I did have a feeling then that the culture of factuality was so dominating that storytelling had lost all its authority. E. L. Doctorow authorityculturedominate Change image and share on social
History is the present. That's why every generation writes it anew. But what most people think of as history is its end product, myth. E. L. Doctorow anewendgeneration Change image and share on social
I discovered Einstein said the same thing about his celebrated theories of relativity that writers say about their work when he said he didn't have any feelings of personal possession of these ideas. Once they were out there, they came from somewhere else. And that's exactly the feeling when you write. You don't feel possessive about it. E. L. Doctorow celebratediscovereinstein share on social
Good writing is supposed to evoke sensation in the reader - not the fact that it is raining, but the feeling of being rained upon. E. L. Doctorow evokefactfelt Change image and share on social
When I'm writing, I like to seal everything off and face the wall, not to look outside the window. The only way out is through the sentences. E. L. Doctorow facesealsentence Change image and share on social
I try to avoid experience if I can. Most experience is bad. E. L. Doctorow avoidbadexperience 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
There are two books that impressed me when I was very young. One was 'The Adventures of Augie March' - the idea of having something so generous, and so adventurous and improvisatory. The other was 'The U.S.A. Trilogy,' by John Dos Passos. E. L. Doctorow adventureadventurousaugie share on social
I started on computers with 'Billy Bathgate,' a little orange screen with black letters. I thought it was really cool, but it actually slowed me up for a while because it's so easy to revise, I tended to stay on the same page. I've learned to discipline myself. E. L. Doctorow bathgatebillyblack share on social