--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When I'm writing, I like to seal…" description: "\"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. ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/29f/e-l-doctorow-4627_everything_when-i-m-writing-i-like-to-seal-everythi_430511.png" --- # When I'm writing, I like to seal everything off and face… ![“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.” quote by E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/29f/e-l-doctorow-4627_everything_when-i-m-writing-i-like-to-seal-everythi_430511.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/29f/e-l-doctorow-4627_everything_when-i-m-writing-i-like-to-seal-everythi_430511.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/29f/e-l-doctorow-4627_everything_when-i-m-writing-i-like-to-seal-everythi_430511.png) > “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](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 requires isolating oneself, turning inward, and confronting the story directly; escape comes only by completing the work. **In simple terms:** Focus intensely on writing; the way out is through the text. Key Takeaway Write through resistance. Themes creativity focus discipline Mood introspective determined Type practical motivational When to use this quote - authoring a novel - drafting a screenplay - academic writing Key Concepts solitude writing process overcoming block Questions to Reflect On - What does “facing the wall” mean for you? - How do you balance isolation with inspiration? A Different Perspective Isolation can breed burnout. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Faces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faces/) [Seals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seals/) [Wall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wall/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [Writing is like driving at night in the fog. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/writing-is-like-driving-at-night-in-the-fog-you-can-only-see-as-far/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [Writing is like bricklaying; you put down one word after another. Sometimes the wall goes up straight and true and sometimes it doesn't and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geraldine-brooks/writing-is-like-bricklaying-you-put-down-one-word-after-another/) [Geraldine Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geraldine-brooks/) > [ You can't put toilet paper in the toilet \[in the space ship\], so there's a separate vacuum can in front of you on the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-mullane/you-can-t-put-toilet-paper-in-the-toilet-in-the-space-ship-so-there-s/) [Mike Mullane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-mullane/) > [Looking out of my window this lovely spring morning I see an azalea in full bloom. No, no! I do not see that; though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-sanders-peirce/looking-out-of-my-window-this-lovely-spring-morning-i-see-an-azalea/) [Charles Sanders Peirce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-sanders-peirce/) > [People think I live here on Nantucket and just gaze at the ocean, getting my inspiration. Not so. I work in my basement and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-philbrick/people-think-i-live-here-on-nantucket-and-just-gaze-at-the-ocean/) [Nathaniel Philbrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-philbrick/) > [My bed was pushed up hard against the wall just below the window. I loved to sleep with the windows open. Rainy nights were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/my-bed-was-pushed-up-hard-against-the-wall-just-below-the-window-i/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [She goes where she pleases. She appears unhoped for, uncalled for. She moves through doors and walls and windows. Her thoughts move through minds.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-klein/she-goes-where-she-pleases-she-appears-unhoped-for-uncalled-for-she/) [Rachel Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-klein/) > [“It’s the beating of my heart. The way I lie awake, playing with shadows slowly climbing up my wall. The gentle moonlight slipping through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-eriksson/it-s-the-beating-of-my-heart-the-way-i-lie-awake-playing-with-shadows/) [Charlotte Eriksson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-eriksson/) > [Pale and pinched-up faces hovered about the windows where was tempting food; hungry eyes wandered over the profusion guarded by one thin sheet of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/pale-and-pinched-up-faces-hovered-about-the-windows-where-was/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [By focusing on the interior of a speaker's larynx and using infrared, he was able to convert the visible vibrations of the vocal cords…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/damon-knight/by-focusing-on-the-interior-of-a-speaker-s-larynx-and-using-infrared/) [Damon Knight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/damon-knight/) > [I have a small room to write in. One wall is completely covered in books. And I face the window with the curtain closed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-enright/i-have-a-small-room-to-write-in-one-wall-is-completely-covered-in/) [Anne Enright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-enright/) > [Actually, who hasn't been through the ghastly experience of sitting in front of a blank page, with its toothless mouth grinning at you: Go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-oz/actually-who-hasn-t-been-through-the-ghastly-experience-of-sitting-in/) [Amos Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-oz/) > [Children are guilty of unpardonable rudeness when they spit in the face of a companion; neither are they excusable who spit from windows or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baptiste-de-la-salle/children-are-guilty-of-unpardonable-rudeness-when-they-spit-in-the/) [Jean-Baptiste de La Salle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baptiste-de-la-salle/) > [I'm no prophet. My job is making windows where there were once walls.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/i-m-no-prophet-my-job-is-making-windows-where-there-were-once-walls/) [Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/) > [The wall around the window does not create two worlds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-matisse/the-wall-around-the-window-does-not-create-two-worlds/) [Henri Matisse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-matisse/) ## 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/) > [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/) > [It's like driving a car at night. You never see further than your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/it-s-like-driving-a-car-at-night-you-never-see-further-than-your/) [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 Everything quotes > [This may sound strange, but although I feel like I know everything about my characters, the brand of shampoo they use, how many cavities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-honeyman/this-may-sound-strange-but-although-i-feel-like-i-know-everything/) [Gail Honeyman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-honeyman/) > [My parents were not musical, and they were not effervescent people; everything was very quiet. The music that I played was loud; it used…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-mclean/my-parents-were-not-musical-and-they-were-not-effervescent-people/) [Don McLean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-mclean/) > [If you think you're doing everything right, then you have a tendency to stand pat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stockton/if-you-think-you-re-doing-everything-right-then-you-have-a-tendency/) [John Stockton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stockton/) > [The Fringe is by far my favorite time of year; I like everything about it. But there are people I know who are much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-horne/the-fringe-is-by-far-my-favorite-time-of-year-i-like-everything-about/) [Alex Horne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-horne/) > [You can't force people to feel in a certain way, and the sooner you understand that,the better. I feel everything has its way of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sidharth-malhotra/you-can-t-force-people-to-feel-in-a-certain-way-and-the-sooner-you/) [Sidharth Malhotra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sidharth-malhotra/) > [Of everything I have done, 'The Archers' always gets the most excitement; there's a sort of uncontrollable joy from fans of the program.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felicity-jones/of-everything-i-have-done-the-archers-always-gets-the-most-excitement/) [Felicity Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felicity-jones/) > [It's very easy to fool yourself that you're working, you know, when you're really not working very hard. I mean, I'm very lazy. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-caro/it-s-very-easy-to-fool-yourself-that-you-re-working-you-know-when-you/) [Robert Caro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-caro/) > [Whether it was Little League or playing with your brothers or sisters, that was always a problem. If I would lose - because I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cal-ripken-jr/whether-it-was-little-league-or-playing-with-your-brothers-or-sisters/) [Cal Ripken, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cal-ripken-jr/) > [That's one of my idols, I really look up to Pacquiao. This guy is everything I would want to be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-garcia/that-s-one-of-my-idols-i-really-look-up-to-pacquiao-this-guy-is/) [Ryan Garcia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryan-garcia/) > [The talk shows in the States want celebrities, not authors. In France, it is different; writers are called upon to comment on everything. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-white/the-talk-shows-in-the-states-want-celebrities-not-authors-in-france/) [Edmund White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-white/) > [Everything I write is highly personal, but put in such a way that it's not dropping everything in someone's lap. Although sometimes I think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-siberry/everything-i-write-is-highly-personal-but-put-in-such-a-way-that-it-s/) [Jane Siberry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-siberry/) > [Everything I have experienced and learned in football led me towards one day becoming a coach.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roberto-carlos/everything-i-have-experienced-and-learned-in-football-led-me-towards/) [Roberto Carlos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roberto-carlos/) > [It's funny, everything is so much easier when you do it yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carine-roitfeld/it-s-funny-everything-is-so-much-easier-when-you-do-it-yourself/) [Carine Roitfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carine-roitfeld/) > [Everything affects hip-hop. The question is, how does it affect the money that corporations are going to invest to put out different kinds of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-i-am/everything-affects-hip-hop-the-question-is-how-does-it-affect-the/) [will.i.am](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-i-am/) > [If God is first, and you kind of center everything else around Him being the main focal point, you really can make decisions that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aj-michalka/if-god-is-first-and-you-kind-of-center-everything-else-around-him/) [AJ Michalka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aj-michalka/) Browse all 13,134 Everything quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "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.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "E. L. Doctorow" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/when-i-m-writing-i-like-to-seal-everything-off-and-face-the-wall-not/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Everything" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/when-i-m-writing-i-like-to-seal-everything-off-and-face-the-wall-not/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/29f/e-l-doctorow-4627_everything_when-i-m-writing-i-like-to-seal-everythi_430511.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/29f/e-l-doctorow-4627_everything_when-i-m-writing-i-like-to-seal-everythi_430511.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/29f/e-l-doctorow-4627_everything_when-i-m-writing-i-like-to-seal-everythi_430511.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“When I'm writing, I like to seal everything off and face the wall, not to look outside the window. The only…” — E. L. Doctorow", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "E. L. Doctorow", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "When I'm writing, I like to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/when-i-m-writing-i-like-to-seal-everything-off-and-face-the-wall-not/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/when-i-m-writing-i-like-to-seal-everything-off-and-face-the-wall-not/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```