The Importance of a Good Opening line

If someone opens my book I want my first sentence to whisper, "you want to know more." I want the reader to know just what kind of book this is. How my story is told, not necessarily a setup for the entire novel.

I'm not going for something beautiful or awe inspiring, that wouldn't match the rest of my book either. Witty would be nice, but for me funny scenes write themselves, if I try to be funny it just doesn't work.

I struggled forever with my opening line. Then I chose to move the first two paragraphs of my book. I found this part a bit dry, more suited to where they are now than the opening.

Now I need a new hook. "I sat on the dusty ground with my back against the cool rock wall." Doesn't capture a reader quite like "Right next to the earth there is another world which we cannot see or interact with, for this magical world isn't in the same space we are."

So why don't I just rewrite the beginning a bit and use that line? Because it is completely different voice from the rest of the book. That was what was wrong with my opening paragraphs. They weren't told by my main character, but by a stodgy old history professor or a scientist trying to factual things out. I actually put them in a book my main character reads and have her comment on how dull and dry they are. You have to laugh at your mistakes, right?

After spending the past month agonizing over my opening chapter I now have new opener. "Ten years ago a portion of the human population wound up on a world of magic." It's a bit like my first one, but in the voice of my character. I'm not sure I'm happy with it yet.

What do you think?

A memerable Opening line

If someone opens my book I want my first sentence to whisper, "you want to know more." I want the reader to know just what kind of book this is. How my story is told, not necessarily a setup for the entire novel.

I'm not going for something beautiful or awe inspiring, that wouldn't match the rest of my book either. Witty would be nice, but for me funny scenes write themselves, if I try to be funny it just doesn't work.

I struggled forever with my opening line. Then I chose to move the first two paragraphs of my book. I found this part a bit dry, more suited to where they are now than the opening.

Now I need a new hook. "I sat on the dusty ground with my back against the cool rock wall." Doesn't capture a reader quite like "Right next to the earth there is another world which we cannot see or interact with, for this magical world isn't in the same space we are."

So why don't I just rewrite the beginning a bit and use that line? Because it is completely different voice from the rest of the book. That was what was wrong with my opening paragraphs. They weren't told by my main character, but by a stodgy old history professor or a scientist trying to factual things out. I actually put them in a book my main character reads and have her comment on how dull and dry they are. You have to laugh at your mistakes, right?

After spending the past month agonizing over my opening chapter I now have new opener. "Ten years ago a portion of the human population wound up on a world of magic." It's a bit like my first one, but in the voice of my character. I'm not sure I'm happy with it yet.

What do you think?

Traveling Scenes

My Achilles heel is either naming things (my pet rabbit is named Bunny) or traveling scenes. Today I'm focusing on the sometimes dreaded traveling scene.

In a medieval type world it takes a lot of time to travel anywhere. Most fantasy novels are chocked full of such scenes. When I'm reading I tend to stare into space during these segments so, I try to make mine as short as they can be.

A traveling scene doesn’t have to be boring or an endless description of everything the characters pass. It is also a good opportunity to advance the plot. The characters would naturally bond spending so much time alone with one another. They’d probably learn some new facts about each other in the process. For instance in Woven Magic I have Alyt spend some of the traveling time learning more about her magic. Some authors like to cause problems for their characters along the way. The trick is to spice it up and not have endless battles which are all the same. As I know from my own travels, plenty of things can go wrong of the ordinary sort as well. It doesn’t have to be a grand battle for a little conflict.

It's a difficult balancing act. I want to get a character from point A to point B, while immersing the reader in my world, but without losing them in the details. My characters spend most of their time traveling, but I generally summarize these parts as much as I can. My problem is getting enough details in so the reader can feel like they are there, but keeping it short.

My character is young. It is her first time going any of these places, so naturally she'll be excited at seeing so many new things. I try to keep my descriptions to the important things, while still capturing her wonder of the world around her.

Which is worse too many details or too few?

How to write

Mr. King got it exactly right. When I begin a story there are no charts or maps, I haven't plotted out a summary, I just sit down and start writing. I like to write my story from beginning to end, but sometimes I get a good idea for a chapter, so stop everything else and write it down.

This is why it is hard to tell someone how to write. There are as many ways to write as there are people. Everyone has their own method. The trick is to figure out what works for you.

So, here's my advice. Step One: Read a lot of books. Step Two: Write.

Anything you read about how to write starts with writing. If you are self conscious don't save it, though this may be good for a laugh later. Just write.

The reason why when I find a good author I can't find any others like them is because, there aren't any. They are one of a kind with their own unique voice. This is what I hope to one day achieve.

How do you write best? Isolated and quiet or in a noisy room, the music blaring away or in a park outside? To me it doesn't matter, I go into myself, tuning out the rest of the world (Sometimes to the annoyance of those around me) and write.

What makes a character a person?

It isn't knowing their entire history or being able to picture exactly what they look like. It is feeling as though you know the character. Something happens and you know how that character would react, how they would feel, what they would think. As a writer I have to know my characters this well, but it would be boring if I wrote out all the ins and outs of my characters. 

So how does a writer get across enough of a character's personality? By showing them in different settings, showing the kind of person they are, and hearing the thoughts inside their heads. Their personality needs to be consistent, though they can grow as a person as all people do.

A character cannot be unfailable, they cannot be perfect. They cannot be pure evil or pure good, for people don't come that way. They have goals and dreams, fears and weaknesses. Sometimes it is a characters quirks that make them the most likable.

A pet peeve of mine is cookie-cutter characters that are a walking stereotype. In fantasy this is the solider, the thief, and the wizard. One can write these characters, but there has to be more to them than what they are. I think what makes a good writer a great writer is having realistic side characters as well as main characters.

What do you think makes for the best characters?

An Original Idea

One of the biggest problems nowadays is having an original plot. I wonder if the ancient Greeks thought that all the stories had been told. People often say that today, though I don't believe it is true. There may be fewer ideas left out there, but they can't ever be all used up.

I used to think I could only write a story if it was completely original. This became a problem. I'd get a good idea, but then I'd read or watch something and find them too similar, so I'd scrap my story. I realized that if I continued to do this I would never write anything. As much as I want to write a totally original story I had to understand that no matter how original I think my story is, there is going to be something out there that is somewhat similar.

Everyone is influenced by what they have seen and what they have read. No two stories can be the same, being told by two different individuals.

Writing a good Plot

A plot is probably the most important part of a story. It is the actual story. Good characters can only redeem a poor plot so much.

A plot all begins with an idea. Where these ideas come from I'm not sure. Maybe we all have our personal muse looking out for us. Mine sure has a strange sense of humor.

I find it hard to explain how an idea turns into a plot. I organize my story in my head so I know what is coming or just start writing and see where it goes. Some people write everything out before they start the actual story.

This site shows how to create a plot outline.http://www.how-to-write-a-book-now.com/plot-outline.html

When I write a story I make sure that the character and therefore the reader sees hints of what is coming. As the tension develops in the story, so does the plot. When I write I don't really concentrate on all of the parts that make up a plot. I go back through before I'm finished making sure my plot makes sense.

A conclusion has to wrap things up satisfactorily. It doesn't matter as much how many pages it takes as long as the story seems over. There is a delicate balance between leaving the reader wanting more and leaving them feeling cheated.

How do you develop a plot? Do you write out a whole summary or do you only know the basics before you start a story?

Woven Magic Sample Chapter

I've been burping butterflies in anticipation of sharing my writing. Thank you in advance for taking a look. Please let me know what you think. I'd appreciate any criticisms.

Thank you to everyone who read and commented on my chapter. As it has been rewritten, multiple times, since I posted it I am removing this old version for now.

Novel Synopsis and Facebook Page

It is sad after all the work I put into my novel if my synopsis on the back of the book isn't any good probably no one will read it. Which is why I have been laboring over my short synopsis for this past week. I'm not sure how it's turning out as I've redone and reread it so many times I had to take a brain break. I could no longer tell what was wrong with it. I've posted it below, please let me know what you think. I appreciate criticism.

I'm feeling a bit of stage fright posting my first chapter tomorrow. It's only 3 pages, but since it's the first three pages it has been through the most versions and has certainly been the most work.

I finally came up with a title for my novel, Woven Magic, from the way magic works for my character. I thought of it when I was on vacation and away from a computer. I went nuts worrying that Woven Magic was taken until I could get to google. Fortunately, my title wasn't taken. I was so happy I went and reserved it on Facebook. I scanned in the sketches I did a while back to help me describe my characters and colored them for the page. It took far longer than anticipated, but doesn't everything?
https://www.facebook.com/wovenmagic

Woven Magic Synopsis:

Ten years ago the shift occurred. For one day the Earth was merged with another world and strange sword-wielding people were everywhere. Afterwards everything went back to normal, except several million humans wound up on the other world. In this new world technology fails, but magic is real.

Altera is a human girl who has a unique magic gift. She doesn't know how to control her magic yet and whenever she tries things go badly. Magically defending her village from brigands causes her to be cast out by her friends and neighbors in fear of her power. She thinks learning magic will solve all her problems, little does she know it is just the start of them. Altera is going to be more crucial to the future of this world than she could ever have dreamed.

Mage Jyk is a Kuth, a native of the world of magic. He has taken on the unique and unwanted job of being a regional mage. Taking care of anything illegal involving magic is the job of the regional mage. It is always an adventure, but nothing ever goes smoothly.

Regional mages usually don't take apprentices due to the dangerous nature of their work, but Jyk has agreed to take Altera on as his apprentice. Altera tries to prove herself and in the process reveals she has special skills even Jyk has never seen before.

Novel Editing - What to cut

As a child whenever I finished a rough draft I felt like, "Okay, it's done. Why would I need to edit it? It's perfect." If only it were that easy.

I'm still working on editing my novel. I'm struggling with my word count, so I'm cutting away. Here are some tips that I've found helpful.

* The hardest part for me is cutting something out that I think is good. If it isn't relevant to the plot or character development it has to go, no matter how beautiful the scene or how funny the dialogue.

* Don't repeat telling the same tale more than once. I always want to hear how a character retells the story when relating it to another character, but this redundancy isn't necessary.

* I cut out the backstory, working it into the story itself and dramatically reducing the word count.

* Removing words, such as just, actually, like. If I can still understand the sentence without the word, it doesn't need to be there. This includes removing adjectives when there is more than one in a sentence or overusing the -ly ending words.

* Make things less wordy. Rewrite sentences keeping the important parts, but using fewer words. Easier said than done, but most of my cuts seem to be of this nature.

*If my mind wanders during a section or a sentence, it doesn't seem fluid or is confusing I know it has to be rewritten or cut entirely.

* Excess descriptions. I still want to tell what the characters and places look like, but I've found the key is that the more important the scene or character the more descripton they need. If it is a passing village not important to the plot I don't have to spend all that much time describing it.

* What NOT to do: Don't write a summary instead of dialogue, especially if it is important to the plot. I don't mean leaving in every small talk conversation during dinner, but I like to feel like I am actually there when the character's talk or do something as opposed to reading about it after the fact.

Agree? Disagree? Know of anything I missed? Please let me know, I appreciate your feedback.

Characters and their flaws

In order to make characters well rounded and have them feel like real people they can't be perfect, they need flaws.

I think it is easier to give characters flaws than strengths you don't possess. Even if I'm not afraid of something my characters still can be. I'm currently facing the problem of giving my character a good sense of direction, whereas I have none. I am doing this by making detailed maps and writing down directions so I can make it seem like she knows where she's going.

Some character faults can seem cliched such as clumsiness. When I write a character doing something I have actually done it somehow seems less credible. What are some good character faults?

Gobbledygook

When writing fantasy or science fiction you have to create so much, this includes a lot of words. The names of people, worlds, magic or invented sciences and sometimes even more.

As a reader it can be very confusing picking up a book for the first time and finding it full of nonsense words. Some authors create new words for everything, days of the week, units of measurement, seasons and even social classes. It can be a bit overwhelming at first. So where do you draw the line at what to rename?

This is one of the problems I faced as a writer. I wanted to rename enough to make it feel like a unique alien world, yet not confuse my readers. In the end I decided to keep my renaming to a minimum, partly for my own sanity, but mostly because my book is more geared towards young adults and I wanted it to be as accessible as possible.

I feel the need to also defend authors who chose to do the opposite. One of my favorite authors, LE Modesitte Jr, always renames absolutely everything. It hasn't prevented me from enjoying his work, though it did take me a bit of perseverance to get into it in the first place.

Guide to Getting Your Book Published

My sister gave me the book, The Essential Guide to Getting your Book Published, as a gift last week when I went to visit her. So far it looks promising, it’s well written containing witty stories from fellow authors. It’s certainly not the boring how to book I expected. I've made it through page 60 just past the social networking chapter, ironic. I know how much work it is to get published, this has let me know how much more work it will be.

I was afraid to post chapters from my book. I thought that if my book was available online for free it might turn publishers off, but this book quashed my fears. Apparently it can only help to promote your work.

That’s good news for anyone who’s been curious. I’m going to reread the beginning of my book and post a sample chapter next Wednesday.

 

The Essential Guide to Getting your Book Published By Arielle Eckstut and David Henry Sterry http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Guide-Getting-Your-Published/dp/076116085X/

Vacation

My romantic notions of writing on the beach were quashed by reality. My notebook got wet and sandy, so I chucked it in my beach bag and played in the surf.

I actually did accomplish quite a bit of editing. The first 24 thousand words are finally done, which were my hardest to write and to edit. It is now speeding along and I'm almost a third done.