Writing Quotes by Anne Tyler

Mostly it's lies, writing novels. You set out to tell an untrue story and you try to make it believable, even to…

— Anne Tyler

My family can always tell when I'm well into a novel because the meals get very crummy.

— Anne Tyler

I was standing in the schoolyard waiting for a child when another mother came up to me. Have you found work yet?…

— Anne Tyler

I don't type [when I write] because . . . I often have the feeling that everything flows directly from my right hand.

— Anne Tyler

The first-person viewpoint is more enjoyable to write, because it lets me meander more freely, and it can reveal more of the…

— Anne Tyler

Once your mind is caught on the right snag, there's nothing so hard about the mechanics of writing.

— Anne Tyler

I would advise any beginning writer to write the first drafts as if no one else will ever read them - without…

— Anne Tyler

I write because I want more than one life; I insist on a wider selection. It's greed, plain and simple.

— Anne Tyler

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…

— Anne Tyler

“For me, writing was the only way out.”

— Anne Tyler

The hardest novel to write was Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant.

— Anne Tyler

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

— Anne Tyler

For me, writing something down was the only road out...I hated childhood, and spent it sitting behind a book waiting for adulthood…

— Anne Tyler

If I waited till I felt like writing, I'd never write at all.

— Anne Tyler

But what I hope for from a book - either one that I write or one that I read - is transparency.…

— Anne Tyler

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

— Anne Tyler

It's true that writing is a solitary occupation, but you would be surprised at how much companionship a group of imaginary characters…

— Anne Tyler

Reading any piece of writing aloud is an acid test, particularly when it comes to dialogue. There were writers I'd always admired…

— Anne Tyler

My writing day has grown shorter as I've aged, although it seems to produce the same number of pages.

— Anne Tyler

It seems to me that since I've had children, I've grown richer and deeper. They may have slowed down my writing for…

— 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…

— Anne Tyler

There's surprisingly little difference between writing from a male angle and from a female angle, but I feel more restricted in my…

— Anne Tyler

I think it must be very hard to be one of the new young writers who are urged to put themselves forward…

— Anne Tyler

For me, writing something down was the only road out.

— Anne Tyler

I have spent so long erecting partitions around the part of me that writes - learning how to close the door on…

— Anne Tyler