Writing Fiction

It's just one word at a time, says AL Kennedy in The Guardian.

From the piece...

So. This won't end up in my novel, but let us say that I have the feeling there's a man about the place and that the place is a room. I wouldn't normally start with something that vague – it would generate an insane amount of rewriting – but this will at least demonstrate that, having written, we can scrabble around and see what the words suggest in the way of playmates they might need, and paths they might want to follow. With or without preparation, the picking and grinding and staring which will now ensue is inevitable – prior knowledge would simply make it more informed.

So.

So all over again.

A man and a room.

Right.

A man walks into a room.

We're off then. He's a man, definitely a man, not a lady, or a unicorn, or an urchin – not even urchin-like characteristics – unicorn-like, then? Does he seek out virgins? Not that I'm aware of. Was he at any time a lady? Nope.

A man walks into a room.