Nonfiction gives you subjects. Writing fiction I can have more fun, but I have to invent my subject.
Lynne TillmanLaughing and crying are very similar. Sometimes people go from laughing to crying, or crying to laughing. I remember being at someone's wedding and she couldn't stop laughing, through the whole ceremony. If she'd been crying, it would have seemed more "normal," though.
Lynne TillmanKafka wrote the great line: "my education has damaged me in ways I do not even know." And that's always been a signature motto for me.
Lynne TillmanWhatever the style is, I want to have a sense that the writer is thinking, and really trying to get at something, and that there's a sense of discovery as the writing goes along.
Lynne TillmanI'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.
Lynne Tillman