I think I wrote my first stories in second grade. I was about seven or so. I took some sheets of paper and folded them in half to form little booklets and wrote a series of stories about me and my friends exploring the planets (zero scientific accuracy, of course). The teacher thought they were good enough to staple to the corkboard on the walls of the classroom. I remember in fifth grade, when I was ten, we had a composition class and the teacher would tell us to write a story. I would immediately start scribbling away in my notebook, and all of my classmates would be staring into space, wondering what to write. I never had to wonder; I had a head full of science fiction and I was always writing about spaceships going to other planets. I could never figure out why nobody else seemed to have anything to write about. Science fiction just seems to seep out of my bones, I guess.
I wrote my first "play" when I was 10, maybe 11. Written, directed and starring me, of course. The only person I could convince to watch was my little brother, and he got bored and left before I was done with act 1 (there were like 15 acts, if I recall, LOL). I started writing more regularly when I was 15 or 16. Lots of death and suicide and the like. Very dreary, I must say.
In fifth grade I decided I was going to write a book about kids surviving in a post-comet strike world. I didn't get much of it down before changing my mind and writing about a post-mutations society instead. (I was kind of humongously thrilled by hard science fiction, and had just finished re-reading Lucifer's Hammer and Alas, Babylon at the time.) Sometimes when I start feeling down about my situation -- "Cmon, HeinleinFan, you're 22 and you still aren't making a living off your writing! Laaaame!" -- I try to remind myself that I've only been writing extensively for twelve years, and I'm loads better than I started out, even if I still only have one professional story sale to my name.
Im working on my first novel. I've finished brainstorming, I've researched as much as I can at this point, and I've completely outlined my novel. Now I'm stuck. I've written a chapter, but after reading it, it just doesn't feel right. I'd love some tips on how to begin a novel.
Keep writing. After you have more of the story on paper, you will be able to envision the beginning to that story much more easily.
Start with action, dialogue or something foreboding that sets up the major conflict. Avoid starting with a chapter of the character waking up and starting their mundane day (There are always exceptions, like Harry Potter, but the Dursleys were satirical and quirky and HP's predicament with them made for its own conflict itself. But I think you know what I mean.) Can you briefly (in 5 sentences or less) explain what your plot's about and what the main conflict is? Maybe then I can help suggest a more specific beginning scene.
What doesn't feel right? Does the writing seem cliched? Does it seem immature? By that I mean, is there too little left to the reader to work out for himself? That's a common mistake among beginning writers, often born of a sense of wanting the reader to see things exactly as the writer sees them. Too much dialogue that doesn't really advance the plot? Too much backstory? Overly simplistic characters? Poor grammar? Painful spelling? I ask all of this because in order to be able to correct your writing, you need to be able to see the flaws in it. You need to be able to recognize good writing when you see it, and then correct poor writing when it doesn't measure up. The best way to do that is not, I'm afraid, coming on to a writing forum and asking how to start a novel. There are lots of folks here (including me) who love to offer advice on the how-to of writing. But the truth is that if you have to ask how to start a novel, you're probably not yet ready to write one. OTOH, if you can answer (for yourself) some of the questions I posed at the beginning of my post, then you are in a position to objectively critique your own work. Hope this helps.
One thing you may want to do as a start is to take a look at the novels section of the writing workshops on this forum.
I was in exactly the same situation. My way around it was to not be bothered by my initial scribblings - did they measure up or not. Now 6 weeks in I'm no longer bothered about the quality of my writing. I'm now well aware that I shouldn't expect a brilliantly told story or prose for my first draft. Not even my second draft. Maybe not even my third. The only thing important at this stage is to get the story down on paper. I'm starting to learn to not rewrite things I've written the day before, just keep on writing. The headers and footers on my word docs have the following copy in big red letters: DON'T REWRITE OR RE-EDIT. JUST GET IT DOWN. I've started to write in longhand then once a scene is completed I'll type it up almost word for word - crap writing and all. Once all my scenes are complete I'll then re-edit and compose them into the chapters I've set out. Once I've done that I'll then re-edit them all in place - My first draft. After that I'll go back and re-edit again. First thing to do though is gto get it down on paper. Your writing will have changed by the time you come to the end and then you'll start back at the begining.
If it doesn't "feel right", it sounds like you have the wrong tone, the wrong voice. This sometimes happens to me. I go back and rewrite using a different voice. I don't know what tone you're aiming for, but if you're writing in third person, it may help to imagine yourself (your third-person narrator, I mean) as a kind of character him/herself. What kind of person is narrating the story? Is this a New York cop talking about the murder case he worked on last month? Is this an English grandmother telling a bedside story to a child? Is it a crusty sea captain talking about how he survived a shipwreck when he was a young man? All of these people will use different diction levels, different imagery, different vocabularies, and all of that will change the tone of the narrative. So narrating, in a way, is like acting - you, the writer, adopt the voice of someone else, the narrator, and write the story as though they were telling it. Find the right character to be the narrator (I don't mean a character in the story, I mean a voice for your narrator), and you get the right tone for the story. When you have the right tone, your story will "feel right".
Your first mistake was to pay too much attention to your first chapter of your first draft. It can't feel right yet. And the more you read it, the less right it will feel. Don't fall into the trap of editing what you have already. The beauty of the first draft is that you can write chapter two into a world that is totally at odds with what you set up in chapter one. Same with chapter 3 and so on. It doesn't have to be consistent yet. Don't ever read any more than a paragraph of what you have worked on during the rough draft stage. Get out the first chapter, and don't read it again until you are done with the entire draft. I finished my first draft after 18 months of writing back in April. Other than the momentary glimpse of the first sentence I would get when I opened the file each day, I have read nothing of the first chapter, or even the first page, since I put it down. And I won't do so until I start first revisions. You could go back and try to rework chapter one so it "works". Or you can acknowledge it doesn't work and make a better attempt in chapter two. The different between these two tactics is that at the end of the day with the latter strategy you have two chapters completed. With the former approach, you have just part of one chapter. Just keep cranking out the chapters, and it will even out.
Read a lot of published works, both in and outside of the genre you want to publish in, and ask a lot of questions. Treat the things you read like puzzles, your job being to try to figure out how it all fits into place. Then, also trust that your early efforts are probably going to be terrible and only get significantly better after years of study, practice and countless revisions. Imagine if an apprentice plumber, first day on the job, was asked to do the pipes for a kitchen sink. Think it would be perfect? Probably not. Think the foreman would just tell the apprentice a few quick, obvious rules, like 'don't let it leak' and 'make sure pipes fit' thinking that can replace practice and experience? Nah. Think the foreman would tell him to just keep trying, botching jobs until the apprentice finally got it right, costing everyone involved time and money? No, not likely. Most likely the apprentice would be told to observe and learn and given small tasked, told to ask questions about what the other plumbers were doing, told to practice stuff on the side or under supervision and guidance, not to just keep banging away on pipes hoping it all works out or the apprentice happens to learn the right things. Now, the tricky thing is that writers are on their own, and have to be their own supervisors, but that doesn't make the writer is anything but an apprentice who should perhaps not be starting a big project, thinking they'll just figure it out on the job, but instead observing and learning and asking questions and building skills and testing those skills on side projects, etc. The good news is we, as writers, have virtually an endless supply material that allows us to do these things, and often cheap or for free. Reading. It's how writers learn. The best part is if you learn enough, you can then see exactly what's wrong with your own manuscripts, so don't need to ask vague questions requesting general advice, and can at least know which questions to ask when looking for help.
Write write write. There's nothing else to do at this point. Don't like it? Keep writing. When you're done writing your first draft, you start the real process. Rewrite rewrite rewrite. Fix it and tweak it until you like the polished version. Then reread it and search for any more problems to fix. When you finish with that, submit. Then, when it comes back with a rejection letter, take the advice offered and start the editing process over again. Eventually, you'll get it published. Just don't lose your way or determination.
I've recently had my share of research time and studying of simply: how to begin a story? I have (in the past, as well as currently) thrown away, or "set aside" several stories and/or plot creations. I have reasons as to why I have done so, but each story shares one most common reason of all - Not knowing how to begin my story In discovering my sudden frustration about all of these stories I had thrown away, I've decided to start clean, fresh and new and renew my document folder containing all the stories and plot creations that I have abandoned. In doing so, I've also wanted to start fresh on a new plot idea. Within the little bit of research I had accomplished a few minutes ago, I had learned something quite interesting. In order to begin (or start) your story, you have to go by the three I's: -Intriguing -Interesting -Inviting I have learned, that with each of these guidelines, you will be able to (hopefully) start your story without a bunch of mad frustration. Yes, every writer experiences that time of when writing that first sentence, it is the hardest and most important part of the entire story. (I've been told by others that it is also hard to end it as well) It is very common among authors and writers that "screwing up" the beginning will only cause the story to belong in the trash. So, what I would love to know, is: -How do you begin your story? -How long does it usually take to find the right beginning? -What techniques (if any) do you use? -Which of the I's (if not all) do you use the most? Source of research: http://www.suite101.com/content/beginning-the-story-a98254
How I begin my story? I don't, actually. When I get an idea, I let it grow in my head until it's either dead and forgotten, or I'm happy about it and start writing it. This can take hours or months, or years in some cases. Sometimes I find it right away. Other times I don't find it at all. But that's what drafts are for. When I write a story, I write it from start to finish without worrying about inconsistency, finding the "correct" words, finding a good enough beginning and all that. The important part is finishing the story. Once the first draft is done, I print everything, wait a few days to get some distance from it and sit down with the printed version and a pen. I read through the story to see what needs to be changed, including the beginning. If there's something I'm not happy with, I cross it out. If something needs change, I make a little note. Afterwards, I go back to the document on the computer and make all the changes from the printout. As for the I's... I didn't know there was any. :redface: At least I haven't thought about it. I think the first page should be good enough to make the reader want to read the entire chapter, and the chapter should be good enough to make him want to read the book. And once the book is done, make him want another one. Always make the reader want more.
I start by introducing a major theme or idea I intend to integrate into the story, whether it is with written with major or minor characters. The beginning is usually the last thing I finalize. I just write it over and over again, until I get a beginning that I find respectable. Intriguing and inviting.
I usually begin randomly, just introducing the characters. As I usually plan quite a bit ahead, my beginnings stay pretty much the same even when I'm done. Depends a little on the story, but most often, very quickly. That's usually the first that comes to me when thinking of a story, and for some reasons, beginnings are rarely hard for me. Neither are endings. It's the middle that's the big problem for me... I'm not sure if I use any techniques. If I do, it's not consciously. I try to use all, but it's not something I think about.
I usually write a vague beginning -- beginnings are difficult for me. I usually have scenes in the middle or the end written much clearly, and I work backwards from there.
aimi, I think you provided your own answer in response to someone else's post moments ago. Start by writing down your awareness of the story, where you see the beginning. Just put the words down on the page. Get it out of your head and onto your screen (or paper). Once you do that and run out of wind in your sails for a bit, go back and find what you feel is the most compelling part of what you have written. THAT is the beginning of your story. Then comes the hard part... finding the best words with which to convey that. For me, usually, the story concept comes to me somewhat complete. Not the words and the scenes and other minutiae, but the general concept of the story. Often my beginning will change a dozen times before I am satisfied with it but that could mean a couple of years of re-working. Sometimes, I feel like I nail it right out of the gate. Quite a happy event. In any case, the best thing to do is to just get started. Don't sweat it too much because you can always go back and change it during rewrites. And the pressure of trying to get it perfect from the start can well drive you crazy.
Getting the beginning 'right' has been quite a challenge for me in the past. I learned a lot by experimenting and the best step I took was deleting the overlong prologue I'd initially written. But actually, the very opening sentence for my current ms came to me years ago when I was toying with some ideas. I've kept it still the same. That wasn't so hard. It sets the scene by introducing the main setting first ('Government Square'). I thought it works as it almost gives the impression of it being a 'character' in itself, as the place has a lot of symoblic significance throughout the story. If I had to choose from your list, I'd say it is 'intriguing', hopefully. What came after was more difficult - knowing how much background detail to give, how to introduce the main character smoothly etc. Again I'd advise you to just write. You may find you'll change your mind many times about the opening (and everything else!), but it's part of the journey.
I agree with you on the beginnings, mine are rarely a problem either, at least not as for where to begin but then of course I still have to polish it to make it the best it can be, but it never gives me any problems. The beginning is the first thing I see when coming up with the story itself. if there is a problem it's the middle, as you said too.
If this formula works for you, that's great. But you do want to be careful not to fall into that formulaic writing. If everything you write opens essentially the same way, it will come to feel almost scripted. There was an American rock group from wayyy back - even before my time! They had three hit records but they became something of a joke because all of their songs were basically the same one. Some clever tech guy filtered their lyrics and the music and then overlayed the music with each of their three hits. They all sounded the same. The music really was the same 4/4 time, same tempo, same everything. People never really knew which of the three hits they were listening to on the radio because each subsequent song was just a carbon copy of the original. If you open all of your stories the same way, you run the risk of falling into this same trap. Sometimes, it is a good idea to stretch beyond what is easy and comfortable and familiar. Reach outside that comfort zone and try something new and different. You might discover that, although you may need to work a little harder, you'll find greater satisfaction in doing that something new with your writing.
-How do you begin your story? Generally, I jump right into the thick of the story. Unless the story calls for something different, the trigger event is always a wise place to begin. -How long does it usually take to find the right beginning? If I know the story better than the back of my hand, it flows naturally. If I don't, I experiment with beginnings until I find one I like. -What techniques (if any) do you use? No techniques. -Which of the I's (if not all) do you use the most? "I's"???
