The Writing Principles of Robert A. Caro

I’ve worked with so many wildly talented young writers over the years that I feel qualified to say that there are two things that separate writers who go on to publish from those who don’t. First, a willingness to revise. Second, the extent to which the writer has learned to make causality.

I write in longhand with a ballpoint pen on yellow legal pads. As with FDR, Mrs. Frye reads what I have written, transfers it to typescript, and presents me with clean copy every morning. She has typed at least a dozen drafts of every chapter, and does so faultlessly and without complaint. I have been privileged to work with her.