--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The scene is a writer's study, shabby…" description: "\"“The scene is a writer's study, shabby, drafty but tax-deductible. The writer is reading the last hundred pages of his work in progress. For the past f..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/457/robert-stone-13495_education_the-scene-is-a-writer-s-study-shabby-dra_2275915.png" --- # The scene is a writer's study, shabby, drafty but… ![“The scene is a writer's study, shabby, drafty but tax-deductible. The writer is reading the last hundred pages of his work in progress. For the past fifty or so, a kind of slow terror has been rising in his breast. All these pages had seemed necessary. They contain many good things. Ironies…” quote by Robert Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/457/robert-stone-13495_education_the-scene-is-a-writer-s-study-shabby-dra_2275915.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/457/robert-stone-13495_education_the-scene-is-a-writer-s-study-shabby-dra_2275915.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/457/robert-stone-13495_education_the-scene-is-a-writer-s-study-shabby-dra_2275915.png) > ““The scene is a writer's study, shabby, drafty but tax-deductible. The writer is reading the last hundred pages of his work in progress. For the past fifty or so, a kind of slow terror has been rising in his breast. All these pages had seemed necessary. They contain many good things. Ironies. Insights. And yet they seem to have a certain ineffable unsatisfactoriness. There is a word to describe this quality, the writer thinks, a horrible word. The B word. He begins to strike his forehead with a sweaty palm.”” [Robert Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-stone/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The writer feels a growing, inexplicable dissatisfaction with his manuscript despite its merits, hinting at creative anxiety and self‑doubt. **In simple terms:** A writer is uneasy about his work. Key Takeaway A the the creative process. Themes creativity anxiety self‑doubt Mood uneasy reflective Type literary psychological When to use this quote - writing - editing - self‑reflection - overcoming creative block Key Concepts imperfection ineffability artistic integrity Questions to Reflect On - What does this "B word" represent for you? - How can you turn this discomfort into improvement? A Different Perspective The feeling may stem from perfectionism rather than actual flaws. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Good things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-things/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Work in progress](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/work-in-progress/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [A creative writer must study carefully the works of his rivals, including the Almighty. He must possess the inborn capacity not only of recombining…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/a-creative-writer-must-study-carefully-the-works-of-his-rivals/) [Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/) > [I learned to be a regional writer by reading people like Flannery O'Connor. 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