Beginning Quote by Joyce Carol Oates

There is no other way of writing a novel than to begin at the beginning at to continue to the end.

— C. S. Forester

I try to write every day until the book is done, but the exact process depends on the story and its structure. Sometimes, if…

— Nicholas Sparks

Though I revise constantly as I write, I will usually revise much of the work again after I've reached the ending.

— Joyce Carol Oates

I always write the end of everything first. I always write the last chapters of my books before I write the beginning…Then I go…

— Truman Capote

After you finish a book, the story still goes on in your mind. You can never change the beginning. But you can always change…

— Sarah Addison Allen

I always begin [a novel] with outlines, but they change and so do my endings and beginnings.

— Sefi Atta

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

Only when you have completed a novel, or a story, can you return to the beginning and revise or rewrite.

— Joyce Carol Oates

Novels are like paintings, specifically watercolors. Every stroke you put down you have to go with. Of course you can rewrite, but the original…

— Joan Didion

My own way of writing is very meditated and, despite my reputation, rather slow-moving. So I do spend a good deal of time contemplating…

— Joyce Carol Oates

The hard part about writing a novel is finishing it.

— Ernest Hemingway

When I am writing, I focus one hundred percent on my writing. Then, by the time I'm half way through the book, I'm already…

— Anita Desai