HOW TO WRITE A NOVEL IN TWELVE STEPS
(#Six B… continued)
STEP SIX: Part B (THE
BEGINNING - continued…) *up to here*
More needs to be said about the
beginning, but we’ll stick to a summary:
If you are working within a genre, the
beginning of your novel should:
·
Capture
the reader's immediate attention
·
Give
the reader a sense of place
·
Give
the reader a sense of time
·
Introduce
the reader (probably) to the main character or characters
·
Establish
the voice and tone of your novel ie. Give the reader a sense of how you are
going to write and keep writing your story.
Think about it this way. When you pick
up your e-reader, when you go to the store or the library, if you are a
‘serious’ reader or just a ‘mmm… I’m not sure if I really want to read this…’
type of reader, you are going to make your mind up within the first page, the
first paragraph, the first sentence (and that’s assuming you get beyond the
cover or title). This is all before we focus on the quality of your writing
(which is subjective, of course)…
Now, if you are a serious writer and
still want to go the route of agent querying, you better make that first page
un-put-down-able. I’m not kidding. Your entire novel is going to be judged on
that first page. What I mean by this is, no one will read the second if the
first doesn’t make them really, really want to… NO PRESSURE. Now, knowing all
of that, you really have to relax into it and write like no one is looking.
Pretend that maybe no one except you is ever going to read your work and
remember, we’re still on the first page of your first draft.
Just make sure it makes some sense and
keep the above dot points in mind.
Elaborate on them and you should have your first chapter. Keep working
on it until you have a ‘working draft’ of the first chapters. A draft should
have a beginning, middle and end.
I say this, but in my first novel (a
grown up one) I remember going over and over those first three chapters before
I’d written an entire draft. I wanted them to be perfect but this was not a
‘genre’ novel and it was almost a decade ago, before e-publishing became a
serious industry and I knew I had to get through agents before my words would
have a hope of seeing the light of day.
I still think you have to make the
first part of your novel pretty stunning NMW (No Matter What). But, save some
goodies for the ending. I mean, your ending just has to Kick A (you guys know
what that means!)
Now:
In Pride & Princesses, I
introduced the place – a made-up community
(not too far from Bel Air). I chose that place because the area was familiar to
me.
I also wanted a ‘fantasy world’ – a
world where no one could say, “oh, that detail doesn’t exist in that place
etc.” Also, I wanted the story to read (a little bit) like a teenage fairy tale
and a (tiny) bit like a modern Austen-ization (but really only one scene – the
scene of the school dance could even relate to Pride & Prejudice).
Time: This is tricky, or it might
be easy. You could be as obvious as you like. In Wuthering NIghts (a teen vampire version of Wuthering Heights), I simply
write the year the events took place on the first page.
Pride & Princesses is different.
It’s kinda retro… Only readers who actually read the entire novel are going to
pick that (for the most part) the novel is set at least a decade before the
moment it was written. Readers who’ve read P&P
are going to understand what I mean by this…. But for those who haven’t – the
final chapter (or part of it) is narrated by a grown-up Phoebe (which carries
over into the companion novel I’ve just finished, Popular.)
Characters: I chose to focus on two main characters (best friends Phoebe and
Mouche), their single mom families and the new boys who arrive in town… Sounds
simple? It is – these are characters I felt I knew. You should find characters
you know too.
Voice: This has to be entirely yours, lovelies, just like this is entirely
mine. I could never tell you how to develop one – it’s… well, it’s yours. Lena
Dunham for example (creator of Girls),
has a strong ‘voice’ – it’s the thing I remember most from her television show.
You might love her take on life and relationships, or you might not, but it is her voice. As this is mine, as yours is yours. Find your
writing ‘voice’, keep it and don’t let anyone take it away from you.
