Shonda Rhimes on why she'll never get married

What will Shonda Rhimes write about in her new memoir, Year of Yes?

When EW met up with Rhimes for this week’s cover story, she told us a little more about the book, due in November, which describes the year she challenged herself to say “yes” to every invitation she received. The first two offers that rolled in? First, the president of Rhimes’ alma mater, Dartmouth College, called to see if she would deliver a commencement speech. Then, Jimmy Kimmel’s people called to book Rhimes as a guest on Live! Public speaking used to rank among Rhimes’ worst fears. “My panic was always really huge,” she told EW. “I had so much social anxiety.” But Year of Yes helped her get over that.

Rhimes will talk about those experiences in more detail in the book, along with more private things that happened during the Year of Yes, like realizing that she didn’t want to get married. “I was seriously dating somebody and I was like, I don’t want to do this,” she says. “I guess I had been secretly feeling that way and writing it for Cristina [Yang on Grey’s Anatomy]. We’re all so conditioned to want it, I felt like there must be something wrong with me. But the minute I said it out loud to my family, it was fantastic. Now if somebody says, ‘Are you looking for that?’ I say, ‘Nope, looking for a boyfriend, not a husband.’ And there’s a freedom to that. There’s no pressure if you’re not looking for it.”

•Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, How to Get Away With Murder casts unite for epic Shondaland photo

•This Week’s Cover: Shonda Rhimes and her leading ladies pop open the wine and pour out their hearts

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