Everyone acts stupid at some time in order to be loved. Tim O'Brien actloveorder Change image and share on social
Most of the things in 'The Things They Carried' didn't happen to me. Ninety-five percent of it's invented. It's not what occurred. Tim O'Brien carryhappeninvent Change image and share on social
I grew up with the Gene Kelly look at war. The cheerful kind of stories you tell about a horrendous war. Tim O'Brien cheerfulgenegrow Change image and share on social
If you stop loving someone, did you ever love them? If you say you're committed and later you're not committed, well, was the first thing commitment? You see what I mean? This kind of thing has always interested me. Tim O'Brien commitcommitmentinterest share on social
Pinkville was called Pinkville because in the military maps, it was shaded a bright kind of shimmering pink, which signified what was called on the maps a 'built up' area, which was extremely misleading - 'built up' only meant there were little villages and it wasn't just desolate paddy land or unpopulated. Tim O'Brien areabrightbuild share on social
In fiction workshops, we tend to focus on matters of verisimilitude largely because such issues are so much easier to talk about than the failure of imagination. Tim O'Brien easyfailurefiction Change image and share on social
When you're so close to material, it would be as if you had come out of a bad marriage. You would be so close to it that you would be paying attention to detail that may not mean a whole lot for the reader. Tim O'Brien attentionbadclose share on social
Working as a journalist, I was always tempted to lie. I felt I could do dialogue better than the person I was interviewing. I felt I could lie better than Nixon and be more concise than some random person I was covering. Tim O'Brien concisecoverdialogue share on social
If I see a phrase that strikes me as ugly, I'll delete it. Or, if I find a way to say something a bit more freshly than it was expressed originally, I'll do it. Ultimately, you want to try to leave behind the best possible paragraph or sentence. Tim O'Brien bitedeleteexpress share on social
A writer's obligation is to invent: to go beyond what did happen and to look at what could have happened but didn't. Fiction writers are born liars. Tim O'Brien bearfictionhappen Change image and share on social