Flannery O’Connor? Graham Wallas? E. M. Forster? Inger Stevens? August Heckscher? Paul Samuelson? Shirley MacLaine? Joan Didion? E. L. Doctorow? John Gregory Dunne? Edward Albee? Wendy Wasserstein? William Faulkner? Virginia Hamilton Adair? Stephen King?
(1) I write to find out what I think.
(2) I don’t know what I think until I read what I write.
This remark has a humorous edge because thoughts are usually formulated before they are written down. This notion has been attributed to prominent short story writer and novelist Flannery O’Connor and to horror master Stephen King. Would you please explore this topic?
Reply from Quote Investigator: The full version of this article is available on the Medium website which is available by clicking here. This article provides an overview.
In 1948 Flannery O’Connor wrote a letter to her literary agent, and she included an instance of the saying. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:[1]1979, The Habit of Being: Letters of Flannery O’Connor, Edited by Sally Fitzgerald, Part I: Up North and Getting Home 1948-1952, Letter to: Literary agent Elizabeth McKee, Letter date: July 21, … Continue reading
What you say about the novel, Rinehart, advances, etc. sounds very good to me, but I must tell you how I work. I don’t have my novel outlined and I have to write to discover what I am doing. Like the old lady, I don’t know so well what I think until I see what I say; then I have to say it over again.
O’Connor’s mention of an “old lady” indicated that she was referencing an earlier cluster of similar remarks. Here are two of the earliest instances:
1926: How can I know what I think till I see what I say? (Attributed to unnamed little girl by educator Graham Wallas)[2]1926 Copyright, The Art of Thought by Graham Wallas (Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of London), Chapter 4: Stages of Control, Quote Page 106, Harcourt, Brace and Company, … Continue reading
1927: How can I tell what I think till I see what I say? (Attributed to an unnamed old lady by novelist E. M. Forster)[3] 1927 Copyright, Aspects Of The Novel by E. M. Forster, Chapter 5: The Plot, Quote Page 152, Harcourt, Brace and Company, New York. (Verified with scans)
The two quotations above were about speaking instead of writing. A separate QI article about the family of sayings centered on oral expression is available here: How Can I Know What I Think Till I See What I Say?
This article will center on sayings about written expression. Below is an overview of this family of remarks.
1948 Jul 21: I don’t have my novel outlined and I have to write to discover what I am doing. Like the old lady, I don’t know so well what I think until I see what I say; then I have to say it over again. (Writer Flannery O’Connor)
1959 May 7: I have been writing down my thoughts about things—not for publication, but to find out what I’m thinking about. (Actress Inger Stevens)
1963: I did not really know what I thought until I read what I had written the next day. (Attributed to Journalist August Heckscher)
1969 Jan: How do I know what I really think until I read what my pen is writing? (Economist Paul Samuelson)
1976 Nov 18: Half the time I write to find out what I mean. (Actress and Author Shirley MacLaine)
1976 Dec 5: I write entirely to find out what I’m thinking. (Writer Joan Didion)
1981 Mar 31: You write to find out what it is that you’re writing. (Novelist E. L. Doctorow)
1982 May 3: I think you write to find out what you think. (Screenwriter John Gregory Dunne)
1983 Jun: I write the plays down to find out what I’m thinking about. (Playwright Edward Albee)
1985 Mar 17: I often write to find out what I’m thinking. (Playwright Wendy Wasserstein)
1989: I don’t know what I think until I read what I said. (Attributed to William Faulkner by Warren Bennis)
1994: I never know what I think about something until I read what I’ve written on it. (Attributed to William Faulkner by Tom Morris)
1995: I never know what I think until I read it in one of my poems. (Poet Virginia Hamilton Adair)
2005: I write to find out what I think. (Horror writer Stephen King)
Additional detailed information is available in the Quote Investigator article on the Medium website which is available by clicking here.
References
| ↑1 | 1979, The Habit of Being: Letters of Flannery O’Connor, Edited by Sally Fitzgerald, Part I: Up North and Getting Home 1948-1952, Letter to: Literary agent Elizabeth McKee, Letter date: July 21, 1948, Start Page 5, Quote Page 5, Farrar, Straus, Giroux, New York. (Verified with scans) |
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| ↑2 | 1926 Copyright, The Art of Thought by Graham Wallas (Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of London), Chapter 4: Stages of Control, Quote Page 106, Harcourt, Brace and Company, New York. (Verified with scans) |
| ↑3 | 1927 Copyright, Aspects Of The Novel by E. M. Forster, Chapter 5: The Plot, Quote Page 152, Harcourt, Brace and Company, New York. (Verified with scans) |