For me, choosing between fiction and nonfiction is really only about picking the right tool for the job. — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
In other words, fiction is payback for those who have wronged you. — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
Usually, when I write a novel, it takes me about 100 pages to figure out the voice of the narrator. — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
Each book requires a different kind of treatment and structural gambit. — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
I always try to mix it up with each book - changing tone, changing style keeps the work very vital for me. — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
Most of my books have always worked through juxtaposition, jumping through different point of views and time. — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
It's always hard to write and get your words out there, to find an editor, a publisher - readers! - who are… — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
When I'm working on a book, I try to do eight pages a week. That seems like a good amount. Less than… — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
As always, a lot of bad books will be published. Some good books will be published, and you have to seek them… — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
I think being a writer was a crappy job when you just had typewriters. It was crappy when we just had ink… — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
People don't like it when you compare the miracle of childbirth to writing a book, but I think there is some overlap… — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
In terms of why everything is different, each book is different than the one before because I'm so bored of what I… — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
Other people have hang-ups about what's literary or genre or whatever, and that's sort of not my problem. You're supposed to write… — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
I write the books that I'm compelled to and I definitely learn things about the world when I write them, and I… — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
I get invited to do panels with other Brooklyn writers to discuss what it's like to be a writer in Brooklyn. I… — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
I can't say that you should extract this or that value from my books explicitly. They are up for interpretation. In terms… — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
I want to keep growing as a writer. I find myself doing unexpected projects and sort of challenging my idea of where… — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
Part of any book is establishing the rules at the end of the world. My first book, 'The Intuitionist,' takes place in… — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
In terms of the economics, yes obviously the rise of e-books and how people choose to read books has a big effect… — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
I was inspired to become a writer by horror movies and science fiction. — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
There are good writers and bad writers. It's hard to find writers who really speak to you, but the work is out… — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
I'm an African-American writer, I'm a lazy writer, I'm a writer who likes to watch The Wire, I'm a writer who likes… — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
A lot of my writer friends live near me, and that makes people think we just hang around with one another in… — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
'John Henry Days' was already half in the can before my first book came out, so I'd already started something that was… — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
I write at home. I like to be able to take a nap, watch TV, make a sandwich, and if I wake… — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
I'd never been much of an athlete, due to a physical condition I'd had since birth (unathleticism). Perhaps if there were a sport centered… — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
I want to keep growing as a writer. I find myself doing unexpected projects and sort of challenging my idea of where I am… — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
“Every Tuesday, James Fulton (and later, Orville Lever) stood in the downstairs drawing room and lectured on the intricacies of his science. Lectured on… — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
I started writing in the '90s, so I was free to just have an eccentric career and not conform to some idea of what… — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
“The Great War had always been between the white and the black. It always would be. Cora” — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
“The worst sort of scoundrels took up the chase. Drunkards, incorrigibles, poor whites who didn’t even own shoes delighted in this opportunity to scourge… — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
Don’t go searching for a subject, let your subject find you. You can’t rush inspiration. … Once your subject finds you, it’s like falling… — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
“its terms? Homer watched her as she dressed, like a valet who had waited on her since the cradle. “I’m caught,” Cora said. “You… — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
These days I find myself wanting to avoid being pigeon-holed, ghettoized, held in a different category than other authors. And when people ask me… — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
Part of any book is establishing the rules at the end of the world. My first book, 'The Intuitionist,' takes place in an alternative… — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
There's always an attack on the sophomore novel from some quarters. — Colson Whitehead Copy Share Image
