Ann Patchett reveals ‘only dream she ever had’ was to pay bills with writing
She said: “My greatest dream in life was to be able to pay my bills with writing.
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dream → reveal → writing
That’s the only dream I ever had.
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I → ’ → ?
“I didn’t want to be rich or famous or wanted to buy a house.
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I → want → house
I just thought that one day I wanted to be able to have a tiny apartment that was mine and that I could pay for by writing.
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I → think → writing
“Mostly I made my living as a writer and that’s all I wanted and I never revised that, ever.”
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I → make → that
However, Patchett added that she did not believe in the idea that every person had a book idea within them.
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person → add → them
“Oh I don’t believe that, any more than I believe any more that I believe that everyone has one mathematical proof in them, or one perfectly prepared pot roast.
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everyone → believe → them
I mean, if somebody said to you that everybody has one perfect symphony in them, you would say that is ridiculous,” she said.
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she → mean → them
“But there is something about the notion that because we can all write and tell stories, we all have a book in us.
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we → be → us
We all have something in us, but it’s not necessarily a book.”
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it → have → us
The author also detailed spending seven months writing her debut novel The Patron Saint Of Liars, which was released in 1992.
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which → detail → 1992
“I had been thinking about the story for a long time – about a year – and I started writing and I was about three days in when I thought: ‘This is the worst idea for a novel and I need to come up with a completely different idea,’” she said.
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she → think → idea
However, after calling a friend and fellow writer, Patchett said she was encouraged to push through.
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she → call → friend
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Her friend told her: “You are absolutely allowed to come up with a new idea when you are finished writing this novel.”
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you → read → novel
That was the single best advice anyone has ever given me,” she said.
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she → give → me
Patchett went on to call finishing the book the “proudest and most meaningful moment” of her life.
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Patchett → go → life
“It was the fulfilment of a contract I had made myself.
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I → make → contract
I had always wanted to write a novel, and I had done it,” she added.
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she → want → it
Patchett recalled how she got 30,000 dollars for her novel and wanted to fix the air conditioning on her car, which had been out for five years.
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which → recall → years
“I went to get it fixed, and it was out of coolant and cost 17 dollars.
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it → go → dollars
I cried.
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I → cry → ?
To think I’d spent five years in a boiling hot car with no air conditioning,” she said.
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she → think → conditioning
“When I was there standing on the stage and he put a medal around my neck and was holding my hand and he said: ‘Good work kiddo’ and I thought I was going to burst into tears.
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I → stand → tears
It was the dearest moment of my life,” she said.
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she → say → life
Patchett spent nearly a decade writing for Seventeen magazine, going on to have her work published in The New Yorker, Elle, GQ and Vogue.
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work → spend → Yorker
Her debut novel The Patron Saint Of Liars was published in 1992 and was turned into a television movie of the same name six years later.
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novel → publish → name
She has gone on to write a total of 10 novels, four works of nonfiction, and three children’s picture books.
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She → go → nonfiction
Some of her best-known novels include Taft, The Magician’s Assistant, Bel Canto, Commonwealth, The Dutch House and Whistler – the latter of which was released this year.
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latter → know → which
She has won the Pen/Faulkner Award and the Women’s Prize for Fiction and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for The Dutch House.
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She → win → House
Patchett won the Orange Prize for Fiction for Bel Canto in 2002.
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Patchett → win → 2002
Her work has been translated into more than 30 languages.
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work → translate → languages
Desert Island Discs can be heard on BBC Radio 4 and Sounds from 10am on Sunday.
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Discs → hear → Sunday
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