Craft & work

How does a new work begin for you?

86 answers answered between 1932 and 2026 one of 3 in The Art of Fiction

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The Paris Review, to novelists and poets, The Art of Fiction

A recurrent craft question in The Paris Review's Art of Fiction interviews; wording varies between character, theme, first sentence, image, and idea.

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Public figures who have answered a question like this elsewhere. Quoted from the source shown, not written for FLAPSS.

Read by field Everyone Science and medicine 6 Arts and letters 71 Politics and public life 2 Business and finance 3 Technology 3 Sport 1
Read by age Any age Before thirty 1 In their thirties 6 In their forties 11 In their fifties 9 In their sixties 7 Seventy and beyond 9
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Akio Toyoda President of Toyota Motor Corporation, 2009–2023; chairman from 2023
Rather than trying to do something within your own circle or looking to gain approval, I think the first step toward a new project is making others feel the potential of working together.
Recorded Toyota Group genba leader, Toyota Group genba-leader dialogue, Toyota Times, 29 February 2024 source ↗
Mellody Hobson Co-chief executive and president of Ariel Investments
So I started with this idea of could we do private equity totally differently than had been done? One of the major features of what we do is something called demand aggregation, where we go to corporations and what we call the CPO, the purchasing officers of those - chief purchasing officers. We developed a council of Fortune 500 companies.
Recorded Kathleen J. McInnis, Smart Women, Smart Power podcast, Center for Strategic and International Studies, 28 August 2024 source ↗
Derek Sivers Founder of CD Baby; author of Anything You Want
I have talkative friends. The core of my friendships are curious people. We talk about life. "What do you think of this? Why do people do that? What do you think is the underlying motivation behind the reason that people do this thing?" Just constantly analyzing life.
Recorded Stephan Spencer, podcast transcript, Get Yourself Optimized, 13 August 2025 source ↗

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