Anne Tyler quotes - page 2

I can never tell ahead of time which book will give me trouble - some balk every step of the way, others seem to write themselves - but certainly the mechanics of writing, finding the time and the psychic space, are easier now that my children are grown. (Anne Tyler)
The one ironclad rule is that I have to try. I have to walk into my writing room and pick up my pen every weekday morning. View quote
Anne Tyler
She worded it a bit strongly, but I do find myself more and more struck by the differences between the sexes. To put it another way: All marriages are mixed marriages. View quote
Anne Tyler
I do write long, long character notes - family background, history, details of appearance - much more than will ever appear in the novel. I think this is what lifts a book from that early calculated, artificial stage. View quote
Anne Tyler
The Amateur Marriage grew out of the reflection that of all the opportunities to show differences in character, surely an unhappy marriage must be the richest. View quote
Anne Tyler
It struck her all at once that dealing with other human beings was an awful lot of work. View quote
Anne Tyler
While armchair travelers dream of going places, traveling armchairs dream of staying put. View quote
Anne Tyler
He wished he had inhabited more of his life, used it better, filled it fuller. View quote
Anne Tyler
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. View quote
Anne Tyler
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. View quote
Anne Tyler
She was good at talking with young people. She seemed to view them as interesting foreigners. (Anne Tyler)
I've always enjoyed studying the small clues that indicate a particular class level. View quote
Anne Tyler
I expect that any day now, I will have said all I have to say; I'll have used up all my characters, and then I'll be free to get on with my real life. View quote
Anne Tyler
And I am interested in the fact that class is very much a factor in America, even though it's not supposed to be. View quote
Anne Tyler
I just want to be told a story, and I want to believe I'm living that story, and I don't give a thought to influences or method or any other writerly concerns. View quote
Anne Tyler
I'll write maybe one long paragraph describing the events, then a page or two breaking the events into chapters, and then reams of pages delving into my characters. After that, I'm ready to begin. View quote
Anne Tyler
My decision to start a new one is just that, a decision, since I never get inspirations. View quote
Anne Tyler
I never think about the actual process of writing. I suppose I have a superstition about examining it too closely. View quote
Anne Tyler
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. View quote
Anne Tyler
My family can always tell when I'm well into a novel because the meals get very crummy. View quote
Anne Tyler
I think it must be very hard to be one of the new young writers who are urged to put themselves forward when it may be the last thing on earth they'd be good at. (Anne Tyler)
I save the best of myself for novels, and I believe it shows. View quote
Anne Tyler
My writing day has grown shorter as I've aged, although it seems to produce the same number of pages. View quote
Anne Tyler
I spend about a year between novels. View quote
Anne Tyler
I consciously try to end my novels at a point where I won't have to wonder about my characters ever again. View quote
Anne Tyler