--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I knew I wanted to write novels, but I…" description: "\"I knew I wanted to write novels, but I could not finish what I started. The closer I got, the more ways I'd find to screw it up.\" — Steven Pressfield" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/516/steven-pressfield-696_books_i-knew-i-wanted-to-write-novels-but-i-co_1951167.jpg" --- # I knew I wanted to write novels, but I could not finish… ![“I knew I wanted to write novels, but I could not finish what I started. The closer I got, the more ways I'd find to screw it up.” quote by Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/516/steven-pressfield-696_books_i-knew-i-wanted-to-write-novels-but-i-co_1951167.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/516/steven-pressfield-696_books_i-knew-i-wanted-to-write-novels-but-i-co_1951167.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/516/steven-pressfield-696_books_i-knew-i-wanted-to-write-novels-but-i-co_1951167.jpg) > “I knew I wanted to write novels, but I could not finish what I started. The closer I got, the more ways I'd find to screw it up.” [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The author admits a desire to write novels but repeatedly self‑sabotages, illustrating the internal conflict between ambition and fear of failure. **In simple terms:** Wanting to write, but keeps ruining it. Key Takeaway Identify and break self‑sabotage cycles. Themes creativity self‑doubt discipline writing ambition Mood determined reflective Type motivational practical When to use this quote - novel drafting - daily writing habit - writing retreats - accountability groups Key Concepts procrastination inner critic creative block Questions to Reflect On - What specific habits keep you from finishing? - How can you redesign your process to reduce self‑sabotage? A Different Perspective May ignore external factors like time or resources. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Novels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novels/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [My experience with My Sister Rosa showed me, once again, that I have a much easier time of it if I sell my novels…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justine-larbalestier/my-experience-with-my-sister-rosa-showed-me-once-again-that-i-have-a/) [Justine Larbalestier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justine-larbalestier/) > [I was 35, had always wanted to write novels, and thought that I had better do it while I was young enough.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-gabaldon/i-was-35-had-always-wanted-to-write-novels-and-thought-that-i-had/) [Diana Gabaldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-gabaldon/) > [I was convinced that the only thing I wanted to do ever - was write novels.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-k-rowling-2/i-was-convinced-that-the-only-thing-i-wanted-to-do-ever-was-write/) [J. K. Rowling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-k-rowling-2/) > [I write novels and other things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-l-chalker/i-write-novels-and-other-things/) [Jack L. Chalker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-l-chalker/) > [I am a writer, which means I write stories, I write novels, and I would write poetry if I knew how to. I don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandar-hemon/i-am-a-writer-which-means-i-write-stories-i-write-novels-and-i-would/) [Aleksandar Hemon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandar-hemon/) > [Every novel is like this, desperation, a frustrated attempt to save something of the past. Except that it still has not been established whether…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/every-novel-is-like-this-desperation-a-frustrated-attempt-to-save/) [Jose Saramago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-saramago/) > [“...writers are a savage breed, Mr. Strike. If you want life-long friendship and selfless camaraderie, join the army and learn to kill. If you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-galbraith/writers-are-a-savage-breed-mr-strike-if-you-want-life-long-friendship/) [Robert Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-galbraith/) > [I'm a novelist at heart. How's that? 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I want to write stories. I want to do the stuff that I became a writer to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/i-want-to-write-novels-i-want-to-write-stories-i-want-to-do-the-stuff/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) ## More by Steven Pressfield > [Most of us have two lives. The life we live, and the unlived life within us. Between the two stands Resistance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pressfield/most-of-us-have-two-lives-the-life-we-live-and-the-unlived-life/) [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) > [“The artist and the fundamentalist both confront the same issue, the mystery of their existence as individuals. Each asks the same questions: Who am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pressfield/the-artist-and-the-fundamentalist-both-confront-the-same-issue-the/) [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) > [The professional arms himself with patience, not only to give the stars time to align in his career, but to keep himself from flaming…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pressfield/the-professional-arms-himself-with-patience-not-only-to-give-the/) [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) > [The Kabbalah describes angels as bundles of light, meaning intelligence, consciousness. Kabbalists believe that above every blade of grass is an angel crying "Grow!…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pressfield/the-kabbalah-describes-angels-as-bundles-of-light-meaning/) [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) > [There is an enemy. 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Insights accrete.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pressfield/when-we-sit-down-each-day-and-do-our-work-power-concentrates-around/) [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) > [Anything that draws attention to ourselves through pain-free or artificial means is a manifestation of Resistance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pressfield/anything-that-draws-attention-to-ourselves-through-pain-free-or/) [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) > [The Gnostics believed that exile was the essential condition of man. Do you agree? I do. The artist and the addict both wrestle with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pressfield/the-gnostics-believed-that-exile-was-the-essential-condition-of-man/) [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) > [“Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting: The soul that rises with us, our life's star, Hath had elsewhere its setting, And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pressfield/our-birth-is-but-a-sleep-and-a-forgetting-the-soul-that-rises-with-us/) [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) > [You are a writer when you tell yourself you are. No one else's opinion matters. Screw them. You are when you say you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pressfield/you-are-a-writer-when-you-tell-yourself-you-are-no-one-else-s-opinion/) [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) > [“Resistance outwits the amateur with the oldest trick in the book: It uses his own enthusiasm against him. Resistance gets us to plunge into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pressfield/resistance-outwits-the-amateur-with-the-oldest-trick-in-the-book-it/) [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) > [“I don't need to read nothing,' said the New Zealander. 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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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