---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I'm looking for a writer who doesn't know…"
description: "\"“I'm looking for a writer who doesn't know where the sentence is leading her; a writer who starts with her obsessions and whose heart is bursting with ..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba5/sy-safransky-49885_blink_i-m-looking-for-a-writer-who-doesn-t-kno_504194.jpg"
---

#  I'm looking for a writer who doesn't know where the…

![“I'm looking for a writer who doesn't know where the sentence is leading her; a writer who starts with her obsessions and whose heart is bursting with love, a writer sly enough to give the slip to her secret police, the ones who know her so well, the ones with the power to accuse and condemn in the…” quote by Sy Safransky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba5/sy-safransky-49885_blink_i-m-looking-for-a-writer-who-doesn-t-kno_504194.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba5/sy-safransky-49885_blink_i-m-looking-for-a-writer-who-doesn-t-kno_504194.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba5/sy-safransky-49885_blink_i-m-looking-for-a-writer-who-doesn-t-kno_504194.jpg)

> ““I'm looking for a writer who doesn't know where the sentence is leading her; a writer who starts with her obsessions and whose heart is bursting with love, a writer sly enough to give the slip to her secret police, the ones who know her so well, the ones with the power to accuse and condemn in the blink of an eye. It's all right that she doesn't know what she's thinking until she writes it, as if the words already exist somewhere and draw her to them. She may not know how she got there, but she knows when she's arrived.””

[Sy Safransky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sy-safransky/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

The quote celebrates spontaneous, intuition‑driven writing, where the writer follows inner obsessions and lets words surface organically, trusting the process over pre‑planning.

**In simple terms:** Writing can be a mysterious, instinctive flow.

Key Takeaway

Trust your inner voice and write without over‑thinking.

Themes

creativity intuition authenticity

Mood

reflective inspired curious

Type

philosophical inspirational

When to use this quote

- journaling
- novel drafting
- poetry
- songwriting
- screenwriting

Key Concepts

spontaneity inner voice creative flow

Questions to Reflect On

- How do you balance intuition with clarity?
- When does spontaneity hinder communication?

A Different Perspective

May lead to incoherent or unfocused work without some structure.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Blink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blink/) [Blink of an eye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blink-of-an-eye/) [Bursting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bursting/) [Draws](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/draws/) [Enough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enough/) [Eye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eye/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Know how](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/know-how/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [Looking Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/looking-writer-3875167/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Love Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love-writer-469104/) [May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/may/) [Obsession](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/obsession/) [Police](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/police/) [Secret](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/secret/) [Secret police](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/secret-police/) [Sentences](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sentences/) [Slips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slips/) [Sly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sly/) [The-sun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/the-sun-188851/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Thinking Writes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking-writes-3145398/) [Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wells/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writer Doesn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer-doesn/) [Writer Starts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer-starts-2073933/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/)

## Related quotes

> [It's akin to style, what I'm talking about, but it isn't style alone. It is the writer's particular and unmistakable signature on everything he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-carver/it-s-akin-to-style-what-i-m-talking-about-but-it-isn-t-style-alone-it/)

[Raymond Carver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-carver/)

> [“Your Thinking writes your Future &amp; Your Action makes it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shashank-rayal/your-thinking-writes-your-future-your-action-makes-it/)

[Shashank Rayal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shashank-rayal/)

> [Your thinking writes your future, and your action makes it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shashank-rayal/your-thinking-writes-your-future-and-your-action-makes-it/)

[Shashank Rayal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shashank-rayal/)

> [There's a really nice moment in the life of a piece of writing where the writer starts to get a feeling of it outgrowing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/there-s-a-really-nice-moment-in-the-life-of-a-piece-of-writing-where/)

[George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/)

> [“If a writer starts worring about what he or she has left out or forgotten, they might not be able to write even a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baby-halder/if-a-writer-starts-worring-about-what-he-or-she-has-left-out-or/)

[Baby Halder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baby-halder/)

> [A writer starts out, I think, wanting to be a transfiguring agent, and ends up usually just making contact, contact with other human beings.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joy-williams/a-writer-starts-out-i-think-wanting-to-be-a-transfiguring-agent-and/)

[Joy Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joy-williams/)

> [“It's this way, see--when a writer first starts out, he gets a big kick from the stuff he does, and the reader doesn't get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/it-s-this-way-see-when-a-writer-first-starts-out-he-gets-a-big-kick/)

[Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/)

> [“The sun never has an inferiority complex. It shines the same whether above or below.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/curtis-tyrone-jones/the-sun-never-has-an-inferiority-complex-it-shines-the-same-whether/)

[Curtis Tyrone Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/curtis-tyrone-jones/)

> [“Pink is a beautiful color, because it is one of the colors that the sun makes at twilight and in the dawns.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-joybell-c/pink-is-a-beautiful-color-because-it-is-one-of-the-colors-that-the/)

[C. JoyBell C](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-joybell-c/)

> [“Miss Fairlie laughed with a ready good-humour, which broke out as brightly as if it had been part of the sunshine above us…”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilkie-collins/miss-fairlie-laughed-with-a-ready-good-humour-which-broke-out-as/)

[Wilkie Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilkie-collins/)

> [“Hide yourself in God, so when a man wants to find you he will have to go there first.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-l-alder/hide-yourself-in-god-so-when-a-man-wants-to-find-you-he-will-have-to/)

[Shannon L. Alder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-l-alder/)

> [“I have sometimes thought that the reason the trees are so quiet in the summer is that they are in a sort of ecstasy;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wolfe/i-have-sometimes-thought-that-the-reason-the-trees-are-so-quiet-in/)

[Gene Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wolfe/)

> [“Even when she's dethroned by hardship, she still wears the sun as a crown.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/curtis-tyrone-jones/even-when-she-s-dethroned-by-hardship-she-still-wears-the-sun-as-a/)

[Curtis Tyrone Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/curtis-tyrone-jones/)

> [“The Sun is 93 million miles from Earth. In 1610, Galileo observed sunspots on its surface, proving that the Sun was rotating and at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stewart-stafford/the-sun-is-93-million-miles-from-earth-in-1610-galileo-observed/)

[Stewart Stafford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stewart-stafford/)

> [“the lesser grindstone stood alone there in the calm morning air, with a red upon it that the sun had never given, and would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/the-lesser-grindstone-stood-alone-there-in-the-calm-morning-air-with/)

[Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/)

## More by Sy Safransky

> [How important to set aside time each day for the unknowable. How important to reach out: it doesn't matter that I don't yet believe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sy-safransky/how-important-to-set-aside-time-each-day-for-the-unknowable-how/)

[Sy Safransky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sy-safransky/)

> [The sun isn't your friend. It didn't laugh at that stupid little joke. But when the business failed, when your beauty failed, when you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sy-safransky/the-sun-isn-t-your-friend-it-didn-t-laugh-at-that-stupid-little-joke/)

[Sy Safransky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sy-safransky/)

> [“Nothing the night said about the morning turned out to be true.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sy-safransky/nothing-the-night-said-about-the-morning-turned-out-to-be-true/)

[Sy Safransky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sy-safransky/)

> [“My deepest gratitude goes to those we’ve quoted — men and women who labored long and hard to express in a few words a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sy-safransky/my-deepest-gratitude-goes-to-those-we-ve-quoted-men-and-women-who/)

[Sy Safransky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sy-safransky/)

> [In my more lucid moments I know that God is right here, right now; that God is the luminous mystery at the heart of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sy-safransky/in-my-more-lucid-moments-i-know-that-god-is-right-here-right-now-that/)

[Sy Safransky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sy-safransky/)

> [After forty years, with whatever authority comes from lived experience, I can say: You, too, can create something. You can nurture it and watch…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sy-safransky/after-forty-years-with-whatever-authority-comes-from-lived-experience/)

[Sy Safransky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sy-safransky/)

[Explore all 7 Sy Safransky quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sy-safransky/)

## More Blink quotes

> [I thought that the world was a vast system of signs, a conversation between giant beings. My actions, the cricket's saw, the star's blink,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/i-thought-that-the-world-was-a-vast-system-of-signs-a-conversation/)

[Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/)

> [...nothing wonderful lasted forever. Joy was as fleeting as a shooting star that crossed the evening sky, ready to blink out at any moment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-sparks/nothing-wonderful-lasted-forever-joy-was-as-fleeting-as-a-shooting/)

[Nicholas Sparks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-sparks/)

> [“Nothing is ever truly set by fate. In one blink, everything changes. Even though it should be a clear, sunny day, the softest whisper…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/nothing-is-ever-truly-set-by-fate-in-one-blink-everything-changes/)

[Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/)

> [Gauguin flew into a frenzy! He held my head under the X-ray machine for ten straight minutes and for several hours after I could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woody-allen/gauguin-flew-into-a-frenzy-he-held-my-head-under-the-x-ray-machine/)

[Woody Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woody-allen/)

> [I had achieved the most important things in my life when I married Joan and had the sons. Given the choice between Joan and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-b-parker/i-had-achieved-the-most-important-things-in-my-life-when-i-married/)

[Robert B. Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-b-parker/)

> [It's American Alternative radio stations that bug me. We're considered Alternative, but don't expect us to be played next to Blink 182 and Offspring.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thurston-moore/it-s-american-alternative-radio-stations-that-bug-me-we-re-considered/)

[Thurston Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thurston-moore/)

> [One thing that I think never goes out of style is just purity. Niceness and purity. And the Muppets have never lost that. Kermit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-segel/one-thing-that-i-think-never-goes-out-of-style-is-just-purity/)

[Jason Segel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-segel/)

> [“The stars blink like a hairnet that was dropped / on a seat and now it is lying in the alley behind / the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-o-hara/the-stars-blink-like-a-hairnet-that-was-dropped-on-a-seat-and-now-it/)

[Frank O'Hara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-o-hara/)

> [Every cliche about kids is true; they grow up so quickly, you blink and they're gone, and you have to spend the time with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liam-neeson/every-cliche-about-kids-is-true-they-grow-up-so-quickly-you-blink-and/)

[Liam Neeson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liam-neeson/)

> [Why women don't blink during foreplay... not enough time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-rivers/why-women-don-t-blink-during-foreplay-not-enough-time/)

[Joan Rivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-rivers/)

> [When I write about "realizations," I am describing a state in which a practitioner has wisdom of who she or he is, and has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-targ/when-i-write-about-realizations-i-am-describing-a-state-in-which-a/)

[Russell Targ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-targ/)

> [You know, the smallest thing can change a life. In the blink of an eye, something happens by chance - and when you least…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-sparks/you-know-the-smallest-thing-can-change-a-life-in-the-blink-of-an-eye/)

[Nicholas Sparks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-sparks/)

> [Blink and you miss a sprint. The 10,000 meters is lap after lap of waiting. Theatrically, the mile is just the right length: beginning,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-coe/blink-and-you-miss-a-sprint-the-10-000-meters-is-lap-after-lap-of/)

[Sebastian Coe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-coe/)

> [“Every moment—every blink—is composed of a series of discrete moving parts, and every one of those parts offers an opportunity for intervention, for reform,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-gladwell/every-moment-every-blink-is-composed-of-a-series-of-discrete-moving/)

[Malcolm Gladwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-gladwell/)

> [“Every time I so much as blink you get an erection.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carla-h-krueger/every-time-i-so-much-as-blink-you-get-an-erection/)

[Carla H Krueger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carla-h-krueger/)

[Browse all 396 Blink quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blink/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“I'm looking for a writer who doesn't know where the sentence is leading her; a writer who starts with her obsessions and whose heart is bursting with love, a writer sly enough to give the slip to her secret police, the ones who know her so well, the ones with the power to accuse and condemn in the blink of an eye. It's all right that she doesn't know what she's thinking until she writes it, as if the words already exist somewhere and draw her to them. She may not know how she got there, but she knows when she's arrived.”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Sy Safransky"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sy-safransky/i-m-looking-for-a-writer-who-doesn-t-know-where-the-sentence-is/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Blink"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sy-safransky/i-m-looking-for-a-writer-who-doesn-t-know-where-the-sentence-is/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba5/sy-safransky-49885_blink_i-m-looking-for-a-writer-who-doesn-t-kno_504194.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba5/sy-safransky-49885_blink_i-m-looking-for-a-writer-who-doesn-t-kno_504194.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba5/sy-safransky-49885_blink_i-m-looking-for-a-writer-who-doesn-t-kno_504194.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“I'm looking for a writer who doesn't know where the sentence is leading her; a writer who starts with her…” — Sy Safransky",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Sy Safransky",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sy-safransky/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“I'm looking for a writer who...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sy-safransky/i-m-looking-for-a-writer-who-doesn-t-know-where-the-sentence-is/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sy-safransky/i-m-looking-for-a-writer-who-doesn-t-know-where-the-sentence-is/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
