--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Writing the book was itself a process of…" description: "\"Writing the book was itself a process of concealing and revealing.\" — Rick Moody" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/389/rick-moody-8542_book_writing-the-book-was-itself-a-process-of_265297.png" --- # Writing the book was itself a process of concealing and… ![“Writing the book was itself a process of concealing and revealing.” quote by Rick Moody](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/389/rick-moody-8542_book_writing-the-book-was-itself-a-process-of_265297.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/389/rick-moody-8542_book_writing-the-book-was-itself-a-process-of_265297.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/389/rick-moody-8542_book_writing-the-book-was-itself-a-process-of_265297.png) > “Writing the book was itself a process of concealing and revealing.” [Rick Moody](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-moody/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writing a book involves both hiding and revealing, shaping the narrative through selective disclosure. **In simple terms:** Writing balances concealment and revelation. Key Takeaway Embrace both mystery and clarity. Themes literature creativity process truth storytelling Mood introspective thoughtful Type creative inspirational When to use this quote - novel drafting - workshop feedback - editing stages Key Concepts Narrative theory authorial intent psychology of writing Questions to Reflect On - What do you choose to hide in your work? - How does revelation affect reader engagement? A Different Perspective Over‑exposure can diminish intrigue. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Process](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/process/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [Blogging has mostly been an opportunity to react more immediately to experiences to try out ideas that I may end up using in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-teachout/blogging-has-mostly-been-an-opportunity-to-react-more-immediately-to/) [Terry Teachout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-teachout/) > [There is a certain amount of intrigue that gets created by revealing portions of the book and, in the process, generating a certain amount…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ravi-subramanian/there-is-a-certain-amount-of-intrigue-that-gets-created-by-revealing/) [Ravi Subramanian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ravi-subramanian/) > [You find the book in the process of doing it. That's the adventure of the job.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/you-find-the-book-in-the-process-of-doing-it-that-s-the-adventure-of/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [The question concerning technology is the question concerning the constellation in which revealing and concealing, in which the coming to presence of truth, comes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-heidegger/the-question-concerning-technology-is-the-question-concerning-the/) [Martin Heidegger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-heidegger/) > [Very notable was his distinction between coarseness and vulgarity, coarseness, revealing something; vulgarity, concealing something.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster/very-notable-was-his-distinction-between-coarseness-and-vulgarity/) [E. M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster/) > [They clichés will construct your sentences for you - even think your thoughts for you, to a certain extent - and at need they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/they-clich-s-will-construct-your-sentences-for-you-even-think-your/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [All corporatism – even when practised in societies where hard work, enterprise and cooperation are as highly valued as in Korea – encourages inflexibility,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-thatcher/all-corporatism-even-when-practised-in-societies-where-hard-work/) [Margaret Thatcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-thatcher/) > [People actually live with their I'd exposed. They're not good at concealing what's going on inside.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/people-actually-live-with-their-i-d-exposed-they-re-not-good-at/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Art lies in concealing art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/art-lies-in-concealing-art/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [“The truth doesn’t make you vulnerable—concealing it does.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-mcman/the-truth-doesn-t-make-you-vulnerable-concealing-it-does/) [Ann McMan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-mcman/) > [Slander is perhaps the only vice which no circumstance can palliate, as well as being one which we are most ingenious in concealing from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baptiste-massillon/slander-is-perhaps-the-only-vice-which-no-circumstance-can-palliate/) [Jean Baptiste Massillon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baptiste-massillon/) > [Racism is still alive they just be concealing it](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kanye-west/racism-is-still-alive-they-just-be-concealing-it/) [Kanye West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kanye-west/) > [By and large, language is a tool for concealing the truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-carlin/by-and-large-language-is-a-tool-for-concealing-the-truth/) [George Carlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-carlin/) > [Frying gives cooks numerous ways of concealing what appeared the day before and in a pinch facilitates sudden demands, for it takes little more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-anthelme-brillat-savarin/frying-gives-cooks-numerous-ways-of-concealing-what-appeared-the-day/) [Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-anthelme-brillat-savarin/) > [All black people who are even minimally conscious, black people who have ever experienced Europe's technological power crusading in the vanguard of a civilizing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-nkosi/all-black-people-who-are-even-minimally-conscious-black-people-who/) [Lewis Nkosi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-nkosi/) ## More by Rick Moody > [I believe that God locates himself at the spot where you recognize your own fallibility…And the paradox of it all has been that whenever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-moody/i-believe-that-god-locates-himself-at-the-spot-where-you-recognize/) [Rick Moody](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-moody/) > [The Ice Storm, because of the movie, has had, or is to have, a vigorous life in other cultures.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-moody/the-ice-storm-because-of-the-movie-has-had-or-is-to-have-a-vigorous/) [Rick Moody](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-moody/) > [Capitalism, in the realm of sexuality, I figure, thinks that we behave in specific ways, like a breast is always going to produce a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-moody/capitalism-in-the-realm-of-sexuality-i-figure-thinks-that-we-behave/) [Rick Moody](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-moody/) > [Literature precedes genre.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-moody/literature-precedes-genre/) [Rick Moody](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-moody/) > [I'm not the guy to ask about the most up to date stuff.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-moody/i-m-not-the-guy-to-ask-about-the-most-up-to-date-stuff/) [Rick Moody](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-moody/) > [“Words are the oldest information storage and retrieval system ever devised. Words are probably older than the cave paintings in France, words have been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-moody/words-are-the-oldest-information-storage-and-retrieval-system-ever/) [Rick Moody](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-moody/) > [Tangled in one another's arms and nine times out of ten the things you think about a person make it impossible to touch them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-moody/tangled-in-one-another-s-arms-and-nine-times-out-of-ten-the-things/) [Rick Moody](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-moody/) > [The Great Recession is not imaginary, and the effects loom large. There was an article in the NYT about the galloping death rate among…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-moody/the-great-recession-is-not-imaginary-and-the-effects-loom-large-there/) [Rick Moody](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-moody/) > [I have worked really hard to defy categorization, to break down a taxonomy whenever it comes my way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-moody/i-have-worked-really-hard-to-defy-categorization-to-break-down-a/) [Rick Moody](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-moody/) > [I am excited by... the new novel by Samantha Hunt. She's a writer I really admire a lot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-moody/i-am-excited-by-the-new-novel-by-samantha-hunt-she-s-a-writer-i/) [Rick Moody](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-moody/) > [All the stuff that I used to treat with contempt - you know, I'm an artist, man, I don't do that family stuff -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-moody/all-the-stuff-that-i-used-to-treat-with-contempt-you-know-i-m-an/) [Rick Moody](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-moody/) > [Updike worked this way, and I just kinda borrowed it from him. So the memoir will be relief from novel writing for a moment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-moody/updike-worked-this-way-and-i-just-kinda-borrowed-it-from-him-so-the/) [Rick Moody](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-moody/) > [ “\[I\]t is things that make us happy when conversation begins to reveal itself as a paltry substitute.” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-moody/i-t-is-things-that-make-us-happy-when-conversation-begins-to-reveal/) [Rick Moody](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-moody/) > [When prose gets too stylized and out of control - and Stein is sometimes a good example - when you don't know what the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-moody/when-prose-gets-too-stylized-and-out-of-control-and-stein-is/) [Rick Moody](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-moody/) > [I love comic books and always did as a kid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-moody/i-love-comic-books-and-always-did-as-a-kid/) [Rick Moody](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-moody/) [Explore all 80 Rick Moody quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-moody/) ## More Book 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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [I don't think I have made as much of my life as I should have. I should have written more books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-m-schlesinger-jr/i-don-t-think-i-have-made-as-much-of-my-life-as-i-should-have-i/) [Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-m-schlesinger-jr/) > [Some books are not read in the right way because they have skipped a stage of opinion, assume a crystallization of information in society…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/some-books-are-not-read-in-the-right-way-because-they-have-skipped-a/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [“People talk about books that write themselves, and it's a lie. Books don't write themselves. It takes thought and research and a backache and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/people-talk-about-books-that-write-themselves-and-it-s-a-lie-books/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [There are great books in this world and great worlds in books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-bronte/there-are-great-books-in-this-world-and-great-worlds-in-books/) [Anne Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-bronte/) > [The purpose of this book is to supply, in the form suitable for laymen, guidance in the adoption and execution of an investment policy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/the-purpose-of-this-book-is-to-supply-in-the-form-suitable-for-laymen/) [Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/) > [But I think that of all the literature that I studied, the book that did more than any other to fire my enthusiasm was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kwame-nkrumah/but-i-think-that-of-all-the-literature-that-i-studied-the-book-that/) [Kwame Nkrumah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kwame-nkrumah/) > [It's amazing to see things that are suggested in the book fully developed and so brilliantly realized through the artistry of the designers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-collins/it-s-amazing-to-see-things-that-are-suggested-in-the-book-fully/) [Suzanne Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-collins/) > [“But I’ve developed a great reputation for wisdom by ordering more books than I ever had time to read, and reading more books, by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/but-i-ve-developed-a-great-reputation-for-wisdom-by-ordering-more/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) [Browse all 29,378 Book quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Writing the book was itself a process of concealing and revealing.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Rick Moody" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-moody/writing-the-book-was-itself-a-process-of-concealing-and-revealing/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Book" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-moody/writing-the-book-was-itself-a-process-of-concealing-and-revealing/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/389/rick-moody-8542_book_writing-the-book-was-itself-a-process-of_265297.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/389/rick-moody-8542_book_writing-the-book-was-itself-a-process-of_265297.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/389/rick-moody-8542_book_writing-the-book-was-itself-a-process-of_265297.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Writing the book was itself a process of concealing and revealing.” — Rick Moody", "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": "Rick Moody", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-moody/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Writing the book was itself a...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-moody/writing-the-book-was-itself-a-process-of-concealing-and-revealing/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-moody/writing-the-book-was-itself-a-process-of-concealing-and-revealing/#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 } } ] } ```