--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Writers kid themselves-about themselves…" description: "\"Writers kid themselves-about themselves and other people. Take the talk about writing methods. Writing is just work-there's no secret. If you dictate o..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8dc/sinclair-lewis-1945_ifs_writers-kid-themselves-about-themselves_2315647.png" --- # Writers kid themselves-about themselves and other people… ![“Writers kid themselves-about themselves and other people. Take the talk about writing methods. Writing is just work-there's no secret. If you dictate or use a pen or type with your toes-it is just work.” quote by Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8dc/sinclair-lewis-1945_ifs_writers-kid-themselves-about-themselves_2315647.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8dc/sinclair-lewis-1945_ifs_writers-kid-themselves-about-themselves_2315647.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8dc/sinclair-lewis-1945_ifs_writers-kid-themselves-about-themselves_2315647.png) > “Writers kid themselves-about themselves and other people. Take the talk about writing methods. Writing is just work-there's no secret. If you dictate or use a pen or type with your toes-it is just work.” [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writing is a craft without hidden tricks; it requires disciplined effort regardless of method. **In simple terms:** Writing needs effort, no shortcuts. Key Takeaway Treat writing as work, not magic. Themes craft discipline creativity Mood determined pragmatic Type instructional motivational When to use this quote - author workshops - daily writing practice - self‑editing - publishing submissions Key Concepts process effort methodology Questions to Reflect On - How can you make routine writing feel rewarding? - What habits sustain your writing momentum? A Different Perspective Even with effort, inspiration may still be lacking. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Kids](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kids/) [Method](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/method/) [Methods Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/methods-writing-3911706/) [Pens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pens/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Secret](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/secret/) [Toes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/toes/) [Type](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/type/) [Use](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/use/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writers Kid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writers-kid-2579014/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Writing Just](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-just/) [Writing Methods](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-methods-2760097/) ## Related quotes > [Writing is just work-there's no secret. If you dictate or use a pen or type or write with your toes-it's still just work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/writing-is-just-work-there-s-no-secret-if-you-dictate-or-use-a-pen-or/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [Courses on historical methodology are not worth the time that they take up. I shall never give one myself, and I have observed that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-e-morison/courses-on-historical-methodology-are-not-worth-the-time-that-they/) [Samuel E. Morison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-e-morison/) > [If you feel yourself to be a full member in the world, you probably won't turn to writing, because other methods of communication, more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margot-livesey/if-you-feel-yourself-to-be-a-full-member-in-the-world-you-probably/) [Margot Livesey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margot-livesey/) > [Science fiction writers, when I was a kid, were a big deal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-sean-greer/science-fiction-writers-when-i-was-a-kid-were-a-big-deal/) [Andrew Sean Greer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-sean-greer/) > [Writing is just having a sheet of paper, a pen and not a shadow of an idea of what you are going to say.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francoise-sagan/writing-is-just-having-a-sheet-of-paper-a-pen-and-not-a-shadow-of-an/) [Francoise Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francoise-sagan/) > [Bury me smilin' with G's in my pocket, Have a party at my funeral let every rapper rock it Let the hoes that I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tupac-shakur/bury-me-smilin-with-g-s-in-my-pocket-have-a-party-at-my-funeral-let/) [Tupac Shakur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tupac-shakur/) > [For me, writing is fun. The day I quit my job and take up writing full time, writing will become just another job. A…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ravi-subramanian/for-me-writing-is-fun-the-day-i-quit-my-job-and-take-up-writing-full/) [Ravi Subramanian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ravi-subramanian/) > [I'm laying down my new audio book. No writing, just spoken words, the old fashioned way. -Kenny Powers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eastbound-and-down/i-m-laying-down-my-new-audio-book-no-writing-just-spoken-words-the/) [Eastbound And Down](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eastbound-and-down/) > [I'm often just writing just to write. I'm not writing with...If I write, like, sitting down with a goal in mind, it's always, like,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-deacon/i-m-often-just-writing-just-to-write-i-m-not-writing-with-if-i-write/) [Dan Deacon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-deacon/) > [The best tip for writing is just to write; to sit down and write, to begin doing it and not to be scared by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-almond/the-best-tip-for-writing-is-just-to-write-to-sit-down-and-write-to/) [David Almond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-almond/) > [All I'm writing is just what I feel, that's all. I just keep it almost naked. And probably the words are so bland.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimi-hendrix/all-i-m-writing-is-just-what-i-feel-that-s-all-i-just-keep-it-almost/) [Jimi Hendrix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimi-hendrix/) > [Writing is not just a job. It helps me to pray. It's a way of being.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-nouwen/writing-is-not-just-a-job-it-helps-me-to-pray-it-s-a-way-of-being/) [Henri Nouwen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-nouwen/) > [When I'm writing, I am just doing what feels right for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jed-mercurio/when-i-m-writing-i-am-just-doing-what-feels-right-for-me/) [Jed Mercurio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jed-mercurio/) > [I've found it really hard to finish writing songs when you're writing on not just your schedule but somebody else's.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-carmack/i-ve-found-it-really-hard-to-finish-writing-songs-when-you-re-writing/) [Chris Carmack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-carmack/) > [It's so easy, as a writer, to get stuck in your own head, to live in the little worlds you create. To forget that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/celeste-ng/it-s-so-easy-as-a-writer-to-get-stuck-in-your-own-head-to-live-in-the/) [Celeste Ng](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/celeste-ng/) ## More by Sinclair Lewis > [“She found beauty in the children.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/she-found-beauty-in-the-children/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [What is Love? Listen! It is the rainbow that stands out, in all its glorious many-colored hues, illuminating and making glad again the dark…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/what-is-love-listen-it-is-the-rainbow-that-stands-out-in-all-its/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [When you think that most of us are doomed by divine grace to roast in hell, to say nothing of mortgages and hail and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/when-you-think-that-most-of-us-are-doomed-by-divine-grace-to-roast-in/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [He loved the people just as much as he feared and detested persons.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/he-loved-the-people-just-as-much-as-he-feared-and-detested-persons/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [“He had expected that traditionally Republican Vermont would give him too drearily easy a task in preaching Trowbridge. What he found was a dismaying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/he-had-expected-that-traditionally-republican-vermont-would-give-him/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [“Day on day he waited. So much of a revolution for so many people is nothing but waiting. That is one reason why tourists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/day-on-day-he-waited-so-much-of-a-revolution-for-so-many-people-is/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [“She continued it to Hugh, 'Darling, do you know what mother and you are going to find beyond the blue horizon rim?' 'What?' flatly.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/she-continued-it-to-hugh-darling-do-you-know-what-mother-and-you-are/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [Is it possible that nobody has ever known that there never has been a completely civilized man, and won't be for another thousand years?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/is-it-possible-that-nobody-has-ever-known-that-there-never-has-been-a/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [“I think perhaps we want a more conscientious life. We're tired of drudging and sleeping and dying. We're tired of always deferring hope to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/i-think-perhaps-we-want-a-more-conscientious-life-we-re-tired-of/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [It might be the doing of Satan, in whom Aaron anxiously believed with all of his being except, perhaps, his mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/it-might-be-the-doing-of-satan-in-whom-aaron-anxiously-believed-with/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [“The author says one character's definition of a classic is any book he'd heard of before he was thirty.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/the-author-says-one-character-s-definition-of-a-classic-is-any-book/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [“Like all males, he hated to confess ignorance by asking directions,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/like-all-males-he-hated-to-confess-ignorance-by-asking-directions/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [Winter is not a season, it's an occupation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/winter-is-not-a-season-it-s-an-occupation/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [“Author sees the "congested idealism" of the generally discontent as reservoir that will support centralized power even while disagreeing with many specific provisions.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/author-sees-the-congested-idealism-of-the-generally-discontent-as/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [“The poor we have always with us, and the purpose of the Lord in providing the poor is to enable us of the better…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/the-poor-we-have-always-with-us-and-the-purpose-of-the-lord-in/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) [Explore all 196 Sinclair Lewis quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) ## More Ifs quotes > [Women still, when they have breast cancer, go to work; they still lead their lives. They have to. I just did what I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-potter/women-still-when-they-have-breast-cancer-go-to-work-they-still-lead/) [Monica Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-potter/) > [Most of us are convinced that we are our egos, which is who we think we are. The ego is part of our incarnation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ram-dass/most-of-us-are-convinced-that-we-are-our-egos-which-is-who-we-think/) [Ram Dass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ram-dass/) > [Histories never conclude; they just pause their prose. Their stories are, if they are truthful, untidy affairs, resistant to windings-up and sortings-out. They beat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-schama/histories-never-conclude-they-just-pause-their-prose-their-stories/) [Simon Schama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-schama/) > [If you ask an introvert a question, wait until she thinks about it. Introverts think before speaking, not through speaking. If you want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-helgoe/if-you-ask-an-introvert-a-question-wait-until-she-thinks-about-it/) [Laurie Helgoe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-helgoe/) > [Many individuals spend a considerable portion of their lifetimes in terror of one imagined catastrophe or another. The classic is that your immortal soul…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/many-individuals-spend-a-considerable-portion-of-their-lifetimes-in/) [L. Neil Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-neil-smith/) > [Obviously, if you don't love life, you can't enjoy an oyster.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-clark/obviously-if-you-don-t-love-life-you-can-t-enjoy-an-oyster/) [Eleanor Clark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-clark/) > [If I don't have pressure, I don't function.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ferran-adria/if-i-don-t-have-pressure-i-don-t-function/) [Ferran Adria](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ferran-adria/) > [If you restore a car, and you're making money, then you're doing it wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-leno/if-you-restore-a-car-and-you-re-making-money-then-you-re-doing-it/) [Jay Leno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-leno/) > [I understand that it's the music that keeps me alive... That's my lifeblood. And to give that up for, like, the TV, the cars,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-springsteen/i-understand-that-it-s-the-music-that-keeps-me-alive-that-s-my/) [Bruce Springsteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-springsteen/) > [If we gave up our freedom as the price of security, we would no longer be the great nation that we are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-bader-ginsburg/if-we-gave-up-our-freedom-as-the-price-of-security-we-would-no-longer/) [Ruth Bader Ginsburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-bader-ginsburg/) > [If my campaign is not in the debate, we will not be talking about how we really fix this problem of endless and expanding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-stein/if-my-campaign-is-not-in-the-debate-we-will-not-be-talking-about-how/) [Jill Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-stein/) > [Nothing is so powerful as an insight into human nature... what compulsions drive a man, what instincts dominate his action. 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Hitting your kid is really the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zach-braff/the-thing-about-hitting-kids-is-think-about-if-you-were-doing-the/) [Zach Braff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zach-braff/) > [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/) [Browse all 94,303 Ifs quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Writers kid themselves-about themselves and other people. Take the talk about writing methods. Writing is just work-there's no secret. 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