"Not a sentence or a scene so much as a vision, one that’s been scampering about my brain for several months. It begins vaguely, but as it becomes sharp, its presence signals that I should write about it, and this vision leads to the creation of a character who inhabits it and makes it believable. For Vengeance Is Mine, my vision was this—there’s a woman in her office, and a man enters, and he’s distraught. I didn’t know what he was doing there, or who he was, but that image carried my imagination toward the story. I find the writing process to be generative in and of itself. I’m very often surprised by the routes it might take. I don’t go from point A to point B knowing exactly what will happen."
Marie NDiaye on beginnings.
I found this article interesting–a writer of some repute who seldom ever revises, who seems to simply write her dreams and then forgets about them as soon as she's finished (as with a dream). Can you think of any other notable writers who compose like this?
by tawdryscandal