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About this quote

What does it mean?
A creative writer possesses a natural ability to perceive and understand human nature.
In plain terms
Imaginative writers naturally understand people well.
What can you take from it?
Trust your intuitive grasp of personality.

Where it applies

  • drafting characters
  • analyzing behavior
  • storytelling

Putting it to work

  • character development
  • psychological profiling

Questions to consider

  • Do you trust your intuition about people?
  • Is character insight teachable?

Another view

Not all writers naturally possess this specific instinct.

More from Graham Greene

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  2. A major character has to come somehow out of the unconscious.

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  3. A petty reason perhaps why novelists more and more try to keep a distance from journalists is that novelists are trying to write the truth and journalists are …

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