--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Novelist Sinclair Lewis was supposed to…" description: "\"“Novelist Sinclair Lewis was supposed to deliver an hour-long lecture to a group of college students who planned to be writers. Lewis opened his talk w..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f58/peter-prichard-94063_bits-and-pieces_novelist-sinclair-lewis-was-supposed-to_63330.jpg" --- # Novelist Sinclair Lewis was supposed to deliver an… ![“Novelist Sinclair Lewis was supposed to deliver an hour-long lecture to a group of college students who planned to be writers. Lewis opened his talk with the question: How many of you really intend to be writers? All hands went up. In that case, said Lewis, my advice to you is to go home and…” quote by Peter Prichard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f58/peter-prichard-94063_bits-and-pieces_novelist-sinclair-lewis-was-supposed-to_63330.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f58/peter-prichard-94063_bits-and-pieces_novelist-sinclair-lewis-was-supposed-to_63330.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f58/peter-prichard-94063_bits-and-pieces_novelist-sinclair-lewis-was-supposed-to_63330.jpg) > ““Novelist Sinclair Lewis was supposed to deliver an hour-long lecture to a group of college students who planned to be writers. Lewis opened his talk with the question: How many of you really intend to be writers? All hands went up. In that case, said Lewis, my advice to you is to go home and write. With that, he left. Bits and Pieces-March 1997”” [Peter Prichard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-prichard/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Lewis urged aspiring writers to simply start writing at home, dismissing formal lectures. **In simple terms:** He told students to go home and write instead of listening to talks. Key Takeaway Start writing immediately, no excuses. Themes education writing motivation creativity discipline Mood instructional quotational Type Bits and pieces:1 College student:0 College students:0 Writer:1 Writing:1 Sinclair Lewis:1 Writers Lewis:0 Planned Writers:0 Intend Writers:0 Lewis Supposed:0 When to use this quote - The advice may overlook the value of mentorship and feedback. Key Concepts self‑directed learning practice authentic voice habit formation confidence Questions to Reflect On - direct - encouraging A Different Perspective What role does formal education play in writing?;How can you seek feedback while writing alone? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bits and pieces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bits-and-pieces/) [College student](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/college-student/) [College students](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/college-students/) [Intend Writers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intend-writers-855042/) [Lewis Supposed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lewis-supposed-855043/) [Planned Writers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/planned-writers-855041/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sinclair-lewis/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writers Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writers-lewis-855040/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [Carter is doing a high-wire act over a cesspool, preaching all the way. Sinclair Lewis, thou shouldst be living in this hour. We have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmy-carter/carter-is-doing-a-high-wire-act-over-a-cesspool-preaching-all-the-way/) [Jimmy Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimmy-carter/) > [“Imperial is like Robert Caro’s The Power Broker with the attitude of Mike Davis’s City of Quartz, if Robert Caro had been raised in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-anderson-ny-magazine/imperial-is-like-robert-caro-s-the-power-broker-with-the-attitude-of/) [Sam Anderson - NY Magazine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-anderson-ny-magazine/) > [“I was amused and somewhat astonished at a critic a few years back who wrote an article analyzing Dandelion Wine plus the more realistic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/i-was-amused-and-somewhat-astonished-at-a-critic-a-few-years-back-who/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [Sinclair Lewis may be ripe for a revival; his books raise several interesting issues of art and fashion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-smiley/sinclair-lewis-may-be-ripe-for-a-revival-his-books-raise-several/) [Jane Smiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-smiley/) > [“It is, to tell the truth, just such a Main Street as Sinclair Lewis describes with such delightful malevolence, but like that Main Street…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earnest-elmo-calkins/it-is-to-tell-the-truth-just-such-a-main-street-as-sinclair-lewis/) [Earnest Elmo Calkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earnest-elmo-calkins/) > [Go back and read Sinclair Lewis - It Can't Happen Here or Babbitt. For a guy or girl who's going to do an hour…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-cross/go-back-and-read-sinclair-lewis-it-can-t-happen-here-or-babbitt-for-a/) [David Cross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-cross/) > [Until I was a junior in high school, I was a "boy scientist" type and expected to go into chemistry. Then I discovered the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-w-wood/until-i-was-a-junior-in-high-school-i-was-a-boy-scientist-type-and/) [Allen W. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-w-wood/) > [“I forged more notes and my trips to the library became frequent. Reading grew into a passion. My first serious novel was Sinclair Lewis’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wright/i-forged-more-notes-and-my-trips-to-the-library-became-frequent/) [Richard Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wright/) > [“The bartender put a notepad and a pencil before me. Breathing hard, the pencil trembling, I wrote: Dear Sinclair Lewis: You were once a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fante/the-bartender-put-a-notepad-and-a-pencil-before-me-breathing-hard-the/) [John Fante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fante/) > [“Fyodor Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov and Milan Kundera’s The Unbearable Lightness of Being might suit our moment. Sinclair Lewis’s novel It Can’t Happen Here…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-snyder/fyodor-dostoevsky-s-the-brothers-karamazov-and-milan-kundera-s-the/) [Timothy Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-snyder/) > [ Sinclair Lewis is the perfect example of the false sense of time of the newspaper world… \[ellipsis in source\] He was always dominated by… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/sinclair-lewis-is-the-perfect-example-of-the-false-sense-of-time-of/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [Sinclair Lewis was asked one time to give a talk to class of students about writing. When he got there he asked the class,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-t-hall/sinclair-lewis-was-asked-one-time-to-give-a-talk-to-class-of-students/) [Tom T. Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-t-hall/) > [I don't know why Sinclair Lewis fell in love with me. He didn't get even the slightest response from me. But his letters were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fay-wray/i-don-t-know-why-sinclair-lewis-fell-in-love-with-me-he-didn-t-get/) [Fay Wray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fay-wray/) > [“Only one-third of college students from the bottom quarter of households graduate, while two-thirds of students from the top quarter do. Both ability and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-temin/only-one-third-of-college-students-from-the-bottom-quarter-of/) [Peter Temin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-temin/) > [I've always been a late bloomer in some ways, and extremely precocious in other ways. When I was twenty I was living in New…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meghan-daum/i-ve-always-been-a-late-bloomer-in-some-ways-and-extremely-precocious/) [Meghan Daum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meghan-daum/) ## More by Peter Prichard > [“If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-prichard/if-you-re-not-outraged-you-re-not-paying-attention/) [Peter Prichard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-prichard/) [Explore all 2 Peter Prichard quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-prichard/) ## More Bits and pieces quotes > [“It took me years to learn to sit at my desk for more than two minutes at a time, to put up with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/it-took-me-years-to-learn-to-sit-at-my-desk-for-more-than-two-minutes/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [You can't fool an audience with lots of bits and pieces. You have to lead them somewhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-rampling/you-can-t-fool-an-audience-with-lots-of-bits-and-pieces-you-have-to/) [Charlotte Rampling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-rampling/) > [ Our revolution is like Wikipedia, okay? Everyone is contributing content, \[but\] you don't know the names of the people contributing the content. This is… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wael-ghonim/our-revolution-is-like-wikipedia-okay-everyone-is-contributing/) [Wael Ghonim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wael-ghonim/) > [“I sat at her desk and turned one page after another, staring at what looked like bits and pieces of black lace laid cross…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/i-sat-at-her-desk-and-turned-one-page-after-another-staring-at-what/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [“Someone who is reinventing always has spare time. Part of reinvention is collecting little bits and pieces of time and carving them the way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-altucher/someone-who-is-reinventing-always-has-spare-time-part-of-reinvention/) [James Altucher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-altucher/) > [“A clearing of a gravelly throat pulled him from his thoughts. He turned and looked at Thomas, the boat captain, who was seventy if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-kauffman/a-clearing-of-a-gravelly-throat-pulled-him-from-his-thoughts-he/) [Donna Kauffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-kauffman/) > [At this point we've answered about every question you could possibly imagine about Deep Space Nine, so we do this thing called Theatrical Jazz,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rene-auberjonois/at-this-point-we-ve-answered-about-every-question-you-could-possibly/) [Rene Auberjonois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rene-auberjonois/) > [ I missed the whole thing \[X-files series\]. And I know it went for nine seasons, and I think I saw bits and pieces of… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rhys-darby/i-missed-the-whole-thing-x-files-series-and-i-know-it-went-for-nine/) [Rhys Darby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rhys-darby/) > [If you can't imagine it, think clumsy silence. Think bits and pieces of floating despair. And drowning in a train.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-zusak/if-you-can-t-imagine-it-think-clumsy-silence-think-bits-and-pieces-of/) [Markus Zusak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/markus-zusak/) > [“I knew that in the last few minutes everything had changed. I'd tried to hold myself apart, showing only what I wanted, doling out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-dessen/i-knew-that-in-the-last-few-minutes-everything-had-changed-i-d-tried/) [Sarah Dessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-dessen/) > [“But everyone remembered; what she loved was this, here, now, in front of her; the fat lady in the cab. Did it matter then,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/but-everyone-remembered-what-she-loved-was-this-here-now-in-front-of/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [Growing up, for years and years I had no idea what the plots of operas were, and that's part of what fascinated me -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rufus-wainwright/growing-up-for-years-and-years-i-had-no-idea-what-the-plots-of-operas/) [Rufus Wainwright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rufus-wainwright/) > [“I have to admit that most of the time I read in the same way that I smoke and chew gum and jiggle my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-chaon/i-have-to-admit-that-most-of-the-time-i-read-in-the-same-way-that-i/) [Dan Chaon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-chaon/) > [I take little bits and pieces of ideas that I may or may not believe in but I give them to this character and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jhonen-vasquez/i-take-little-bits-and-pieces-of-ideas-that-i-may-or-may-not-believe/) [Jhonen Vasquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jhonen-vasquez/) > [As I've gotten old I've really listened to a wide spectrum of music, whether it's The Carpenters, Stevie Wonder, Justin Timberlake, Jay-Z or Lauryn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brooklyn-sudano/as-i-ve-gotten-old-i-ve-really-listened-to-a-wide-spectrum-of-music/) [Brooklyn Sudano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brooklyn-sudano/) [Browse all 259 Bits and pieces quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bits-and-pieces/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Novelist Sinclair Lewis was supposed to deliver an hour-long lecture to a group of college students who planned to be writers. Lewis opened his talk with the question: How many of you really intend to be writers? All hands went up. In that case, said Lewis, my advice to you is to go home and write. With that, he left. Bits and Pieces-March 1997”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Peter Prichard" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-prichard/novelist-sinclair-lewis-was-supposed-to-deliver-an-hour-long-lecture/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Bits and pieces" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-prichard/novelist-sinclair-lewis-was-supposed-to-deliver-an-hour-long-lecture/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f58/peter-prichard-94063_bits-and-pieces_novelist-sinclair-lewis-was-supposed-to_63330.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f58/peter-prichard-94063_bits-and-pieces_novelist-sinclair-lewis-was-supposed-to_63330.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f58/peter-prichard-94063_bits-and-pieces_novelist-sinclair-lewis-was-supposed-to_63330.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Novelist Sinclair Lewis was supposed to deliver an hour-long lecture to a group of college students who…” — Peter Prichard", "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": "Peter Prichard", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-prichard/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Novelist Sinclair Lewis was supposed to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-prichard/novelist-sinclair-lewis-was-supposed-to-deliver-an-hour-long-lecture/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-prichard/novelist-sinclair-lewis-was-supposed-to-deliver-an-hour-long-lecture/#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 } } ] } ```