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Quote by Donald E. Westlake

“I have no known marketable skills.”

Author

Donald E. Westlake was an American author born on July 12, 1933, and passed away on December 31, 2008. Known for his crime and detective novels, his works have been widely appreciated by readers. more

“I don't think I would have been a good architect. Really, I have thought about this from time to time, and I might have wound up like my father, who never did find that which he could devote his life to. He sort of drifted from job to job. He was a traveling salesman, he was a bookkeeper, he was an office manager, he was here, there, there. And however enthusiastic he was at the beginning, his job would bore him. If I hadn't had the writing, I think I might have replicated what he was doing, which would not have been good.”

Thinking Writing Father Office Wounds Architect Enthusiastic Salesman

Author:Donald E. Westlake

“I'm one of the narrative-push people. I don't outline, I don't plan ahead. So I'm my first reader, telling myself the story as I'm going along. Since I haven't designed it ahead of time, each day I have to be sure that the footing is solid before I make the next step. I think you could be more intricate if you work it out ahead of time.”

People Thinking

Author:Donald E. Westlake

“The thing that I prefer, when I'm working on a book, is to do a seven-day week, because it's easy to lose some of the details of what you're doing along the way.”

Book Easy Week

Author:Donald E. Westlake

“Years ago, I heard an interview with violinist Yehudi Menuhin. The interviewer said, "Do you still practice?" And he said, "I practice every day." He said, "If I skip a day, I can hear it. If I skip two days, the conductor can hear it. And if I skip three days, the audience can hear it." Oh, yes, you have to keep that muscle firm.”

Audience Firm Skip Conductor Violinist

Author:Donald E. Westlake

“I don't think I ever have trouble with writer's block. It's different when you make it up as you go - that means you're going to get stuck. I wouldn't call it writer's block, I'd say, "I don't know where the hell this story is going."”

Thinking Mean Different Hell Trouble Stuck Block

Author:Donald E. Westlake

“I know people who have suffered writer's block, and I don't think I've ever had it. A friend of mine, for three years he couldn't write. And he said that he thought of stories and he knew the stories, could see the stories completely, but he could never find the door. Somehow that first sentence was never there. And without the door, he couldn't do the story. I've never experienced that. But it's a chilling thought.”

People Thinking Writing Block Chill

Author:Donald E. Westlake

“The British were doing crime stories first, but the British thing is a very different thing. There, the stories are about restoring a break in the fabric of society. The American thing has never been worrying about breaks in the fabric of society, but about people doing their job, whether it's police procedurals or criminals or whatever.”

People Different Break Worry Crime Police

Author:Donald E. Westlake

“One of our continuing myths was summed up in Huckleberry Finn: Our escape, what we think of as our escape, is that we can always light out for the territories. Well, we really can't, not anymore, but that's part of the American character - that belief that at any moment, I could just drop the coffee cup and disappear. And it makes for a different self-image and a different story, in a way.”

Thinking Different Moments Character Belief Myth Disappear Coffee Coffee Cup Huckleberry

Author:Donald E. Westlake

“I'm responsible. I even did a commercial for MTV saying how I was going to register to vote. And I still haven't.”

Stills Havens Vote Responsible Register Mtv

Author:Sam Kinison

Quote by Donald E. Westlake

Author

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