--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I feel like I'm almost ready to write…" description: "\"I feel like I'm almost ready to write fiction about the border. But even after 10 years of writing nonfiction about it, I don't think I know quite enou..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d46/william-t-vollmann-2100_border_i-feel-like-i-m-almost-ready-to-write-fi_494260.png" --- # I feel like I'm almost ready to write fiction about the… ![“I feel like I'm almost ready to write fiction about the border. But even after 10 years of writing nonfiction about it, I don't think I know quite enough to do it right.” quote by William T. Vollmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d46/william-t-vollmann-2100_border_i-feel-like-i-m-almost-ready-to-write-fi_494260.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d46/william-t-vollmann-2100_border_i-feel-like-i-m-almost-ready-to-write-fi_494260.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d46/william-t-vollmann-2100_border_i-feel-like-i-m-almost-ready-to-write-fi_494260.png) > “I feel like I'm almost ready to write fiction about the border. But even after 10 years of writing nonfiction about it, I don't think I know quite enough to do it right.” [William T. Vollmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-t-vollmann/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He doubts his expertise despite years of nonfiction, fearing inadequacy in fiction writing about the border. **In simple terms:** Uncertain about writing fiction after nonfiction experience. Key Takeaway Seek deeper research before starting. Themes self‑doubt expertise creative transition Mood anxious reflective Type advisory introspective When to use this quote - journalism - creative writing workshops - field research - peer feedback Key Concepts border studies fiction writing authorial identity Questions to Reflect On - What specific knowledge gaps do you feel? - How can you leverage nonfiction skills in fiction? A Different Perspective Experience alone may not guarantee competence in a new genre. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Border](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/border/) [Borders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/borders/) [Enough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enough/) [Feels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feels/) [Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) [Fiction Border](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction-border-4222521/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [Nonfiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nonfiction/) [Ready](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ready/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Write Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/write-fiction/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Writing nonfiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-nonfiction/) [Years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years/) [Years Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years-writing/) ## Related quotes > [I write fiction longhand. That's not so much about rejecting technology as being unable to write fiction on a computer for some reason. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-egan/i-write-fiction-longhand-that-s-not-so-much-about-rejecting/) [Jennifer Egan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-egan/) > [At least for me, it takes more knowledge to write fiction than nonfiction. At least about someplace that I begin with a lot of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-t-vollmann/at-least-for-me-it-takes-more-knowledge-to-write-fiction-than/) [William T. Vollmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-t-vollmann/) > [I love playing with language and the rhythm of language - for some reason, this seems so much easier for me to do when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/uzodinma-iweala/i-love-playing-with-language-and-the-rhythm-of-language-for-some/) [Uzodinma Iweala](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/uzodinma-iweala/) > [There is always a certain leap of faith that editors have made with their nonfiction writers. If the trust is broken, things can get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-scott-berg/there-is-always-a-certain-leap-of-faith-that-editors-have-made-with/) [A. Scott Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-scott-berg/) > [If you go through any newspaper or magazine and look for active, kicking verbs in the sentences, you will realize that this lack of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudolf-flesch/if-you-go-through-any-newspaper-or-magazine-and-look-for-active/) [Rudolf Flesch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudolf-flesch/) > [Writing nonfiction is more like sculpture, a matter of shaping the research into the finished thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/writing-nonfiction-is-more-like-sculpture-a-matter-of-shaping-the-2/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [When I'm writing fiction I'm thinking, God, this is so hard - I have to make all this stuff up! I wish I were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-preston/when-i-m-writing-fiction-i-m-thinking-god-this-is-so-hard-i-have-to/) [Douglas Preston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-preston/) > [I suppose writing nonfiction did prepare me for writing fiction. Whenever you write anything, you're honing your skills for writing anything else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-berg/i-suppose-writing-nonfiction-did-prepare-me-for-writing-fiction/) [Elizabeth Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-berg/) > [I can't even imagine writing nonfiction by hand. I think if I didn't have a computer, I just couldn't do it. Maybe it's a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-egan/i-can-t-even-imagine-writing-nonfiction-by-hand-i-think-if-i-didn-t/) [Jennifer Egan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-egan/) > [“Writing nonfiction means I tell people's stories for them, not because they're special but because we all are.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jo-deurbrouck/writing-nonfiction-means-i-tell-people-s-stories-for-them-not-because/) [Jo Deurbrouck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jo-deurbrouck/) > [Writing fiction is for me a fraught business, an occasion of daily dread for at least the first half of the novel, and sometimes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/writing-fiction-is-for-me-a-fraught-business-an-occasion-of-daily/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [It's exhausting writing nonfiction, particularly when it's personal. It's tiring, always speaking about things that are not necessarily fun retelling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ishmael-beah/it-s-exhausting-writing-nonfiction-particularly-when-it-s-personal-it/) [Ishmael Beah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ishmael-beah/) > [Writing nonfiction is more like sculpture, a matter of shaping the research into the finished thing. Novels are like paintings, specifically watercolors. Every stroke…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/writing-nonfiction-is-more-like-sculpture-a-matter-of-shaping-the/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [Writing nonfiction of various kinds has been instructive and entertaining as well as paying the rent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-dunn/writing-nonfiction-of-various-kinds-has-been-instructive-and/) [Katherine Dunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-dunn/) > [I started writing nonfiction because nonfiction is well-suited to subjects that, if you wrote them as fiction, people would say, "I don't believe this.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debra-monroe/i-started-writing-nonfiction-because-nonfiction-is-well-suited-to/) [Debra Monroe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debra-monroe/) ## More by William T. Vollmann > [Some friends and I, we went right up there behind the studio and we got on a train, we could tell it was going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-t-vollmann/some-friends-and-i-we-went-right-up-there-behind-the-studio-and-we/) [William T. Vollmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-t-vollmann/) > [I read and write for most of the day, but I do let myself be interrupted by real life. I enjoy going out with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-t-vollmann/i-read-and-write-for-most-of-the-day-but-i-do-let-myself-be/) [William T. Vollmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-t-vollmann/) > [“A treble clef, for example, resembles a Muscovite or Leningrader in a bulky hooded parka. A bass clef bends as simply and painfully as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-t-vollmann/a-treble-clef-for-example-resembles-a-muscovite-or-leningrader-in-a/) [William T. Vollmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-t-vollmann/) > [Oh, ants, my sisters, good old honeydew-seekers! From close up you are sticky and shiny and gristly; and your nymphs have parasitic red mites…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-t-vollmann/oh-ants-my-sisters-good-old-honeydew-seekers-from-close-up-you-are/) [William T. Vollmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-t-vollmann/) > [It will be fun to give some to prostitutes,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-t-vollmann/it-will-be-fun-to-give-some-to-prostitutes/) [William T. Vollmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-t-vollmann/) > [If I didn't feel that I was doing something or trying to do something for others, then I would have very little excuse for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-t-vollmann/if-i-didn-t-feel-that-i-was-doing-something-or-trying-to-do-something/) [William T. Vollmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-t-vollmann/) > [Just for the hell of it, try to love someone as unlike you as possible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-t-vollmann/just-for-the-hell-of-it-try-to-love-someone-as-unlike-you-as-possible/) [William T. Vollmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-t-vollmann/) > [“The shortest man, codenamed RIMSKY, said to me that freedom means understanding our place within the laws of history; we are more free when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-t-vollmann/the-shortest-man-codenamed-rimsky-said-to-me-that-freedom-means/) [William T. Vollmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-t-vollmann/) > [“Do you want to know what happiness is? Happiness is the absence of unpleasant information.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-t-vollmann/do-you-want-to-know-what-happiness-is-happiness-is-the-absence-of/) [William T. Vollmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-t-vollmann/) > [My father hates organized religion, probably because he hates the God who killed his little girl back in 1968. I find religions variously bemusing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-t-vollmann/my-father-hates-organized-religion-probably-because-he-hates-the-god/) [William T. Vollmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-t-vollmann/) > [There's an Inuit myth about the origin of the human race. There were two brothers, and the younger brother eventually gets changed into a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-t-vollmann/there-s-an-inuit-myth-about-the-origin-of-the-human-race-there-were/) [William T. Vollmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-t-vollmann/) > [Don't write for money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-t-vollmann/don-t-write-for-money/) [William T. Vollmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-t-vollmann/) > [I first got really interested in Noh in about 1977. There was an independent bookstore in Bloomington, Indiana where I was going to high…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-t-vollmann/i-first-got-really-interested-in-noh-in-about-1977-there-was-an/) [William T. Vollmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-t-vollmann/) > [“More aid, better directed! Couldn't we all use that? And what if the universe enacts less aid, more poorly directed?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-t-vollmann/more-aid-better-directed-couldn-t-we-all-use-that-and-what-if-the/) [William T. Vollmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-t-vollmann/) > [“whatever fate sends us quickly becomes us, and we grow blind to what we might otherwise have been. And”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-t-vollmann/whatever-fate-sends-us-quickly-becomes-us-and-we-grow-blind-to-what/) [William T. Vollmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-t-vollmann/) [Explore all 186 William T. Vollmann quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-t-vollmann/) ## More Border quotes > [The U.S.-Mexican border es un herida abierta where the Third World grates against the first and bleeds. And before a scab forms it hemorrhages…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-e-anzald-a/the-u-s-mexican-border-es-un-herida-abierta-where-the-third-world/) [Gloria E. Anzaldúa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-e-anzald-a/) > [“Tear down your border of thicket and vine creating a free world, yours and mine.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-cosgrove/tear-down-your-border-of-thicket-and-vine-creating-a-free-world-yours/) [Stephen Cosgrove](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-cosgrove/) > [We believe that there are aspects of border security that Democrats and Republicans can agree on.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-durbin/we-believe-that-there-are-aspects-of-border-security-that-democrats/) [Dick Durbin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-durbin/) > [My message to everyone: the next time you hear about migrant children near the border, just picture them as your own. Then think what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-sharpton/my-message-to-everyone-the-next-time-you-hear-about-migrant-children/) [Al Sharpton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-sharpton/) > [I think there are definitely a lot of subjects I don't share with people, but I'm not sure where that border is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jens-lekman/i-think-there-are-definitely-a-lot-of-subjects-i-don-t-share-with/) [Jens Lekman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jens-lekman/) > [Border security is not only related to resources competition.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hailemariam-desalegn/border-security-is-not-only-related-to-resources-competition/) [Hailemariam Desalegn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hailemariam-desalegn/) > [In 2019 folks were coming across the border and were sitting down, they were sitting down waiting for Border Patrol to come up because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chad-wolf/in-2019-folks-were-coming-across-the-border-and-were-sitting-down/) [Chad Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chad-wolf/) > [Russians not only vehemently despise blacks, they believe Africa begins at the Ukraine border.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/russians-not-only-vehemently-despise-blacks-they-believe-africa/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [The border is varied depending on the geography, depending on the specific venue, and depending on the conduct of individuals around it. We don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-mayorkas/the-border-is-varied-depending-on-the-geography-depending-on-the/) [Alejandro Mayorkas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-mayorkas/) > [It's not rocket science. It's not super high technology to construct border barriers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kris-kobach/it-s-not-rocket-science-it-s-not-super-high-technology-to-construct/) [Kris Kobach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kris-kobach/) > [The president has promised greater border security. We can agree to that. A literal wall might not be the most effective means to that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mccain/the-president-has-promised-greater-border-security-we-can-agree-to/) [John McCain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mccain/) > [“All of the things that wore you down, even as that was balanced by the electric feeling of being on the side of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-vandermeer/all-of-the-things-that-wore-you-down-even-as-that-was-balanced-by-the/) [Jeff VanderMeer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-vandermeer/) > [“Love for one's country is great but why should that love stop at that border?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-casals/love-for-one-s-country-is-great-but-why-should-that-love-stop-at-that/) [Pablo Casals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-casals/) > [ I'm not an expert on the ways of Washington \[but\] it makes no sense to me that we're not funding control of our border. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeb-bush/i-m-not-an-expert-on-the-ways-of-washington-but-it-makes-no-sense-to/) [Jeb Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeb-bush/) > [The Biden administration is not just letting a record number of illegal immigrants cross our border, they are bringing them here. They are prohibiting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-cain/the-biden-administration-is-not-just-letting-a-record-number-of/) [Will Cain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-cain/) [Browse all 475 Border quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/border/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I feel like I'm almost ready to write fiction about the border. But even after 10 years of writing nonfiction about it, I don't think I know quite enough to do it right.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "William T. 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