--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I much prefer writing fiction. History…" description: "\"I much prefer writing fiction. History books, for me, are very hard work, very serious.\" — Simon Sebag Montefiore" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/da4/simon-sebag-montefiore-2994_books_i-much-prefer-writing-fiction-history-bo_2072942.png" --- # I much prefer writing fiction. History books, for me, are… ![“I much prefer writing fiction. History books, for me, are very hard work, very serious.” quote by Simon Sebag Montefiore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/da4/simon-sebag-montefiore-2994_books_i-much-prefer-writing-fiction-history-bo_2072942.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/da4/simon-sebag-montefiore-2994_books_i-much-prefer-writing-fiction-history-bo_2072942.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/da4/simon-sebag-montefiore-2994_books_i-much-prefer-writing-fiction-history-bo_2072942.png) > “I much prefer writing fiction. History books, for me, are very hard work, very serious.” [Simon Sebag Montefiore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-sebag-montefiore/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Fiction offers creative freedom, while history demands rigorous research and objectivity. **In simple terms:** Fiction is freer than history. Key Takeaway Choose the genre that matches your passion. Themes writing genre creativity Mood thoughtful inquisitive Type philosophical advice When to use this quote - novel writing - academic research - teaching - publishing Key Concepts literary theory historical methodology Questions to Reflect On - Do you prefer imaginative storytelling or factual analysis? - How does genre choice affect your workflow? A Different Perspective Historical writing can be emotionally taxing. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) [Hard work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hard-work/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [History books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history-books/) [Work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/work/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Writing fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-fiction/) ## Related quotes > [Writing fiction is very different to writing non-fiction. I love writing novels, but on history books, like my biographies of Stalin or Catherine the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-sebag-montefiore/writing-fiction-is-very-different-to-writing-non-fiction-i-love/) [Simon Sebag Montefiore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-sebag-montefiore/) > [Over the years, more than one reviewer has described my fantasy series, 'A Song of Ice and Fire', as historical fiction about history that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-r-r-martin-2/over-the-years-more-than-one-reviewer-has-described-my-fantasy-series/) [George R. R. Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-r-r-martin-2/) > [Historical fiction is not history. You're blending real events and actual historical personages with characters of your own creation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-r-r-martin-2/historical-fiction-is-not-history-you-re-blending-real-events-and/) [George R. R. Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-r-r-martin-2/) > [I define science fiction as the art of the possible. Fantasy is the art of the impossible. Science fiction, again, is the history of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/i-define-science-fiction-as-the-art-of-the-possible-fantasy-is-the-3/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [I read everything: fiction, history, science, mathematics, biography, travel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-lewis-perl/i-read-everything-fiction-history-science-mathematics-biography-travel/) [Martin Lewis Perl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-lewis-perl/) > [I meet a number of people as a writer of fiction who say "Oh, I don't read much fiction," as if the history of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/i-meet-a-number-of-people-as-a-writer-of-fiction-who-say-oh-i-don-t/) [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) > [“I like fiction and the history...Great!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-like-fiction-and-the-history-great/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I define science fiction as the art of the possible. Fantasy is the art of the impossible. Science fiction, again, is the history of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/i-define-science-fiction-as-the-art-of-the-possible-fantasy-is-the-2/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“Reagan’s easy slippage between movies and reality is synechdochic for a political culture increasingly impervious to distinctions between fiction and history.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-rogin/reagan-s-easy-slippage-between-movies-and-reality-is-synechdochic-for/) Michael Rogin > [Fiction is history, human history, or it is nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/fiction-is-history-human-history-or-it-is-nothing/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [Writing historical novels can be dangerous. We need to be as accurate and as fair about the historical record as we can be, at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-rutherfurd/writing-historical-novels-can-be-dangerous-we-need-to-be-as-accurate/) [Edward Rutherfurd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-rutherfurd/) > [So much history, if you or I were to write it, could seem a fiction. These separations, these lines that tell us this is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamaica-kincaid/so-much-history-if-you-or-i-were-to-write-it-could-seem-a-fiction/) [Jamaica Kincaid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamaica-kincaid/) > [“If you don't read books, and if you don't get consumed by the physical and moral life of men and women in fiction and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-denby/if-you-don-t-read-books-and-if-you-don-t-get-consumed-by-the-physical/) [David Denby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-denby/) > [Often the lines that define the traditional European arrangement of fiction, non-fiction, history, etc. are not useful. These lines can distort the world we,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamaica-kincaid/often-the-lines-that-define-the-traditional-european-arrangement-of/) [Jamaica Kincaid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamaica-kincaid/) > [I obviously prefer writing novels but I take my journalism very seriously, and I enjoy doing it between novels. It gives me an opportunity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mordecai-richler/i-obviously-prefer-writing-novels-but-i-take-my-journalism-very/) [Mordecai Richler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mordecai-richler/) ## More by Simon Sebag Montefiore > [Trump wants to be the first American tsar. With his hero worship of Putin, his admiration for the apparent omnipotence of the Kremlin, schoolboyish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-sebag-montefiore/trump-wants-to-be-the-first-american-tsar-with-his-hero-worship-of/) [Simon Sebag Montefiore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-sebag-montefiore/) > [“History is little more than the register of the crimes, follies, and misfortunes of mankind." --- Edward Gibbon”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-sebag-montefiore/history-is-little-more-than-the-register-of-the-crimes-follies-and/) [Simon Sebag Montefiore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-sebag-montefiore/) > [Every Russian emperor from Peter the Great to Stalin and Putin knows a leader and his security agencies must never be parted. 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Churchill therefore called a conference in Cairo to hand over a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-sebag-montefiore/iraq-was-already-in-the-grip-of-a-bloody-insurgency-against-british/) [Simon Sebag Montefiore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-sebag-montefiore/) > [I don't think Jerusalem should be controlled 100% by religious people of any denomination, sect, or religion - even my own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-sebag-montefiore/i-don-t-think-jerusalem-should-be-controlled-100-by-religious-people/) [Simon Sebag Montefiore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-sebag-montefiore/) > [The memoirs of the Grand Duchess Olga are an entertaining record for anyone interested in the imperial family's home life during the last years…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-sebag-montefiore/the-memoirs-of-the-grand-duchess-olga-are-an-entertaining-record-for/) [Simon Sebag Montefiore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-sebag-montefiore/) > [I am a passionate nonfinisher. Life is too short, and there are too many great books to read, so if I lose interest or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-sebag-montefiore/i-am-a-passionate-nonfinisher-life-is-too-short-and-there-are-too/) [Simon Sebag Montefiore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-sebag-montefiore/) > [“Necessity is very often the mother of romance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-sebag-montefiore/necessity-is-very-often-the-mother-of-romance/) [Simon Sebag Montefiore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-sebag-montefiore/) > [There is a view of Russian exceptionalism, that they are a unique civilisation, a view right since Ivan the Terrible that Russia is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-sebag-montefiore/there-is-a-view-of-russian-exceptionalism-that-they-are-a-unique/) [Simon Sebag Montefiore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-sebag-montefiore/) > [The political lives of tyrants play out human affairs with a special intensity: the death of a democratic leader long after his retirement is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-sebag-montefiore/the-political-lives-of-tyrants-play-out-human-affairs-with-a-special/) [Simon Sebag Montefiore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-sebag-montefiore/) > [If only all straight weddings could be somehow gay-ified.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-sebag-montefiore/if-only-all-straight-weddings-could-be-somehow-gay-ified/) [Simon Sebag Montefiore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-sebag-montefiore/) > [Mr. Putin presents himself as a czar - and like any czar, he fears revolution above all else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-sebag-montefiore/mr-putin-presents-himself-as-a-czar-and-like-any-czar-he-fears/) [Simon Sebag Montefiore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-sebag-montefiore/) > ['Daddy used to be a Georgian,' Stalin's son, Vasily, once said. Actually, the dictator didn't truly become Russian; he remained Georgian culturally. 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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. 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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. 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