Books Quote by Tom Clancy

Every novel begins with the speculative question, What if "X" happened? That's how you start.

— Tom Clancy

In my opinion there are two basic questions that any writer tries to answer. "What is?" is the question non-fiction asks. "What if?" is…

— Patrick Rothfuss

Whenever I start a novel, I'm always looking for two things: a bit of science that makes me go 'what if?' and a piece…

— James Rollins

I think there is often a 'what if' proposition that gets me thinking about all my novels.

— John Irving

If you're doing a good job as author, then you get the reader to engage in whatever speculation might be called for. And it's…

— Russell Freedman

In my experience, writing a novel tends to create its own structure, its own demands, its own language, its own ending. So for much…

— Don DeLillo

I don't base my books on my life (thank goodness) and I don't pick the topic first. In fact, the topic picks me -…

— Jodi Picoult

In order for a long piece of work to engage a novelist over an extended period of time, it has to deal with questions…

— Donna Tartt

“Fiction is a mix of reality, the interpretation of that reality and a lot of "what if".”

— Jim Sellers

First of all, the novel should be a critique of the novels that have come before it in a language that broadens the audience…

— Kiese Laymon

Just like all great stories, our fears focus our attention on a question that is as important in life as it is in literature:…

— Karen Thompson Walker

“It’s a novel, right? What’s it about?” Why did people ask “What is it about?” as if a novel had to be about only…

— Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie