--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I get intrigued by a first lin and I…" description: "\"I get intrigued by a first lin and I write to find out why it means something to me. You make discoveries just the way the reader does, so you're simul..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9db/e-l-doctorow-4627_books_i-get-intrigued-by-a-first-lin-and-i-wri_2191849.png" --- # I get intrigued by a first lin and I write to find out why… ![“I get intrigued by a first lin and I write to find out why it means something to me. You make discoveries just the way the reader does, so you're simultaneously the writer and the reader.” quote by E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9db/e-l-doctorow-4627_books_i-get-intrigued-by-a-first-lin-and-i-wri_2191849.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9db/e-l-doctorow-4627_books_i-get-intrigued-by-a-first-lin-and-i-wri_2191849.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9db/e-l-doctorow-4627_books_i-get-intrigued-by-a-first-lin-and-i-wri_2191849.png) > “I get intrigued by a first lin and I write to find out why it means something to me. You make discoveries just the way the reader does, so you're simultaneously the writer and the reader.” [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writing a first line sparks curiosity, making the writer both creator and discoverer. **In simple terms:** First line sparks discovery. Key Takeaway Write to explore your curiosity. Themes writing discovery creativity reader writer Mood thoughtful engaging Type literary inspirational When to use this quote - novel writing - creative writing - literary analysis Key Concepts narrative theory creative process Questions to Reflect On - What first line would intrigue you? - How does curiosity shape your work? A Different Perspective Discovery can be unsettling. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Discoveries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discoveries/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [“He who knows the reader, does nothing for the reader.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/he-who-knows-the-reader-does-nothing-for-the-reader/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“It is the reader who comes to complete the work and to close, albeit temporarily, the world that it opens, and the reader does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-bayard/it-is-the-reader-who-comes-to-complete-the-work-and-to-close-albeit/) [Pierre Bayard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-bayard/) > [I'm a voracious reader. 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It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-darwin/there-seems-to-be-one-quality-of-mind-which-seems-to-be-of-special/) [Francis Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-darwin/) > [“he would have been the first to scoff at the notion of labeling himself anything other than an explorer. His words to me were,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/val-holley/he-would-have-been-the-first-to-scoff-at-the-notion-of-labeling/) [Val Holley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/val-holley/) ## 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/) [Explore all 108 E. L. Doctorow quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) ## More Books quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [“Within the pages of books, I've journeyed to Mandalay, the Milky Way and Santa Fe, without once having to leave my armchair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-ansbro/within-the-pages-of-books-i-ve-journeyed-to-mandalay-the-milky-way/) [Kevin Ansbro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-ansbro/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [“Tacitus did not write a most dangerous book. His readers made it so.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-k-krebs/tacitus-did-not-write-a-most-dangerous-book-his-readers-made-it-so/) Christopher K. 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