--- title: "1 Comfortable Writing Quotes By E. L. Doctorow" description: "1 Comfortable Writing quotes by E. L. Doctorow. Plus more from E. L. Doctorow and more Comfortable Writing sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/288/e-l-doctorow-4627_bit_the-important-thing-is-not-to-be-too-com_2041364.jpg" --- > [The important thing is not to be too comfortable when you're writing. Noise in the street? That's good. The computer goes down? That's good. All these things are good. It has to be a little bit of a struggle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/the-important-thing-is-not-to-be-too-comfortable-when-you-re-writing/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/288/e-l-doctorow-4627_bit_the-important-thing-is-not-to-be-too-com_2041364.jpg) ## More by E. L. Doctorow > [Things that appear on the front page of the newspaper as 'fact' are far more dangerous than the games played by a novelist, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/things-that-appear-on-the-front-page-of-the-newspaper-as-fact-are-far/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [There are moments when I cannot bear this unremitting consciousness. It knows only itself. Awake, I am in a continuum with my dreams. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/there-are-moments-when-i-cannot-bear-this-unremitting-consciousness/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [Most people are quiet in the world, and live in it tentatively, as if it were not their own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/most-people-are-quiet-in-the-world-and-live-in-it-tentatively-as-if/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [It is the immigrant hordes who keep this country alive, the waves of them arriving year after year… Who believes in America more than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/it-is-the-immigrant-hordes-who-keep-this-country-alive-the-waves-of/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [A book begins as a private excitement of the mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/a-book-begins-as-a-private-excitement-of-the-mind/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [I started on computers with 'Billy Bathgate,' a little orange screen with black letters. I thought it was really cool, but it actually slowed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/i-started-on-computers-with-billy-bathgate-a-little-orange-screen/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/when-i-m-writing-i-like-to-seal-everything-off-and-face-the-wall-not/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [Facts are the images of history, just as images are the facts of fiction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/facts-are-the-images-of-history-just-as-images-are-the-facts-of/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [The nature of good fiction is that it dwells in ambiguity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/the-nature-of-good-fiction-is-that-it-dwells-in-ambiguity/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [Uncharged with invisible meaning, the visible is nothing, mere clay; and without visible circumstance, a territory, to connect to, our spirit is shapeless, nameless,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/uncharged-with-invisible-meaning-the-visible-is-nothing-mere-clay-and/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [“Writing a novel is like driving at night in the fog. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/writing-a-novel-is-like-driving-at-night-in-the-fog-you-can-only-see/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [I did have a feeling then that the culture of factuality was so dominating that storytelling had lost all its authority.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/i-did-have-a-feeling-then-that-the-culture-of-factuality-was-so/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [I got married very early, and in no time at all, we had three children. And it seemed to me I had an obligation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/i-got-married-very-early-and-in-no-time-at-all-we-had-three-children/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [When you're writing a book, you don't really think about it critically. You don't want to know too well what you're doing. First, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/when-you-re-writing-a-book-you-don-t-really-think-about-it-critically/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [A writer's life is so hazardous that anything he does is bad for him. Anything that happens to him is bad: failure's bad, success…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/a-writer-s-life-is-so-hazardous-that-anything-he-does-is-bad-for-him/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comfortable-writing/e-l-doctorow/#itemlist", "name": "1 Comfortable Writing Quotes By E. L. Doctorow", "numberOfItems": 1, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The important thing is not to be too comfortable when you're writing. Noise in the street? That's good. The computer goes down? That's good. All these things are good. It has to be a little bit of a struggle.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "E. L. 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