Ann Beattie Quotes & Sayings

“I think that I'm serious, but I don't think that I'm inordinately bleak.”

“While I would agree that I write about serious subjects, and that they're not necessarily the most pleasant subjects or even the most pleasant people, as a writer I just think about the humorous aspects of these things - that's what keeps me going when I'm writing a story.”

“I think almost always that what gets me going with a story is the atmosphere, the visual imagery, and then I people it with characters, not the other way around.”

“You have to figure out who the right person is to tell the story. And often, people who are very self-aware will only sound as if they are pontificating if they tell the story.”

“It's often been said that I'm an extremely depressing, cynical writer. I've never known what to make of that.”

“Also minimalism is a term that all of us who share so little in common and who are lumped together as minimalists are not terribly happy with.”

“I think I write about things that are mysterious to me.”

“Women are obviously much more discriminated against than men in many ways.”

“I've been in this business for a long time, and I no longer think that anything that I do by way of clarification is ever going to eradicate the mistakes.”

“Quite often my narrator or protagonist may be a man, but I'm not sure he's the more interesting character, or if the more complex character isn't the woman.”