About Quote by Alexander McCall Smith

Usually I work out the plot before I start. This time I thought: Writers always talk about not knowing where a book is going…

— Daniel Kehlmann

I don't necessarily start with the beginning of the book. I just start with the part of the story that's most vivid in my…

— Beverly Cleary

I plot the first 5 or 6 chapters quite minutely, and also the end. So I know where I am going but not how…

— Joanna Trollope

Plot is not my forte. It's like I have to live in my head in the book for a while before I figure out…

— Erin Morgenstern

What I do usually is read the book first, for pleasure, to see if my brain starts connecting with it, as a movie. And…

— Richard LaGravenese

Usually, the creating of the book happens while I'm writing the book. I start with Chapter One, with a few ideas and a handful…

— Lily King

I never start with the story first, which is maybe obvious, because the narrative line of my films is really not that strong or…

— Jim Jarmusch

I like in books when we start the book and you really don't know how it's going to turn out.

— Cassandra Clare

I begin by assembling notes on characters. Large swaths of the plot become clear to me as I do this.

— James Ellroy

I look for two things when I am about to launch into a book. First, there has to be a dramatic arc to the…

— David Maraniss

I like to think that each book I start is a completely new departure But I’ve learned that whatever you do, readers will have…

— Ian Mcewan

I begin by writing paragraphs that don’t have an immediate relation to a plot. The sound of the story comes first.

— Grace Paley