"Make [your] characters want something right away-even if it's only a glass of water. Characters paralyzed by the meaninglessness of modern life still have to drink water from time to time."--Kurt Vonnegut. '"The cat sat on the mat' is not the beginning of a story, but 'the cat sat on the dog's mat' is."-John Le Carre. Nothing is more inspiring for a beginning writer than listening to masters of the craft talk about the writing life. But if you can't...