--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: My own journey as a writer has been the…" description: "\"My own journey as a writer has been the discovery of different theatrical voices. Chekhov was a revelation. Tennessee Williams was another one. We read..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d1b/stephen-karam-10010_high-school_my-own-journey-as-a-writer-has-been-the_1087543.jpg" --- # My own journey as a writer has been the discovery of… ![“My own journey as a writer has been the discovery of different theatrical voices. Chekhov was a revelation. Tennessee Williams was another one. We read 'The Glass Menagerie' in high school, and I still remember the cover.” quote by Stephen Karam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d1b/stephen-karam-10010_high-school_my-own-journey-as-a-writer-has-been-the_1087543.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d1b/stephen-karam-10010_high-school_my-own-journey-as-a-writer-has-been-the_1087543.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d1b/stephen-karam-10010_high-school_my-own-journey-as-a-writer-has-been-the_1087543.jpg) > “My own journey as a writer has been the discovery of different theatrical voices. Chekhov was a revelation. Tennessee Williams was another one. We read 'The Glass Menagerie' in high school, and I still remember the cover.” [Stephen Karam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-karam/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Exploring varied dramatic voices expands a writer’s toolkit, allowing deeper storytelling through diverse perspectives. **In simple terms:** Learning from different playwrights enriches one’s own writing. Key Takeaway Study varied styles to develop a unique voice. Themes creativity literature learning inspiration craftsmanship Mood inspired thoughtful analytical Type literary educational When to use this quote - playwriting workshops - literature courses - creative retreats - script revisions Key Concepts theatrical tradition voice development artistic influence Questions to Reflect On - Which playwright influences you most? - How can you blend influences into something new? A Different Perspective Imitating others too closely can stifle originality. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [High school](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/high-school/) [Journey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/journey/) [School](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/school/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [Angels in America' - which is composed of two three-hour plays, 'Millennium Approaches' and 'Perestroika' - proved to be a watershed drama, the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lahr/angels-in-america-which-is-composed-of-two-three-hour-plays/) [John Lahr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lahr/) > ['The Glass Menagerie' by Tennessee Williams is a great play. I had to read it for school when I was younger, but I started…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jake-t-austin/the-glass-menagerie-by-tennessee-williams-is-a-great-play-i-had-to/) [Jake T. Austin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jake-t-austin/) > [Perhaps because my background is theatrical, I have a great affinity with the classics. Hamlet has always been a character of great interest to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adhir-kalyan/perhaps-because-my-background-is-theatrical-i-have-a-great-affinity/) [Adhir Kalyan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adhir-kalyan/) > [The first time I ever acted was in 'The Glass Menagerie' in high school, and my first line was, 'I didn't know Shakespeare had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-hader/the-first-time-i-ever-acted-was-in-the-glass-menagerie-in-high-school/) [Bill Hader](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-hader/) > [Just as I was turning fifteen, in the spring of 1946, my parents took me to see 'The Glass Menagerie,' well into its year-long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-gottlieb/just-as-i-was-turning-fifteen-in-the-spring-of-1946-my-parents-took/) [Robert Gottlieb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-gottlieb/) > [I can't pretend at how much I object to all of the plays that keep being brought back over and over again, the so-called…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-murray-abraham/i-can-t-pretend-at-how-much-i-object-to-all-of-the-plays-that-keep/) [F. Murray Abraham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-murray-abraham/) > [I'd like to one day play Amanda, the mother, in The Glass Menagerie.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernadette-peters/i-d-like-to-one-day-play-amanda-the-mother-in-the-glass-menagerie/) [Bernadette Peters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernadette-peters/) > [Tennessee Williams recognized that great theater begins with great talkers, and that great talkers obey two rules: they never sound like anyone else and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-white/tennessee-williams-recognized-that-great-theater-begins-with-great/) [Edmund White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-white/) > [Friends are God's way of apologizing to us for our families. Tennessee Williams quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tennessee-williams/friends-are-god-s-way-of-apologizing-to-us-for-our-families-tennessee/) [Tennessee Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tennessee-williams/) > [Savannah is a . . . lovely pastel dream of tight cobbled streets. . . . There are legendary scenes . . . to rival any dreamed up by Tennessee Williams.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosemary-daniell/savannah-is-a-lovely-pastel-dream-of-tight-cobbled-streets-there-are/) Rosemary Daniell > [Being a theater actor, I've done a lot of plays where I've seen someone else play the same role in another production. Especially with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacki-weaver/being-a-theater-actor-i-ve-done-a-lot-of-plays-where-i-ve-seen/) [Jacki Weaver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacki-weaver/) > [When I went to Yale, I thought it would be like in Stenford 24 hours a day. Robert Brustein, former dean of the Yale…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigourney-weaver/when-i-went-to-yale-i-thought-it-would-be-like-in-stenford-24-hours-a/) [Sigourney Weaver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigourney-weaver/) > [You hear people say, 'We take our Tennessee Williams very seriously. There is no laughter here.' It's full of humor! Not to laugh is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruby-dee/you-hear-people-say-we-take-our-tennessee-williams-very-seriously/) [Ruby Dee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruby-dee/) > [I love Tennessee Williams; as a playwright, he's so poetic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-bourne/i-love-tennessee-williams-as-a-playwright-he-s-so-poetic/) [Matthew Bourne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-bourne/) > [American naturalism is what my indulgent actor side loves: a bit of Tennessee Williams, a bit of Clifford Odets, August Wilson - I would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emilia-clarke/american-naturalism-is-what-my-indulgent-actor-side-loves-a-bit-of/) [Emilia Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emilia-clarke/) ## More by Stephen Karam > [I've always viewed 'Sons of the Prophet' as the first part of a larger trilogy - not three plays dependent on each other but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-karam/i-ve-always-viewed-sons-of-the-prophet-as-the-first-part-of-a-larger/) [Stephen Karam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-karam/) > [Until I have a family or a mortgage, I'm trying to keep my lifestyle simple and my apartment affordable so that I can continue…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-karam/until-i-have-a-family-or-a-mortgage-i-m-trying-to-keep-my-lifestyle/) [Stephen Karam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-karam/) > [I worry that I will lose control over the projects I get to work on.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-karam/i-worry-that-i-will-lose-control-over-the-projects-i-get-to-work-on/) [Stephen Karam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-karam/) > [I don't think I could write a good play if I was setting out to write about the death of the American middle class.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-karam/i-don-t-think-i-could-write-a-good-play-if-i-was-setting-out-to-write/) [Stephen Karam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-karam/) > [Under Todd Haimes' leadership, Roundabout created a black-box theater whose sole mission was to house premieres by writers who are just starting out and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-karam/under-todd-haimes-leadership-roundabout-created-a-black-box-theater/) [Stephen Karam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-karam/) > [I didn't quite fit in in any particular, specific way. I was a gay teenager who was into drama.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-karam/i-didn-t-quite-fit-in-in-any-particular-specific-way-i-was-a-gay/) [Stephen Karam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-karam/) > [I'm still learning so much with every play I write. So I wrestle with word choice, rhythm in final drafts. I think you have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-karam/i-m-still-learning-so-much-with-every-play-i-write-so-i-wrestle-with/) [Stephen Karam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-karam/) > [I'm always very self-conscious and assume the way faith or religion might come up in my plays will seem very harsh to people of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-karam/i-m-always-very-self-conscious-and-assume-the-way-faith-or-religion/) [Stephen Karam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-karam/) > [To be totally honest, I thought I would have a Broadway debut in the distant, distant future, maybe in my 60s or 70s when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-karam/to-be-totally-honest-i-thought-i-would-have-a-broadway-debut-in-the/) [Stephen Karam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-karam/) > [Coming home for me isn't, like, one family dinner. It's about am I gonna see 50 relatives, or am I gonna see 85?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-karam/coming-home-for-me-isn-t-like-one-family-dinner-it-s-about-am-i-gonna/) [Stephen Karam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-karam/) > [When you're the artsy, weirdo, introverted outsider growing up, you don't fit into your community.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-karam/when-you-re-the-artsy-weirdo-introverted-outsider-growing-up-you-don/) [Stephen Karam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-karam/) > [Writing plays for me is often an act of looking at basement-level fears in terms of where they come from.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-karam/writing-plays-for-me-is-often-an-act-of-looking-at-basement-level/) [Stephen Karam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-karam/) > [I don't come from a family of artists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-karam/i-don-t-come-from-a-family-of-artists/) [Stephen Karam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-karam/) > [ Suddenly you're at church and you hear someone pray, "For gays and lesbians, that they might realize their \[sins\]…" That's happening less and less… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-karam/suddenly-you-re-at-church-and-you-hear-someone-pray-for-gays-and/) [Stephen Karam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-karam/) > [Janet Carroll and Robert Pine, Chris Pine's dad, were in my first play, and they were so astonishingly good, I felt it raised my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-karam/janet-carroll-and-robert-pine-chris-pine-s-dad-were-in-my-first-play/) [Stephen Karam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-karam/) [Explore all 68 Stephen Karam quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-karam/) ## More Chekhov quotes > [“Art, science, love, inspiration, ideals—choose out all the words with which humanity is wont, or has been in the past, to be consoled or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lev-shestov/art-science-love-inspiration-ideals-choose-out-all-the-words-with/) [Lev Shestov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lev-shestov/) > [There are no whys in a person's life, and very few hows. In the end, in search of useful wisdom, you could only come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chad-harbach/there-are-no-whys-in-a-person-s-life-and-very-few-hows-in-the-end-in/) [Chad Harbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chad-harbach/) > [“He did not want to be original; he made superhuman efforts to be like everybody else: but there is no escaping one's destiny.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lev-shestov/he-did-not-want-to-be-original-he-made-superhuman-efforts-to-be-like/) [Lev Shestov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lev-shestov/) > [Chekhov is this poet of melancholy and isolation and of wishing you were somewhere else than where you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/chekhov-is-this-poet-of-melancholy-and-isolation-and-of-wishing-you/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [“He keeps going, going, going on; his people groan and fall one after the other, but he keeps on going, going and in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/he-keeps-going-going-going-on-his-people-groan-and-fall-one-after-the/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) > [I don't think my looks are modern. I always imagined I'd end up doing Chekhov, Ibsen and Shakespeare all my life and never play…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-kingston/i-don-t-think-my-looks-are-modern-i-always-imagined-i-d-end-up-doing/) [Alex Kingston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-kingston/) > [“Any idiot can face a crisis, it is day to day living that wears you out. —Anton Chekhov”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/any-idiot-can-face-a-crisis-it-is-day-to-day-living-that-wears-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Chekhov will seek out the key situation in the life of a cabman or a charwoman, and make them glow for a brief moment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-wilson-lynd/chekhov-will-seek-out-the-key-situation-in-the-life-of-a-cabman-or-a/) [Robert Wilson Lynd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-wilson-lynd/) > [As Michael (Chekhov)'s pupil, I learned more about acting. I learned psychology, history, and the good manners of art - taste.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn-monroe/as-michael-chekhov-s-pupil-i-learned-more-about-acting-i-learned/) [Marilyn Monroe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilyn-monroe/) > [If we're lucky, writer and reader alike, we'll finish the last line or two of a short story and then just sit for a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-carver/if-we-re-lucky-writer-and-reader-alike-we-ll-finish-the-last-line-or/) [Raymond Carver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-carver/) > [Chekhov said: let's put God - and all these grand progressive ideas - to one side. Let's begin with man; let's be kind and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vasily-grossman/chekhov-said-let-s-put-god-and-all-these-grand-progressive-ideas-to/) [Vasily Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vasily-grossman/) > [Reading Chekhov was just like the angels singing to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/reading-chekhov-was-just-like-the-angels-singing-to-me/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [When we remove the snowdrift piled up over Chekhov in recent years, we uncover a man profoundly agitated by social problems; a writer whose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yevgeny-zamyatin/when-we-remove-the-snowdrift-piled-up-over-chekhov-in-recent-years-we/) [Yevgeny Zamyatin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yevgeny-zamyatin/) > [Read the great stuff, but read the stuff that isn't so great, too. Great stuff is very discouraging. If you read only Beckett and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-albee/read-the-great-stuff-but-read-the-stuff-that-isn-t-so-great-too-great/) [Edward Albee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-albee/) > [I'll never forget reading Chekhov's "A Doctor's Visit" on a train to Hawthorne, New York, and I got to the end - the scene…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-ross/i-ll-never-forget-reading-chekhov-s-a-doctor-s-visit-on-a-train-to/) [Adam Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-ross/) Browse all 132 Chekhov quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "My own journey as a writer has been the discovery of different theatrical voices. Chekhov was a revelation. Tennessee Williams was another one. 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