“Writing is like driving at night in the fog”

While we’re on the subject, I can’t resist repeating a quotation about writing that Cory Doctorow recently posted on BoingBoing. It’s by E.L. Doctorow, and, well, it’s just the truth:

Planning to write is not writing. Outlining, researching, talking to people about what you’re doing, none of that is writing. Writing is writing. . . . Writing is like driving at night in the fog. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.