Quotes By Anne Tyler

My decision to start a new one is just that, a decision, since I never get inspirations.

When I read, I'm purely a reader.

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

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.

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.

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.

I've always enjoyed studying the small clues that indicate a particular class level.

But what I hope for from a book - either one that I write or one that I read - is transparency. I want the story to shine through. I don't want to think of the writer.

While armchair travelers dream of going places, traveling armchairs dream of staying put.

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.

At most I'll spend three or four hours daily, sometimes less.

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?

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.

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!

In real life I avoid all parties altogether, but on paper I can mingle with the best of them.