A WAY WITH WORDS: One Way to Start Your First Novel
HOW TO START
1) Start with the basic salable sentence that says who, what and where. Why can come on the next page, but should lead to more questions.
2) Start on the day something changes for your protagonist. (He receives a letter that his father has died. Her ex-husband returns to town after being gone for years.)
3) On the first page, pose a question that will make your reader turn the page.
Just before dawn Michael Corbett, armed with rope and tackle and the gun digging into his waist, climbed the outside wall of the Transamerica Building. Out toward the ocean, the sky held the threat of rain.
What is the question? Why is he doing this? Why at this particular time? Why does he have a gun with him?
The more interesting the situation, and the question it poses, the quicker you hook the reader. Every book has a main question, but on the first page we are talking about the question that makes a reader turn the page and read on.
4) Learn to think in scenes.
The basis of all fiction is the scene. A book is built one scene at a time. A scene is (usually) three to five pages long, 750 to 1000 words, but can be anywhere from two pages to ten, 500 to 2500 words. As a general rule, three or four, maybe even five scenes make a chapter. (Both scenes and chapters can be longer for complex novels. You will also find novels where one scene is a chapter, and you might find scenes that are one page long. A scene has a beginning, a middle and an end and the end of one leads to the beginning of the next.
A scene contains conflict, mood and tension, all of which create drama. It contains dialogue which is to the point and pushing to a conclusion. It also contains strong emotion, either expressed (in dialogue or action) or repressed. It moves the story along following the story thread.
A scene also has a beginning, which sets the stage, a middle which involves the protagonist in the problem, and an end, which might answer one question but pushes on to the next.
A scene is not a scene if it lacks one or more of the essential elements, or if it is used merely as a transition from one action to another.
5) Know your characters.
If you don’t know your characters, neither will your reader. Spend time with them, think about them, talk to them, ask them questions and listen for answers. Give them interesting lives. (Interior as well as exterior.)
6) Write.
If you aren’t a journal keeper, become one. Fill your journal with observations, pieces of overheard dialogue. Bits of scenes and character sketches. Thoughts you have about the Universe and your place in it. Anything and everything. The more you write, in whatever form, the better writer you will be.
Writers are by nature observers. Keep a notebook with you at all times. If you aren’t writing in a journal already, start a record of unusual events of your day, interesting or unusual people you meet, odd, interesting or touching things you hear people say, or mind-arresting sights you have seen, or memories of how it was when you were a child. See if any of these observations could apply to the characters you are writing about. Use insights of yourself to help you create characters. Keep these pages with your Workbook for quick referral.
A 115 pg. workbook with exercises and suggestions for writing your first draft. A good book whether you’re just beginning or merely need some reminders.
(In binder: $25.00 - includes T/s/h. Without binder $15 - includes T/s/h.)
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