Robert Caro's Writing Process: Slow, Methodical, Genius
Robert Caro with his Smith Corona Electric Typewriter
That's Robert Caro with his famous 22-foot wall of ideas and his Electric Smith Corona typewriter. (He used manuals for years before making the switch.)
It's weirdly comforting to know that one of America's greatest biographers works this slowly. This deliberately. This obsessively.
Research: Turn Every Page
Caro's mantra: "Turn every page." He means it literally.
He doesn't assume anything. He checks everything. Hundreds of interviews. Same people, multiple times. He moved to Texas to understand LBJ better. Actually lived there. That's commitment.
The Outline
Before he writes a single sentence, Caro distills the entire book into 1-3 paragraphs. Takes him weeks sometimes.
Then he expands it. Full book outline. Chapter outlines. Everything mapped out.
That 22-foot corkboard? That's so he can "see the whole book right down to the last line." Physical manifestation of the work before the work begins.
The Writing
First drafts: longhand. White legal pads. Narrow lines.
Then he types it on that Smith Corona Electra 210.
Target: 1,000 words per day. He tracks every word.
Multiple drafts. Always.
Oh, and he writes in a suit and tie. Alone. Interruptions are forbidden. He used to write in a shack in the woods.
The Editing
Red 314 Berol Draughting pencils. Detailed to-do lists for revisions. He's still editing at the proof stage.
The Results?
Oh, a few works such as…
The Power Broker (1974)
Four volumes (so far) of The Years of Lyndon Johnson
Two Pulitzers
Two National Book Awards
One National Humanities Medal
Time-consuming? Yes.
Worth it? Most would say no. A writer? Absolutely.
Caro's method proves something important: great writing isn't about inspiration or speed. It's about showing up, doing the work, and refusing to cut corners.
For the millions focusing on efficiency over effectiveness, let’s meet over coffee in a hundred years and see who is still ‘alive’?
Write on,
Steven
Present Company. Humans Blooming Offline Together => https://www.presentcompany.io/