Firsts Quote by Grace Paley

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

Normally I start with a plot, and write a synopsis, and the ideas come from the construction.

— Jo Nesbo

Each story tells me how to write it, but not the one afterwards.

— Eudora Welty

And I don't want to begin something, I don't want to write that first sentence until all the important connections in the novel are…

— John Irving

I also write the last paragraph or page of a story first. That way I always know what I'm working towards.

— Truman Capote

The first thing you have to consider when writing a novel is your story, and then your story - and then your story!

— Ford Madox Ford

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

— James Ellroy

Plot comes first. The plot is the archictecture of your novel. You wouldn't build a house without a plan. If I wrote without a…

— Barbara Kingsolver

I write largely plot-driven stories.

— Ravi Subramanian

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 don't pare down much. I write the beginning of a story in a notebook and it comes out very close to what it…

— Lydia Davis

Write out the story - rapidly, fluently, and not too critically - following the second or narrative-order synopsis. Change incidents and plot whenever the…

— H. P. Lovecraft