--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Real novelists, those we admire, those we…" description: "\"Real novelists, those we admire, those we consider timeless in their language and character and scene, those who receive accolades for inventive langua..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/12d/susan-straight-19680_character_real-novelists-those-we-admire-those-we_1347986.jpg" --- # Real novelists, those we admire, those we consider… ![“Real novelists, those we admire, those we consider timeless in their language and character and scene, those who receive accolades for inventive language and form, have writing lives we imagine in specific ways.” quote by Susan Straight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/12d/susan-straight-19680_character_real-novelists-those-we-admire-those-we_1347986.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/12d/susan-straight-19680_character_real-novelists-those-we-admire-those-we_1347986.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/12d/susan-straight-19680_character_real-novelists-those-we-admire-those-we_1347986.jpg) > “Real novelists, those we admire, those we consider timeless in their language and character and scene, those who receive accolades for inventive language and form, have writing lives we imagine in specific ways.” [Susan Straight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-straight/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Timeless writers achieve lasting impact through innovative language and structure. **In simple terms:** Great authors shape language and form. Key Takeaway Study their techniques for your own writing. Themes literature innovation legacy Mood thoughtful academic Type analytical inspirational When to use this quote - novel writing - creative workshops - literary criticism Key Concepts narrative craft character development Questions to Reflect On - What makes a writer timeless? - How can you innovate responsibly? A Different Perspective Imitating style can stifle originality. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Novelists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novelists/) [Novelists Admire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novelists-admire-4574378/) [Real](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real/) [Real Novelists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real-novelists-4574377/) [Timeless Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/timeless-language-4574379/) [Who](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/who/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Writing Lives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-lives-1032330/) ## Related quotes > [It is not histories I am writing, but lives; and in the most glorious deeds there is not always an indication of virtue or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plutarch/it-is-not-histories-i-am-writing-but-lives-and-in-the-most-glorious/) [Plutarch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plutarch/) > [“Writer’s want to write something that’ll live forever. 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Two members of my family were diagnosed with cancer, so I spent a lot of time in hospitals…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-tinti/my-life-wasn-t-always-smooth-sailing-two-members-of-my-family-were/) [Hannah Tinti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-tinti/) > [What interests me very much as a writer is the ability for writing to have our lives to be occupied so vividly by others.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/what-interests-me-very-much-as-a-writer-is-the-ability-for-writing-to/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [Clichés are what good writing is all about. Because our lives are basically clichés.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvester-stallone/clich-s-are-what-good-writing-is-all-about-because-our-lives-are/) [Sylvester Stallone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvester-stallone/) > [The domestic lives we live - which may be accidental, or not entirely of our making - help to make possible our writing lives;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/the-domestic-lives-we-live-which-may-be-accidental-or-not-entirely-of/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [People will sometimes say, "Why don't you write more politics?" And I have to explain to them that writing the lives of women IS…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-paley/people-will-sometimes-say-why-don-t-you-write-more-politics-and-i/) [Grace Paley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-paley/) > [The novelist must look on humanity without partiality or prejudice. His sympathy, like that of the historian, must be unbounded, and untainted by sect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/goldwin-smith/the-novelist-must-look-on-humanity-without-partiality-or-prejudice/) [Goldwin Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/goldwin-smith/) > [You could say that all novels are spy novels and all novelists are spy masters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/you-could-say-that-all-novels-are-spy-novels-and-all-novelists-are/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/the-strain-of-anti-intellectualism-has-been-a-constant-thread-winding/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [Things that appear on the front page of the newspaper as 'fact' are far more dangerous than the games played by a novelist, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/things-that-appear-on-the-front-page-of-the-newspaper-as-fact-are-far/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [I always counsel aspiring novelists that passion is the most important quality for a writer to possess - technique can be taught, but that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-kleypas/i-always-counsel-aspiring-novelists-that-passion-is-the-most/) [Lisa Kleypas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-kleypas/) > [Not everyone is capable of madness; and of those lucky enough to be capable, not many have the courage for it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/august-strindberg/not-everyone-is-capable-of-madness-and-of-those-lucky-enough-to-be/) [August Strindberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/august-strindberg/) > [“She'll be an excellent novelist: a monster of self-absorption.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lan-samantha-chang/she-ll-be-an-excellent-novelist-a-monster-of-self-absorption/) [Lan Samantha Chang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lan-samantha-chang/) ## More by Susan Straight > [The American fantasy of love is the 'meet-cute,' 'Love at first sight,' and 'You had me at hello!' The completely spontaneous version of accidental…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-straight/the-american-fantasy-of-love-is-the-meet-cute-love-at-first-sight-and/) [Susan Straight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-straight/) > [More than half of my former students teach - elementary and high school, community college and university. I taught them to be passionate about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-straight/more-than-half-of-my-former-students-teach-elementary-and-high-school/) [Susan Straight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-straight/) > [“The broken spine of the book shows the webbing of binder's string, and my fingers have worn white spots in the cover.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-straight/the-broken-spine-of-the-book-shows-the-webbing-of-binder-s-string-and/) [Susan Straight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-straight/) > [I still live in the same place I've lived all my life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-straight/i-still-live-in-the-same-place-i-ve-lived-all-my-life/) [Susan Straight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-straight/) > [All my best memories of my brother are in vehicles, speeding, predatory or celebratory. We were just made to drive. 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I'm never in my books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-straight/i-don-t-write-about-myself-i-m-never-in-my-books/) [Susan Straight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-straight/) > [I love election day, and I love to vote.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-straight/i-love-election-day-and-i-love-to-vote/) [Susan Straight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-straight/) > [“I have a million nightingales on the branches of my heart singing freedom.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-straight/i-have-a-million-nightingales-on-the-branches-of-my-heart-singing/) [Susan Straight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-straight/) > [I have more than 100 legal pads filled with handwriting. Eight novels, two books for children, countless stories and essays.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-straight/i-have-more-than-100-legal-pads-filled-with-handwriting-eight-novels/) [Susan Straight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-straight/) > [I never took the bus. Never. 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The women were hunted and captured, even the white women.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-straight/the-men-hunted-money-and-sex-the-women-were-hunted-and-captured-even/) [Susan Straight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-straight/) > [My father, born in Colorado, met my mother, born in Switzerland, when he went into the finance company where she worked and asked for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-straight/my-father-born-in-colorado-met-my-mother-born-in-switzerland-when-he/) [Susan Straight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-straight/) > [My mother and father split up when I was three and my brother was still in the womb.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-straight/my-mother-and-father-split-up-when-i-was-three-and-my-brother-was/) [Susan Straight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-straight/) > [The two words, in the American lexicon, are never good. Pink slip. The first time I ever heard it when I was young was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-straight/the-two-words-in-the-american-lexicon-are-never-good-pink-slip-the/) [Susan Straight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-straight/) [Explore all 32 Susan Straight quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-straight/) ## More Character quotes > [This may sound strange, but although I feel like I know everything about my characters, the brand of shampoo they use, how many cavities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-honeyman/this-may-sound-strange-but-although-i-feel-like-i-know-everything/) [Gail Honeyman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-honeyman/) > [I always like a character who makes me laugh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachael-stirling/i-always-like-a-character-who-makes-me-laugh/) [Rachael Stirling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachael-stirling/) > [Social responsibility above the level of family, or at most of tribe, requires imagination-- devotion, loyalty, all the higher virtues -- which a man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/social-responsibility-above-the-level-of-family-or-at-most-of-tribe/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [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/) > [I'm often moved by the circumstances around some of my characters, but I don't think I've actually cried watching myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-winslet/i-m-often-moved-by-the-circumstances-around-some-of-my-characters-but/) [Kate Winslet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-winslet/) > [When you're on a daytime drama you get one page, you better damn well know your character. You better know what she would do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hudgins/when-you-re-on-a-daytime-drama-you-get-one-page-you-better-damn-well/) [David Hudgins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hudgins/) > [It can sometimes make people fold into themselves and kind of run away, but I think in this case these characters are being forced…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-deschanel/it-can-sometimes-make-people-fold-into-themselves-and-kind-of-run/) [Emily Deschanel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-deschanel/) > [If you are well-mannered towards those whose views are similar to yours, you may be said to exhibit a fairly good character. But, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-you-are-well-mannered-towards-those-whose-views-are-similar-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Democracy is based on the conviction that man has the moral and intellectual capacity, as well as the inalienable right, to govern himself with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-s-truman/democracy-is-based-on-the-conviction-that-man-has-the-moral-and/) [Harry S. 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