Gambling can turn into a dangerous two-way street when you least expect it. Weird things happen suddenly, and your life can go all to pieces.
Hunter S. ThompsonRead
Fiction is based on reality unless you're a fairy-tale artist, you have to get your knowledge of life from somewhere. You have to know the material you're writing about before you alter it.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Fiction often stems from real experiences and knowledge, even in fantastical writing.
Hunter S. Thompson emphasizes the importance of grounding fictional narratives in reality. He suggests that a writer must possess a deep understanding of life and the subjects they choose to depict, as this knowledge serves as the foundation for any creative alterations or imaginative expressions they may introduce into their work.
Themes
FictionRealityWritingKnowledgeCreativity
In practice
Example use cases
In a writing workshop, this quote could inspire budding authors to draw from their own experiences.
More from Hunter S. Thompson
All quotes →As things stand now, I am going to be a writer. I'm not sure that I'm going to be a good one or even a self-supporting one, but until the dark thumb of fate presses me to the dust and says 'you are nothing', I will be a writer.
Hunter S. ThompsonRead
Fiction is a bridge to the truth that journalism can't reach.
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There is nothing in the world more helpless and irresponsible and depraved than a man in the depths of an ether binge.
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Objective journalism is one of the main reasons that American politics has been allowed to be so corrupt for so long.
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When you write for a living and you can't do anything else, you know that sooner or later that the deadline is going to come screaming down on you like a goddamn banshee. There's no avoiding it...So one day you just don't appear at the El Adobe bar anymore; you shut the door, paint the windows black, rent an electric typewriter and become the monster you always were - the writer.
Hunter S. ThompsonRead
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