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"It seems to me that since I've had children, I've grown richer and deeper. They may have slowed down my writing for a while, but when I did write, I had more of a self to speak from."
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"There's something wrong with a mother who washes out a measuring cup with soap and water after she's only measured water in it."

"An excellent mother knows she has the beautiful life, and she is a big time programmer."

"I tell you, families are definitely the training ground for forgiveness."

"Don't say negative things about your spouse and children."
Explore more quotes by 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."

"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."

"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."

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

"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."

"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."

"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."

"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?"
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