith/write-how-you-want-the-critic-shall-show-the-world-you-could-have/) [Oliver Goldsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-goldsmith/) > [I can't really sit around and talk with people who believe that the Bible is the way it happened, because that's man-made. I'm a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-prine/i-can-t-really-sit-around-and-talk-with-people-who-believe-that-the/) [John Prine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-prine/) > [If I hadn't had my children, I wouldn't have written more and better, I would have written less and worse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-laurence/if-i-hadn-t-had-my-children-i-wouldn-t-have-written-more-and-better-i/) [Margaret Laurence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-laurence/) > [The books I haven't written are better than the books other people have.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/the-books-i-haven-t-written-are-better-than-the-books-other-people/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [I've never yet read a review of one of my own books that I couldn't have written much better myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/i-ve-never-yet-read-a-review-of-one-of-my-own-books-that-i-couldn-t/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [If writers were too wise, perhaps no books would get written at all. It might be better to ask yourself 'Why?”'afterwards than before There…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zora-neale-hurston/if-writers-were-too-wise-perhaps-no-books-would-get-written-at-all-it/) [Zora Neale Hurston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zora-neale-hurston/) > [Usually best quotes are those which are felt better not written better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nishan-panwar/usually-best-quotes-are-those-which-are-felt-better-not-written-better/) [Nishan Panwar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nishan-panwar/) > [I like having written better than I like having acted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-fisher/i-like-having-written-better-than-i-like-having-acted/) [Carrie Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-fisher/) ## More by P.S. Bartlett > [“The anonymity of the internet is a dangerous but powerful thing - to any fool who will listen.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-s-bartlett/the-anonymity-of-the-internet-is-a-dangerous-but-powerful-thing-to/) [P.S. Bartlett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-s-bartlett/) [Explore all 2 P.S. Bartlett quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-s-bartlett/) ## More Books quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [“Within the pages of books, I've journeyed to Mandalay, the Milky Way and Santa Fe, without once having to leave my armchair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-ansbro/within-the-pages-of-books-i-ve-journeyed-to-mandalay-the-milky-way/) [Kevin Ansbro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-ansbro/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [“Tacitus did not write a most dangerous book. His readers made it so.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-k-krebs/tacitus-did-not-write-a-most-dangerous-book-his-readers-made-it-so/) [Christopher K. Krebs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-k-krebs/) > [“Take some books and read; that’s an immense help; and books are always good company if you have the right sort.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louisa-may-alcott/take-some-books-and-read-that-s-an-immense-help-and-books-are-always/) [Louisa May Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louisa-may-alcott/) > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [I have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [“Be careful about reading health books. 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 a day goes by and I haven't written anything, I better have been doing something worth writing about.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "P.S. 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