Anne Tyler Quotes - Page 5

Something was wrong with a world where people came and went so easily.

Farmers are patient men. They got to be. Got to see those seeds come up week by week, fraction by fraction, and sweat it out for some days not knowing yet is it weeds or vegetables.

Isn't a memorial service meant to comfort the living?

None of my own experiences ever finds its way into my work. However, the stages of my life - motherhood, middle age, etc. - often influence my subject matter.

Time, in general, has always been a central obsession of mine - what it does to people, how it can constitute a plot all on its own. So naturally, I am interested in old age.

I didn't really choose to write; I more or less fell into it.

...it's closeness that does you in. Never get too close to people, son.

I never think about the actual process of writing. I suppose I have a superstition about examining it too closely.

When I'm working on something, I proceed as if no one else will ever read it.

He was wondering if there was some cryptic, cultish mark on his door that told all the crazy people he'd have trouble saying no.

Not until the final draft do I force myself to remember that I'm going to have to think about how it will affect other people.

There's surprisingly little difference between writing from a male angle and from a female angle, but I feel more restricted in my language when I'm writing as a male character because males tend to sound less emotionally expressive than females.

The first-person viewpoint is more enjoyable to write, because it lets me meander more freely, and it can reveal more of the character's self-delusions. Really all the advantages are with first-person, so I'm sorry I don't get to pick and choose.