Quote of the Day (Susan Cheever, on Research in Writing)

“For many writers, research is a big yawn. The past is a foreign country, and who cares how they do things differently there? Research is reading disintegrating papers in dusty libraries; sifting through shoe boxes in ancient attics; interviewing people who don’t know when to stop talking. But for biographers, research is thrilling. Reconstructing history is delicious. Research is where the story comes from; it’s the bits and pieces of the past we are trying to bring to life.”— Susan Cheever, “Riff: ‘Why Didn’t Rebecca Stop at the Railroad Crossing?’” The New York Times Sunday Magazine, June 29, 2014