One of the things I had to learn as a writer was to trust the act of writing. To put myself in the position of writing to find out what I was writing. E. L. Doctorow actfindlearn Change image and share on social
Somewhere along the line the rhythms and tonalities of music elided in my brain with the sounds that words make and the rhythm that sentences have. E. L. Doctorow brainelideline Change image and share on social
My books start almost before I realise it. Once in a while, some accident causes an idea to rise to the surface and say: 'now.' E. L. Doctorow accidentbookidea Change image and share on social
Suffering isn't a moral endowment. People don't always do well under duress, and it seemed to me to be truer to a fellow in that situation to make him angry. E. L. Doctorow angryduressendowment Change image and share on social
I have a number of vices, one of which is moderation. E. L. Doctorow moderationnumbvice Change image and share on social
My theory about why Hemingway killed himself is that he heard his own voice; that he reached the point where he couldn't write without feeling he was repeating himself. That's the worst thing that can happen to a writer. E. L. Doctorow badfelthappen share on social
Planning to write is not writing. Outlining, researching, talking to people about what you're doing, none of that is writing. Writing is writing. E. L. Doctorow outlinepeopleplan Change image and share on social
I'm not the sort of writer who can walk into a party and take a look around, see who's sleeping with whom and go home and write a novel about society. It's not the way I work. E. L. Doctorow homepartysleep Change image and share on social
Writing is an exploration. You start from nothing and learn as you go. E. L. Doctorow explorationlearnstart Change image and share on social
Books are acts of composition: you compose them. You make music: the music is called fiction. E. L. Doctorow actbookcall Change image and share on social
