Top 59 Quotes by E. L. Doctorow

About E. L. Doctorow

These are some quotes by American author E. L. Doctorow Author, who lived between January 6, 1931 and July 21, 2015.

There is no longer any such thing as fiction or nonfiction; there's only narrative.

There is no longer any such thing as fiction or nonfiction; there's only narrative.

E. L. Doctorow

Writing is like driving at night in the fog. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.

Writing is like driving at night in the fog. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.

E. L. Doctorow

I don't think anything I've written has been done in under six or eight drafts. Usually it takes me a few years to write a book. 'World's Fair' was an exception. It seemed to be a particularly fluent book as it came. I did it in seven months. I think what happened in that case is that God gave me a bonus book.

E. L. Doctorow

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.

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

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

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.

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

I try to avoid experience if I can. Most experience is bad.

I try to avoid experience if I can. Most experience is bad.

E. L. Doctorow

Writing is immensely difficult. The short forms especially.

Writing is immensely difficult. The short forms especially.

E. L. Doctorow

Writers are not just people who sit down and write. They hazard themselves. Every time you compose a book your composition of yourself is at stake.

Writers are not just people who sit down and write. They hazard themselves. Every time you compose a book your composition of yourself is at stake.

E. L. Doctorow

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