QuoteProject
I always have a basic plot outline, but I like to leave some things to be decided while I write.
J. K. Rowling
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Leaving room for creativity allows for unexpected inspiration during the writing process.

J.K. Rowling expresses the idea that while having a structured outline is important for storytelling, allowing flexibility in the writing process can lead to spontaneous creativity and new ideas. This approach can enrich the narrative and make the writing journey more dynamic and engaging.

Themes

CreativityWritingInspirationFlexibilityStorytelling

In practice

Example use cases

During a writer's workshop discussion about the creative process.

More from J. K. Rowling

By all means continue destroying my possessions. I daresay I have too many.
J. K. RowlingRead
Where are you heading, if you’ve got the choice?” James lifted an invisible sword. “‘Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart!’ Like my dad.” Snape made a small, disparaging noise. James turned on him. “Got a problem with that?” “No,” said Snape, though his slight sneer said otherwise. “If you’d rather be brawny than brainy —” “Where’re you hoping to go, seeing as you’re neither?” interjected Sirius.
J. K. RowlingRead
Depression isn't just being a bit sad. It's feeling nothing. It's not wanting to be alive anymore.
J. K. RowlingRead
I tell you, that dragon's the most horrible animal I've ever met, but the way Hagrid goes on about it, you'd think it was a fluffy little bunny rabbit.
J. K. RowlingRead
Imagine losing fingernails, Harry! That really puts our sufferings into perspective, doesn't it?
J. K. RowlingRead
The consequences of our actions are always so complicated, so diverse, that predicting the future is a very difficult business indeed.
J. K. RowlingRead

Similar quotes

In my younger days, I was trying to write sophisticated prose and fantastic stories.
Haruki MurakamiRead
I adore the theater and I am a painter. I think the two are made for a marriage of love. I will give all my soul to prove this once more.
Marc ChagallRead
Do not write if there is no tremendous urge to do so. At the heart, there must be an inspiration or muse or one of those old-fashioned things. Else, why bore yourself, destroy other people's interest and kill trees?
Vikram SethRead
The fantasy that appeals most to people is the kind that's rooted thoroughly in somebody looking around a corner and thinking, 'What if I wandered into this writer's people here?' If you've done your job and made your people and your settings well enough, that adds an extra dimension that you can't buy.
Tamora PierceRead
The true theater, because it moves and makes use of living instruments, continues to stir up shadows where life has never ceased to grope its way.
Antonin ArtaudRead
There's a crystallization that goes on in a poem which the young man can bring off, but which the middle-aged man can't.
John UpdikeRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.

Quote by J. K. Rowling | QuoteProject