“I had this bad habit of not writing out a first draft and going back. For me it was the first sentence, then the second sentence, and I might be several weeks on the first page instead of writing a draft and trying to figure it out from there.” WritingTryingFirstsMightWeekFiguresHabitPagesSentencesBad Habits Author:Donald Ray Pollock
“I'm trying to break myself of that habit [of not writing out a first draft ] because I'm working on a couple novels and I know if I tried to write those books the way I wrote the stories it would take me years to finish.” IfsKnowsWayWritingTryingYearsFirstsBookStoriesBreakNovelCoupleHabitTake Me Author:Donald Ray Pollock
“When I first started out, I was trying to write stories about nurses and lawyers and a lot of people I didn't know anything about, and they just weren't working.” PeopleKnowsWritingTryingFirstsStoriesLawyerNurse Author:Donald Ray Pollock
“I'm not sure I would have ever decided to try to write when I was forty-five if I hadn't already gotten that degree [in English].” IfsWritingTryingFiveDegreesDecidedNot SureForty Author:Donald Ray Pollock
“I didn't feel that so much as an outsider when I started writing; I've felt that way all my life. I don't know, man; I guess I was just wired wrong. When I was growing up, I always wanted to be somebody else and live somewhere else. I've always felt a little uncomfortable around people. And I'm not trying to romanticize this, because it wasn't romantic. I wasn't trying to be a rebel; I just always felt a little out of it. I think that's why it's pretty easy for me to identify with people living on the margins.” PeopleThinkingMenWritingTryingEasyGrowing UpUncomfortableRebelOutsiders Author:Donald Ray Pollock
