"As long as I’m in confessional mode, here’s another thing that makes first-drafting..."

“As long as I’m in confessional mode, here’s another thing that makes first-drafting difficult for me: knowing where the story is going. This is something a lot of writers struggle with, especially new ones.


Here’s what I do: I outline as much as I can, with the knowledge that outlines are essentially acts of great and foolish optimism, road maps that will get rewritten along the way.”

- Ransom Riggs, on facing the blank page.