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All Anne Tyler Quotes
It's true that it's a solitary occupation, but you would be surprised at how much companionship a group of imaginary characters can offer once you get to know them.
Anne Tyler
48% of people like this quote
When I'm working on something, I proceed as if no one else will ever read it.
Anne Tyler
48% of people like this quote
I would advise any beginning writer to write the first drafts as if no one else will ever read them - without a thought about publication - and only in the last draft to consider how the work will look from the outside.
Anne Tyler
48% of people like this quote
I'm too shy for personal appearances, and I've found out that anytime I talk about my writing, I can't do any writing for many weeks afterward.
Anne Tyler
47% of people like this quote
People always call it luck when you've acted more sensibly than they have.
Anne Tyler
47% of people like this quote
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.
Anne Tyler
46% of people like this quote
If I waited till I felt like writing, I'd never write at all.
Anne Tyler
46% of people like this quote
I don't want to say I hear voices; well, actually I do hear voices, but I don't think it's supernatural. I think it's just that when characters are given enough texture and backbone, then lo and behold, they stand on their own.
Anne Tyler
45% of people like this quote
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.
Anne Tyler
45% of people like this quote
My decision to start a new one is just that, a decision, since I never get inspirations.
Anne Tyler
43% of people like this quote
I was standing in the schoolyard waiting for a child when another mother came up to me. Have you found work yet? she asked. Or are you still just writing?
Anne Tyler
43% of people like this quote
In real life I avoid all parties altogether, but on paper I can mingle with the best of them.
Anne Tyler
41% of people like this quote
My family can always tell when I'm well into a novel because the meals get very crummy.
Anne Tyler
38% of people like this quote
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.
Anne Tyler
35% of people like this quote
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