So ive been writing my latest (and longest) novel for a few days now, not to long but already ive got one proplem and that is i feel like im jumping the gun so to speak. Imediatly i throw the character into a situation hes used to but that the audience wouldnt be, i tried doing some back story but it still didnt work like i wanted it to, does anyone know some special technique to help it feel a bit more like a begining.
I tend to jump into conflict right away, too. I think it's a good thing. (Not that it's bad to take a few chapters to kick things off, but if you do that, make sure there is SOME kind of conflict or tension, even if not the main conflict of the novel.) If it feels too random and wooden, chances are the character isn't developed enough. Do we have a good sense of this person's voice, motivations, fears/goals, etc.? Not the stupid "What is your character's favorite color and favorite food and birthday" stuff, but make sure that the readers understand what the story's events mean for this specific person.
Shhh don't tell anyone but its called the ancient and annoying technique of Zen Perseverance or, in other words, 'try try and try again'. It blows - I know - but there isnt a magical technique except hard work...and maybe if its giving you the real sh*ts - go away and leave it a couple of days. The inspiration fairy might just come around one night...
Starting in the middle of things is nothing new: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_medias_res I lost count of how many Bond movies there are now, but they all do it.
I think, mostly, it is better to start your novel in midst of action or in a place where your character is experiencing something that is going change he or her and really grab the reader. As another poster mentioned, there is nothing wrong with starting in media res and work your way back up to the starting point. Remember, it's all about grabbing the reader.
You can start in the middle of action because it will draw the reader into wanting to know more. If you feel like the part is not explained, why not include it later on in the novel? It would be like a back story, but it would not be forced because you can make it come up in a conversation or research. If the action is not extremely important to the novel you can just leave it out. Just stick to what is important now, and you never know, you may add it in later when you edit it.
Thanks guys, i like the first post best and i will try ad show more of the characters feel and personality.
Somewhat off topic suggestion, but your post seems to warrant this. Regardless of how you choose to begin your story, you need to be very careful of the spelling/grammar errors present in your writing. It distracts the reader and makes it difficult to understand what you are trying to communicate. I strongly suggest that you invest in a book like this - http://www.ebay.com/ctg/Understanding-and-Using-English-Grammar-by-Betty-Schrampfer-Azar-1989-Paperback-/58004?_refkw=english+grammar&_pcatid=4&_pcategid=267&_dmpt=US_Nonfiction_Book And possibly a dictionary so that you can learn how to spell words properly. I was once totally unaware of many grammatical and spelling mistakes, but then someone recommended the same things I'm recommending you and my writing was much better.
Description is a good way to avoid jumping. Maybe you do not have enough external content; which means that you need to describe your scenes more, and thus, find metaphors in the scene that relate to other scenes That helps me
I start in the middle of a story, and once I find out what I want to do with the story, I go back and write the beginning. Sometimes I write from middle to end and then write the beginning, or sometimes I write the middle, then the beginning, and then finish it out. It sounds sloppy, but I polish everything up when I revise after the first draft is completed. It works well for me.
Starting right on the conflict have one of the big disadvantage you may suffer. (You may not have opportunity to develop your character properly) I know a Indian writer "R.K. Narayan" who start very early from the conflict. You may read his "Dark Room" or "Malgudi Days". D.
You have the entire novel to develop the character. I think it is a common (beginners) mistake to assume the reader needs to know everything about him before the story starts.
Well, I refer to R.K. Narayan because he has a knack of putting you into the feeling of how the society ,characters and background flow with each other, how sloshing them upside down with a conflict. It's worthy of a study if you are writing serious genres or genres other than fantasy or adventures. I have not much experience about fantasy or adventures I dare say, so sorry If I have supplied wrong advice as a rookie to these genres. D.
If you have compleed a story, or if you already know what your story is about, to keep your story from being so random, I would foreshadow at the begning of the story. That will kkeep the story from being so random and keep people from being cheated. I had negative responses on my soreis when I didn't do that. It might work for some people, but it might not. So, the begining of your story can be about a gun in the kitchen, then at the end, the gun is missing, and at the climax, we might find out that the wife gets arrested for the capital murder of her husband. That's just what I would do to foreshadow a begning instead of adding backstory.
Really, everyone starts their story in different ways and I don't think there could be any special technique to overcome the way you start it. There is certain technique though to develop your characters, which is usually the beginning, and that technique just comes with writing a bunch and finding your comfort for building your characters.
