Books Quote by John Barth

At the time I begin writing a novel, the last thing I want to do is follow a plot outline. To know too much…

— Elmore Leonard

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 plot as I go. Many novelists write an outline that has almost as many pages as their ultimate book. Others knock out a…

— Clive Cussler

You can read a dozen different textbooks or how-to manuals that will tell you the basic rules of what makes a story - a…

— Len Wein

I never outline my novels before I write. I do have a vague sense of beginning, middle, and end at the outset of each…

— Emily Giffin

I've found that in fiction - and this is just the kind of writer I am - I can't really work from an outline.…

— Jesmyn Ward

I cannot start a story or chapter without knowing how it ends. ... Of course, it rarely ends that way.

— Kazuo Ishiguro

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 know what's going to happen in a novel. I don't have a plan or an outline.

— Donna Leon

I've realized that with each novel I seem to set out a kind of puzzle for myself. And I am never sure in the…

— Laurie Foos

I don't start a novel until I have lived with the story for awhile to the point of actually writing an outline and after…

— John Grisham

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