--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If you can tell stories, create…" description: "\"If you can tell stories, create characters, devise incidents, and have sincerity and passion, it doesn't matter a damn how you write.\" — W. Somerset Ma..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7e6/w-somerset-maugham-237_character_if-you-can-tell-stories-create-character_1652307.jpg" --- # If you can tell stories, create characters, devise… ![“If you can tell stories, create characters, devise incidents, and have sincerity and passion, it doesn't matter a damn how you write.” quote by W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7e6/w-somerset-maugham-237_character_if-you-can-tell-stories-create-character_1652307.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7e6/w-somerset-maugham-237_character_if-you-can-tell-stories-create-character_1652307.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7e6/w-somerset-maugham-237_character_if-you-can-tell-stories-create-character_1652307.jpg) > “If you can tell stories, create characters, devise incidents, and have sincerity and passion, it doesn't matter a damn how you write.” [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Skill in storytelling, character creation, and passion outweigh technical perfection in writing. **In simple terms:** Passion and sincerity matter more than flawless technique. Key Takeaway Focus on authentic storytelling. Themes writing creativity passion Mood inspirational thoughtful Type advice literary When to use this quote - novel writing - screenwriting - teaching workshops Key Concepts character development story structure authenticity Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance passion with craft? - Can sincerity compensate for weak plot? A Different Perspective Technical skill still improves readability. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Passion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/passion/) [Sincerity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sincerity/) [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [“If you can create characters, devise incidents, and have sincerity and passion, it doesn't matter a damn how you write.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/somerset-maughn/if-you-can-create-characters-devise-incidents-and-have-sincerity-and/) Somerset Maughn > [“If you can tell stories, create characters, devise incidents, and have sincerity and passion, it doesn’t matter a damn how you write.” ~Somerset Maugham”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-ward/if-you-can-tell-stories-create-characters-devise-incidents-and-have-2/) Dennis Ward > [We're writers. What do we do? We tell stories. We make up stories. We create art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hector-tobar/we-re-writers-what-do-we-do-we-tell-stories-we-make-up-stories-we/) [Hector Tobar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hector-tobar/) > [I certainly knew from an early age... how to tell stories; how to create pictures in other people's heads.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-barker/i-certainly-knew-from-an-early-age-how-to-tell-stories-how-to-create/) [Clive Barker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-barker/) > [“Vision, emotion, sincerity, passion and creativity. Without these attributes a writer has only his pen with which to speak to his audience”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-knight-english-writer-copywriter-cynic/vision-emotion-sincerity-passion-and-creativity-without-these/) Bill Knight English Writer Copywriter Cynic > [“Passion doesn’t count the cost. Pascal said that the heart has its reasons that reason takes no account of. 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You just don't pay attention…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kyle-petty/it-doesn-t-matter-what-you-do-if-you-love-what-you-do-then-you-don-t/) [Kyle Petty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kyle-petty/) > [“One more nice thing about short stories is that you can create a story out of the smallest details -an idea that springs up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/one-more-nice-thing-about-short-stories-is-that-you-can-create-a/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [I've always just wanted to tell stories, and create stuff, and I think "Creator" or "Director" would probably be the two words that I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shane-dawson/i-ve-always-just-wanted-to-tell-stories-and-create-stuff-and-i-think/) [Shane Dawson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shane-dawson/) ## More by W. Somerset Maugham > [“A man thinks it quite natural that he should fall out of love with a woman, but it never strikes him for a moment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/a-man-thinks-it-quite-natural-that-he-should-fall-out-of-love-with-a/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [“A man's work reveals him. In social intercourse he gives you the surface that he wishes the world to accept, but in his book…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/a-man-s-work-reveals-him-in-social-intercourse-he-gives-you-the/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [Love is only a dirty trick played on us to achieve continuation of the species.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/love-is-only-a-dirty-trick-played-on-us-to-achieve-continuation-of/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [The world is hard and cruel. We are here none knows why, and we go none knows whither. We must be very humble. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/the-world-is-hard-and-cruel-we-are-here-none-knows-why-and-we-go-none/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [“There is no more merit in having read a thousand books than in having ploughed a thousand fields.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/there-is-no-more-merit-in-having-read-a-thousand-books-than-in-having/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [“I wanted to live again and again. I was willing to accept every sort of life, no matter what its pain and sorrow; I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/i-wanted-to-live-again-and-again-i-was-willing-to-accept-every-sort/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [In Hollywood, the women are all peaches. It makes one long for an apple occasionally.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/in-hollywood-the-women-are-all-peaches-it-makes-one-long-for-an-apple/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [Follow your inclinations with due regard to the policeman round the corner.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/follow-your-inclinations-with-due-regard-to-the-policeman-round-the/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [“His love became a prison from which he longed to escape, but he had not the strength merely to open the door-that was all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/his-love-became-a-prison-from-which-he-longed-to-escape-but-he-had/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [I did not believe him capable of love. 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Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [“My dear, you used to be quite a dish; now you're quite a tureen.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/my-dear-you-used-to-be-quite-a-dish-now-you-re-quite-a-tureen/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [“When people say they do not care what others thing of them, for the most part they deceive themselves”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/when-people-say-they-do-not-care-what-others-thing-of-them-for-the/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) [Explore all 840 W. Somerset Maugham quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) ## 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. 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