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Quote by Lynne Tillman

“I'm bothered, as a reader, when I feel the writer is filling in too much. Again, whether it's nonfiction or fiction, I think writers are providing a kind of template or platform for thinking and imagining.”

Quote by Lynne Tillman

Author

Lynne Tillman is an American contemporary novelist, born in 1947. Her works are known for their unique narrative style and profound social insights, often focusing on modern urban life and the roles and identities of individuals within society. more

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“I've always liked elliptical writing, whether it's Kafka or Paula Fox, and I'm often bored by writers who explain too much. I think that becomes journalism. Mostly I don't try to explain to readers who somebody is - I just write about the somebody. I'm thinking through ideas. And I have the sense that, if you're reading this, you have some interest.”

Thinking Writing Trying Reading Interest Journalism Bored

Author:Lynne Tillman

“Writers don't want to appear to be stupid. I don't know - maybe people become writers so that they can prove that they're not. Of course getting a book published doesn't mean that they're not stupid. At a certain point you have to stop trying to prove something and write because you need to think about something and want to communicate, in a very broad sense.”

People Thinking Writing Trying Mean Book Stupid Prove Communicate Not Stupid

Author:Lynne Tillman

“I don't believe a picture is worth a thousand words, unless they're very confusing words.”

Believe Confusing

Author:Lynne Tillman

“I learned to write from reading. I had no writing classes. It's part of my thinking as the writer-author, reading, but then I also want to bring this into my characters, who also read and think. There's that great quote from Virginia Woolf - it's very simple: "...books continue each other." I think when you're a writer, you're also, hopefully, a reader, and you're bringing those earlier works into your work.”

Thinking Writing Book Character Reading Simple Hopefully

Author:Lynne Tillman

“I'm not interested in safety. A great risk in writing is imagining you have something to protect. Playing it safe to placate someone or something. People talk about compromise, but often people don't even know when they're compromising, because they're not conscious of contradictions.”

People Writing Risk Protect Conscious Safety Compromise Contradiction Not Interested

Author:Lynne Tillman

“I'm not just interested in the thoughts I have, but also in others' thoughts, and why not carry those forward? That's why American fiction can be so thin. All these fears, like not seeming to be original - I mean, hell, most stuff isn't. The question is whether you can articulate your thoughts for the moment in which you're living, which is a different time. Say them in a newer way. There are new events, and language changes - sensibilities change. We are writing in and of the time we're in. Oh, it's a weird time.”

Writing Mean Different Moments Language Hell Sensibility

Author:Lynne Tillman

“I think political situations usually work their way into my writing, but not necessarily in an explicit way. The environment is so chaotic now. There is someone so entirely unreliable in charge, and reliable only in the fact that Thing - I don't say his name - is a pathological narcissist. He's going to do whatever he can to defend himself and whatever will make him look good. That's what matters to him.”

Thinking Writing Political Situation Environment Chaotic Narcissist Explicit

Author:Lynne Tillman

“That's why our comics are important: they're pointing things out and laughing at the same time. There have been horrible, horrible times in history. They're mostly horrible times. But not to laugh? Not to find humor in something like dark optimism/bright pessimism - I think that's sad, frankly.”

Thinking Important Dark Laughing Optimism Horrible Pessimism Pointing

Author:Lynne Tillman

“You can think everything is dire, but you act as if there's possibility. I see children coming into the world as an expression of this. Sometimes, not always - it can just be somebody that wasn't on the birth control pill or didn't have access to abortion. But I usually see a wanted child as a sign of optimism, and I like that.”

Thinking World Children Sometimes Possibility Birth Optimism Abortion

Author:Lynne Tillman

“Nonfiction gives you subjects. Writing fiction I can have more fun, but I have to invent my subject.”

Giving Writing Fun

Author:Lynne Tillman