Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen.
John SteinbeckRead
To finish is sadness to a writer — a little death. He puts the last word down and it is done. But it isn't really done. The story goes on and leaves the writer behind, for no story is ever done.
Interpretation
What this quote means
A writer experiences a sense of loss when completing a story, as it signifies the end of a creative journey.
John Steinbeck reflects on the bittersweet feeling that accompanies the completion of a written work. For a writer, finishing a story can evoke sadness, akin to a 'little death,' because it marks the end of a deeply personal journey. However, the writer's connection to the narrative persists, as stories have a life of their own beyond the writer's involvement, indicating that no story is truly finished in the sense of its impact or continuation in the minds of readers.
Themes
WritingStorytellingCreativityLossCompletion
In practice
Example use cases
During a writing workshop, you can share this quote to discuss the emotional complexities of finishing a story.
More from John Steinbeck
All quotes →At one point, as Samuel urges Adam to raise his boys well regardless of the blood that might be in them, Adam tells him, "You can't make a race horse of a pig." Samuel replies, "No, but you can make a very fast pig.
John SteinbeckRead
And when that crop grew, and was harvested, no man had crumbled a hot clod in his fingers and let the earth sift past his fingertips. No man had touched the seed, or lusted for the growth. Men ate what they had not raised, had no connection with the bread. The land bore under iron, and under iron gradually died; for it was not loved or hated, it had no prayers or curses.
John SteinbeckRead
The comfortable people in tight houses felt pity at first, and then distaste, and finally hatred for the migrant people.
John SteinbeckRead
People do not want advice - they want corroboration.
John SteinbeckRead
It is one of the triumphs of the human that he can know a thing and still not believe it.
John SteinbeckRead
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