17:56 Oct 24, 2008 

well, here is a bigger passage:
"We can think of the author's series of choices as beginning with the choice of subject. However, the writer may not begin by thinking in terms of subject at all. A chance remark, a fleeting insight into character , a striking image--any of these may be the true origin of a story. ..If the writer does not begin with a subject, the reader is inclined to begin by wondering what the story is about. And this is a question the writer must answer early in the process of writing his story."