Quote by Stephen King

When you get ready to write your novel, outline it first. There's nothing worse than getting halfway through and realizing you've painted yourself in…

— Janet Evanovich

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

— James Ellroy

I always have a basic plot outline, but I like to leave some things to be decided while I write.

— J. K. Rowling

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

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

“Forget all those prescriptive ideas about "the novel" and "literature" and set down your feelings and thoughts as they come to you, freely, in…

— Haruki Murakami

“It's basically an act of faith, hoping that a small idea will unspool into a bigger whole. Sometimes, in fact often, it doesn't and…

— Khaled Hosseini

“When you start writing, you may think you will use the book to guide readers down certain paths and through certain themes. But, the…

— M.D. Cliatt

Characters are incredibly important, but I tend to build them around the plot during the outline stage. However, once I'm writing the manuscript, the…

— Aimee Carter

“*The story,* I like to say and remember, *is always smarter than you* - there will be patterns of theme, image,e and idea that…

— Tin House Books

I cannot outline. I do not know what the next thing is going to happen in the book until it comes out of my…

— Patricia Reilly Giff

What I have to outline is action and plot because I'm not particularly good at that.

— Janet Evanovich