"The theater of the mind is impossible to compete with, and I like the idea that with a few suggestions, each reader forms in his or her own mind what a character or a place looks like"
About this Quote
The key phrase is "a few suggestions". Jenkins is describing a craft ethic: restraint as authority. Instead of over-describing, the novelist drops cues - a gesture, a texture, one telling detail - then lets the reader’s memory and imagination do the heavy lifting. That’s not just economical; it’s participatory. The reader becomes co-creator, which creates intimacy and buy-in. You don’t merely observe the story; you help build it, and people defend what they help make.
There’s also a quiet argument about why adaptations frustrate fans. When you’ve constructed a character’s face in your head for 300 pages, a casting choice can feel like an invasion, not an interpretation. Jenkins, a high-output popular novelist, is defending the old magic of prose in a crowded media ecosystem: minimal inputs, maximal personalization, and a kind of narrative privacy that no algorithmic feed can replicate.
Quote Details
| Topic | Writing |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Jenkins, Jerry B. (2026, January 17). The theater of the mind is impossible to compete with, and I like the idea that with a few suggestions, each reader forms in his or her own mind what a character or a place looks like. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-theater-of-the-mind-is-impossible-to-compete-74919/
Chicago Style
Jenkins, Jerry B. "The theater of the mind is impossible to compete with, and I like the idea that with a few suggestions, each reader forms in his or her own mind what a character or a place looks like." FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-theater-of-the-mind-is-impossible-to-compete-74919/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"The theater of the mind is impossible to compete with, and I like the idea that with a few suggestions, each reader forms in his or her own mind what a character or a place looks like." FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-theater-of-the-mind-is-impossible-to-compete-74919/. Accessed 19 Feb. 2026.




