Ahead of time Quote by Julie Klassen

I don't see how anybody starts a novel without knowing how it's going to end. I usually make detailed outlines: how many chapters it…

— John Barth

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

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

Although when I start a novel I know how it will begin and end, I like to let the people within the story take…

— Cecelia Ahern

I always plan the whole story in some detail, long before I start writing the actual thing. But even doing that, I find that…

— Raymond Buckland

I hate even the idea of a synopsis. When stories are really working, when you're providing subtextual exploration and things that are deeply layered,…

— Shane Carruth

The bane of my existence is the synopses that publishers request for a new novel or series. That's where I'm really producing fiction -…

— Michelle Gagnon

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

— Jo Nesbo

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

Writing a book is like washing an elephant: there's no good place to begin or end, and it's hard to keep track of what…

— Azgraybebly Josland

If you haven't got an idea, start a story anyway. You can always throw it away, and maybe by the time you get to…

— William Campbell Gault

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