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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.

Anne Tyler

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Anne Tyler
Age: 83
Born: 1941
Born: October 25
Librarian
Novelist
Short Story Writer
Writer
Minneapolis
Minnesota
Time
Mines
People
Mine
General
Interested
Constitute
Literature
Obsession
Age
Plot
Doe
Central
Always
Naturally

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When you have children, you're obligated to live.
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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.
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I've always enjoyed studying the small clues that indicate a particular class level.
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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
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They were like people who run to meet, holding out their arms, but their aim is wrong they pass each other and keep running.
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I remember leaving the hospital - thinking, 'Wait, are they going to let me just walk off with him? I don't know beans about babies! I don't have a license to do this.' We're just amateurs.
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Point of view is not something I consciously decide. Almost always, when I come up with a plot I find that the point of view has automatically arrived with it, part and parcel of the story.
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How plotless real life was!
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You think we're a family,' Cody said, turning back. 'You think we're some jolly, situation-comedy family when we're in particles, torn apart, torn all over the place, and our mother was a witch.
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I forget a book as soon as I finish writing it, which is not always a good thing
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I didn't really choose to write I more or less fell into it.
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Ever consider what pets must think of us? I mean, here we come back from a grocery store with the most amazing haul - chicken, pork, half a cow. They must think we're the greatest hunters on earth!
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It's true that writing is 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.
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I've never quite believed that one chance is all I get
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My writing day has grown shorter as I've aged, although it seems to produce the same number of pages.
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Mostly it's lies, writing novels. You set out to tell an untrue story and you try to make it believable, even to yourself. Which calls for details any good lie does.
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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.
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It struck her all at once that dealing with other human beings was an awful lot of work.
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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.
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There is no true life. Your true life is the one you end up with, whatever it may be. You just do the best you can with what you've got.
Anne Tyler