Writing and rewriting are the same thing to me. I don't believe what Allen Ginsberg said that "first thought, then - " I just don't believe that. Lynne Tillman More Quotes by Lynne Tillman More Quotes From Lynne Tillman My friends and I sometimes laugh at each other that there is so much maintenance of a body. I paid no attention when I was younger. Lynne Tillman maintenance attention laughing Now that I am conscious of the world of chronic pain, when I see somebody walking down the street who's having trouble, I feel a sadness for them. I notice. Lynne Tillman sadness pain world I subject my sentences and the words to a kind of Grand Inquisition. Lynne Tillman sentences subjects kind When I'm choosing things, there's a level of intelligence I want to peel off, whether it's written in terribly simple sentences, whether it's from the point of view of a dog, or a 15-year-old boy. Lynne Tillman simple dog boys It's true you have to screen out a lot living in the city. I stayed away from New York for a long time after college, and when I was first back, I'd read The Village Voice and feel like I was having a panic attack. Lynne Tillman cities college new-york People are less focused on the story, and more on how the story is told. Lynne Tillman focused stories people A book coming out into the world can be a harsh, harsh time. And your feelings are on the line. Everything that publication is about is really not what your writing is about. Your writing is coming out of something else, and publication and being in the public are something else. And those of us who have published, in whatever way we're published, are very fortunate. Lynne Tillman feelings writing book I don't have the education of an art historian. I've certainly read about art and look at art and have educated myself to some extent. But I'm not a skilled or thorough art historian and I wouldn't call myself an art critic. Lynne Tillman thorough looks art [Reality] isn't simply the so-called world that you're in. Your reality is a much larger one that takes in all matter of identification and desires and hopes. Lynne Tillman desire reality world The Dutch and the English, former competitors for world dominance, taught me the wisdom of waiting as well as withholding. Lynne Tillman dutch waiting world I unlearned the model of being an editor like Ezra Pound with T.S. Eliot, the unconscious belief that America was the center of the world, and that honesty meant saying what I thought and always being direct. Lynne Tillman editors honesty america Any writer knows that what's left out is as essential, if not more so, than what's there. Unlearning works that way. Lynne Tillman essentials knows way Being in Europe had helped me unlearn some of what I'd been taught or unconsciously believed. Lynne Tillman unlearn taught europe Reading gave me great comfort and pleasure. When I started being able to write, around seven or eight, I wanted to be able to do that myself, to create that other world. Lynne Tillman eight reading writing I learned I could be miserable anywhere in the world. I learned I really was an American. Lynne Tillman miserable world There are lots of unlikable characters in literature. It doesn't mean they're not fascinating. Lynne Tillman literature character mean I'm very interested in animal behavior, and the relationship of human beings to other animal behavior. Lynne Tillman behavior humans animal I would never want to write a character who was not thoroughly herself or himself. She's a very specific creature in my mind, and she has her thoughts, which range from skin to American history, philosophy, and the arts. Lynne Tillman writing philosophy art People in the upper classes can just as easily be indifferent to their own body, or treat themselves as badly, as people who don't have the money. There are always differences among differences. Lynne Tillman differences class people People, no matter the economic class, find ways to feed their narcissism. Lynne Tillman matter class people
