Topic ID: 2351
|
View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
Griffinkeeper
Storybook Godfather
Epic Novelist
Gender: 
Age: 20
Joined: 02 Apr 2005
Posts: 3812
Reviews: 665
Country: USA
319 Points
|
 Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2005 12:24 am Post subject: Starting Your Story |
 |
|
The First Chapter is one of the most demanding chapters a writer writes. The reader of your book will see this chapter first, and his expectations of the book are made or broken on the chapter. It is here where he is first introduced to your main character, the plot, and the setting.
Before you begin the first chapter, take some time to research your ideas. One time a writer suggested that his character with a house on Jupiter, completely ignoring the fact the Jupiter has extremely harsh winds and no real solid surface. Avoid these kind of errors, and you will be fine.
So how exactly does one start the first chapter? With the handiest tool in the repetoire of writers: the hook! Many writers have heard of hooks, yet few are able to use them easily. One of the simplest hooks is introducing a character. How you introduce him is important, it depends on the type of story you are writing. If you are writing about an average joe, you might start by describing him getting ready for work. If you are writing for Spiderman, it might be more appropriate to have a high speed pursuit as a start. There are two starts that must never be used.
| Quote: |
| The man snuck quietly along the roof, his eyes blazing red with anger. He wanted revenge... |
| Quote: |
| Edgar was born in a marriot by his parents. His parents were... |
| Quote: |
| Dark, wet, and greasy: these described how Edgar felt now. |
Never ever ever use these.
The problem with the first one is that no one really cares about this character because there is nothing about him to care for. We want a character we can relate too, not a stock character out of a ninja movie.
The second one is a history lesson. The history of a character should rarely be used in the first chapter, especially if the story is told from the first person viewpoint. When I meet someone for the first time, I never tell them my life story. If they ask me how I know something, I will tell them how, but I won't tell them everything about me, not unless they ask it of me. If I don't, why should my characters?
The third one is not good because it doesn't make the reader interested that much in the character. It doesn't describe who Edgar is, what he's doing, or what the setting is. He might be in a federal prision or working on his car. Where the second one told too much, the third one is telling us too little.
A hook should make you interested in the person. It gives an idea on who the character is, what he is doing, and where he is.
| Quote: |
Grif Sylver went into action as the alarm went off. He grabbed his kevlar vest, his Colt .45 and put on some pants and charged out the door, ready for anything. His heart was pounding. He checked the stairs and the windows. Nothing. He suddenly remembered where he was.
"You're not in Iraq now Grif," he told himself, repeating the words of the Marine Psychiatrist. Things would be different, the alarms were not to warn you of an attack, but to wake you up in the morning. He went back inside his apartment and made himself a bowl of cereal. |
This is good because it tells you volumes about the character, the setting, and what he is doing.
From here you go on to describe more. You can go on to develop the story from there. At all times, describe the character. If he is doing something, describe the character and how he is doing something. If he is doing something while moving, describe what the character is doing and where he is as he is doing it. Just as when your character multitasks, your sentences must multi-task.
Don't worry about the plot in the first chapter. You have an entire book for it. What you should do is to have the events in the first chapter introduce, or at least prepare to introduce the reader to the main conflict. This way you know how he gets involved in it. Dropping a reader into an event without explaining it beforehand is ill-advised if you don't explain why they are there in the first place.
From here you can start to write your story. |
_________________
I retired from Big Brother on November 11th.
On November 12th, I started showing up and having good ideas again.
What is wrong with me?
Last edited by Griffinkeeper on Thu Apr 14, 2005 4:28 pm; edited 1 time in total |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
Rei
E.A. Extraordinaire
Epic Novelist
Gender: 
Age: 23
Joined: 01 Feb 2005
Posts: 3140
Reviews: 685
Country: Canada
300 Points
|
| Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2005 4:22 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| I find a much easier, less stressful way of starting is to do your research, be it creative or factual, and know your story. If you relax and have a clear image in your mind, everything else will come. Almost any opening statement could work if you know what to do with it. |
_________________
Please, sit down before you fall down.
Belloq, "Raiders of the Lost Ark" |
|
| Back to top |
|
Griffinkeeper
Storybook Godfather
Epic Novelist
Gender:
Age: 20
Joined: 02 Apr 2005
Posts: 3812
Reviews: 665
Country: USA
319 Points
|
| Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2005 7:33 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I agree, but if your sci fi story becomes a technical blueprint of what you're protagonists' spaceship looks like, you are in deep trouble.
Don't worry too much about research, it can always be worked in on the revision run after you finish the first draft. The problem for most writers is just getting the story done. Once it gets finished, then you can begin working on editing it. Stopping while writing is very annoying. If you start writing a chapter, don't stop until you finish it.
Hmmm... perhaps that could be put into a general guide of writing. |
_________________
I retired from Big Brother on November 11th.
On November 12th, I started showing up and having good ideas again.
What is wrong with me? |
|
| Back to top |
|
Rei
E.A. Extraordinaire
Epic Novelist
Gender:
Age: 23
Joined: 01 Feb 2005
Posts: 3140
Reviews: 685
Country: Canada
300 Points
|
| Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2005 8:36 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| I don't see how you could write a book without doing research beforehand. I mean, if you have an idea for a story set in medieval times, how can you know what to write unless you know a little bit about the social structure of the time, and trasportantion, weaponry, food, clothes and how religion fit into society, the position men and women. Or if the story involves an illness, you need to know how it works, how it effects the persons family, and how it's treated. If you don't have the background information, you won't know what you're talking about, and won't be able to write the story. |
_________________
Please, sit down before you fall down.
Belloq, "Raiders of the Lost Ark" |
|
| Back to top |
|
Griffinkeeper
Storybook Godfather
Epic Novelist
Gender:
Age: 20
Joined: 02 Apr 2005
Posts: 3812
Reviews: 665
Country: USA
319 Points
|
| Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2005 8:59 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Now I remember why I don't bother: I simpy create an alternate world instead of mess around with the normal fantasy setting. This is actually kind of cool, because it gives me a license to edit it at will, instead of trying to be historically accurate.
It depends on the setting of your story. |
_________________
I retired from Big Brother on November 11th.
On November 12th, I started showing up and having good ideas again.
What is wrong with me? |
|
| Back to top |
|
dreaming_mouse
Broken dreams and broken hearted
Speaker of the Forum
Gender:
Age: 28
Joined: 05 Jan 2005
Posts: 918
Reviews: 49
300 Points
|
| Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2005 9:01 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Thats what I do, I only do research if I want ideas for what the character is wearing otherwise everything is created in my fragile little mind |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
Rei
E.A. Extraordinaire
Epic Novelist
Gender:
Age: 23
Joined: 01 Feb 2005
Posts: 3140
Reviews: 685
Country: Canada
300 Points
|
| Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2005 9:17 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Not a good enough excuse. You still need to know how existing realities work before you can create your own. I do the same thing, but my mom and I are history buffs, so we already have some background knowlegde. Besides, when you invent worlds that's still a kind of research. It's creative research, but it's still research. Anyway, it's a lot easier to just read a few chapters in medieval weaponry so you know how trebushe (sp?) works instead of trying to invent your own weapons. |
_________________
Please, sit down before you fall down.
Belloq, "Raiders of the Lost Ark" |
|
| Back to top |
|
dreaming_mouse
Broken dreams and broken hearted
Speaker of the Forum
Gender:
Age: 28
Joined: 05 Jan 2005
Posts: 918
Reviews: 49
300 Points
|
| Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2005 9:39 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| I don't need an excuse to write, I write what I feel and since they're never going to be published I don't see why I should research for something that will have no relevance in my story. The only things I use are fashion, I look up pictures and make my won designs from them. Otherwise why would I research for something that is pure fiction, or that's really only going to be seen by me. |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
Rei
E.A. Extraordinaire
Epic Novelist
Gender:
Age: 23
Joined: 01 Feb 2005
Posts: 3140
Reviews: 685
Country: Canada
300 Points
|
| Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2005 10:09 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Where do you go from needing an excuse not to do research because you're inventing your own world and needing an excuse to write? |
_________________
Please, sit down before you fall down.
Belloq, "Raiders of the Lost Ark" |
|
| Back to top |
|
Griffinkeeper
Storybook Godfather
Epic Novelist
Gender:
Age: 20
Joined: 02 Apr 2005
Posts: 3812
Reviews: 665
Country: USA
319 Points
|
| Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2005 11:37 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Take five for a minute.
Research is a good thing to do for a story, so long as it doesn't conflict with your creative juices. If your story is set in the capitol of Australia, don't stop writing when you can fill in the blank later.
If you are writing about pirate ships, you might be well advised to learn the components of a sailing ship. If it is set in an alternate reality, then you wouldn't necessarily need to study the old components of the ship. This is especially when your pirate ship is not like any that is conventional. Weaponry is the same way. It isn't always the same.
Research is good, don't get me wrong, but if it makes you loose sight of the story, then it is bad. |
_________________
I retired from Big Brother on November 11th.
On November 12th, I started showing up and having good ideas again.
What is wrong with me? |
|
| Back to top |
|
Rei
E.A. Extraordinaire
Epic Novelist
Gender:
Age: 23
Joined: 01 Feb 2005
Posts: 3140
Reviews: 685
Country: Canada
300 Points
|
| Posted: Thu Apr 14, 2005 2:08 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Again, I ask you, how can you create a heightened or alternate reality unless you understand the existing realities? What you're saying sounds like an excuse for laziness. I understand, though. Not until I started writing the novel version of Charlotte did I properly appreciate the need for research. I really don't see how it could make you loose sight of the story, though, especially if you use the story to determine what you need to know. Or you could do what Jim Henson and Brian Froud did for The Dark Crystal, which was build a story around a world they invented through factual and creative research. And that movie took place on a different planet, with no humans ever appearing on screan. |
_________________
Please, sit down before you fall down.
Belloq, "Raiders of the Lost Ark" |
|
| Back to top |
|
Griffinkeeper
Storybook Godfather
Epic Novelist
Gender:
Age: 20
Joined: 02 Apr 2005
Posts: 3812
Reviews: 665
Country: USA
319 Points
|
| Posted: Thu Apr 14, 2005 4:24 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Research is important because it can keep you from being too unbelievable. Having a hero kill one hundred people with a sword with ease is an indication that a person hasn't studied how warfare is done. If you are at the stage where you are writing a first chapter, then I can assume (at least initially) that you have done some research regarding the topic of the story.
I once read a story which had unbelievable inaccuracies and faulty reasoning up the wazoo. One such inaccuracy was the idea of a black hole existing in the solar system with no effect on the orbits of planets and the sun. I criticize such inaccuracy very hard.
So research is important, I just assume that it is already done in the beginning, before the first chapter. Fair enough?
I've edited the guide to reflect this discussion. |
_________________
I retired from Big Brother on November 11th.
On November 12th, I started showing up and having good ideas again.
What is wrong with me? |
|
| Back to top |
|
Rei
E.A. Extraordinaire
Epic Novelist
Gender:
Age: 23
Joined: 01 Feb 2005
Posts: 3140
Reviews: 685
Country: Canada
300 Points
|
| Posted: Thu Apr 14, 2005 4:38 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| I don't get you. Perhaps I've just misunderstood you, but it seems like you keep contradicting yourself. And with the sword thing, if you are refering to Inu Yasha, that's called magic. |
_________________
Please, sit down before you fall down.
Belloq, "Raiders of the Lost Ark" |
|
| Back to top |
|
Griffinkeeper
Storybook Godfather
Epic Novelist
Gender:
Age: 20
Joined: 02 Apr 2005
Posts: 3812
Reviews: 665
Country: USA
319 Points
|
| Posted: Thu Apr 14, 2005 5:00 pm Post subject: |
|
|
The sword thing wasn't in reference to anything I've seen as far as anime. It is just the idea that some people have that any average joe can pick up a sword and use it effectively. Not possible. Even fencing with foils takes a great deal of effort.
In a way I have contradicted myself, because research is important, but it should be done before the first chapter instead of during the writing of it. This is my position. Supplementary research can be done afterwards. |
_________________
I retired from Big Brother on November 11th.
On November 12th, I started showing up and having good ideas again.
What is wrong with me? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
Rei
E.A. Extraordinaire
Epic Novelist
Gender:
Age: 23
Joined: 01 Feb 2005
Posts: 3140
Reviews: 685
Country: Canada
300 Points
|
| Posted: Thu Apr 14, 2005 5:09 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Ah. I see. So it was you who misunderstood me. All I said was that it's a good idea to do it beforehand. |
_________________
Please, sit down before you fall down.
Belloq, "Raiders of the Lost Ark" |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
