Among the myriad other issues and problems I’m currently wrestling with, I’m having serious problems with deciding where and when to start my WIP. I’ve got a number or possible starting points, but I cannot for the life of me make any of them work for me in the long run. Anyway, Pub Rants had a really great post about this here that you should check out.
How do you know you’ve got the right beginning? Do you use back story? Think it’s a good thing? How much description is too much? How do you know?
Funny you should post this today. I am having the same problem with a WIP. When you find the answers, let me know will ya? :)
ReplyDeleteMy advice is to start in the action and fill in the backstory later. What is the 'actual' point your story begins? Start there, not before it. :)
ReplyDeleteJessica is right. Begin with the action and sprinkle in the backstory later.
ReplyDeleteOne of the things I do is just write it as it comes. Otherwise, I drive myself crazy. After the rough draft is done, time to remove all the backstory that was mostly written for my own benefit, and find out the right placements. I know other authors who just write wherever they may feel they can and then in revisions polish up the scenes. Some people start writing at the end, you know? :0) Good luck!!
ReplyDeleteI try to pick a spot with a lot of action/adventure/some dialog/something very interesting about it.
ReplyDeleteI also put in questions that I don't answer like: Why is she in this situation, what is she talking about when she mentions a certain word?
It's a tough decision to make and I've rewritten my beginnings a number of times.
I never worry to much about the beginning, I pick a safety spot (which I'll be posting about next week!) that I use in every story to get my story started, I can always go back and change the plot information later!! At least that's me, it does require more re-writing but I can't help myself!
ReplyDeleteA beginning could be like jumping in the water. Make it unforgettable and then warm the reader with background.
ReplyDeleteIf I could adequately answer this, I might be published by now! Action mixed with tension and backstory. The tension doesn't need to be over the top. Dialogue, if possible, to let us know the characters, but don't make the first sentence dialogue.
ReplyDeleteI made all the rookie mistakes. My first novel began with waking up and then looking in the mirror. Horror! Now I try to put the readers in the midst of things without giving them whiplash.
Play around with it and see where it takes you. Good luck!
I've never had much trouble with beginnings ... which might be a sign I'm doing them wrong, who knows. ;-) I like to start a little before the action, but with a strong question ... something that makes the reader wonder and holds them until the proverbial gunshot. That's something I feel you can generate from almost any setup.
ReplyDeleteI sit and write whatever comes, then after I've finished the entire FD, I go back and rewrite the first chapter. Guess I need to know where it ends to figure out where it began...
ReplyDeleteThe main thing is to start. The beginning may change anyway. I also think back story is important, though all of it will probably not get into the actual story. Trying to write screenplays, I learned how important back story is. Know the end from the beginning. Sometimes you may start the story in the middle and then go back. All kinds of ways to do it. Film writers also agree that it's important to know the end before you start writing. In between - well, if the story is working, the characters will take over. Very exciting when that happens. I tend to use minimal "description." Action is character. So is dialogue.
ReplyDeleteConventional wisdom tells us to start in medias- res. Yet, sometimes a story wants to be told from the beginning. I'm fighting conventional wisdom myself.
ReplyDeleteYour whole arc should dramatize your character's story-worthy problem--some deep, inner character desire or flaw (or better, both) that will be wrestled with and will change as a result of the story actions and "surface problems". Begin at the place where the transformation first shows signs of starting, like the first drops of rain that become a great flood. That's your inciting incident.
ReplyDeleteLes Edgerton taught me everything I know, so by all means go get his book _Hooked_! :-)
Whatever comes out is my starting point. I may not know what it is going to be and may end up re-writing parts of it, but I just go with my gut. My problem sometimes is where to end a chapter! sheesh!
ReplyDeleteVisit My Kingdom Anytime
Beginnings are such a tricky thing. It's a balance between starting early enough that you don't have to severely info-dump later on to catch the reader up, but starting late enough that the conflict is there.
ReplyDeleteI usually start like one scene BEFORE whatever it is that begins the main action. I know it's like in vogue or whatever to begin a story RIGHT in the middle of action, but I really hate that--it confuses me, throws me off, and I'm always tempted to put the book down. So I start the way I like other books to start.
But yeah, I know what you're going through, and I hate it. I hope you figure it out soon, I'm sure you will. If nothing else, just start somewhere, and get the story down--you can always go back and change the beginning later :)
Beginnings suck because of all the advice out there about beginnings. That being said, I think (hope) my current one's got promise - now I just need to prop up the middle.
ReplyDeleteI found the beginning to be the hardest part! I just couldn't get it. And now I really love my beginning (which I've rewritten about thirty or forty times) but I'm STILL a little afraid that I started too far back. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteI figure when the book is done, I'll go back and change it again if I need to, but for right now I'm leaving it. I started when my two MC's meet and tried to put some immediate action in and of course, get some kind of hook in the first paragraph. :)
I have no advice. My current WIP has been all over the map, and all I know is - if I write another one, I'll do it all different!
ReplyDeleteMy general approach is to look for some kind of turning point, either large or small. Then I try to start immediately prior, provide only enough info for the reader to get his bearings, and fill in backstory as I move forward from the changing event.
ReplyDeleteSo in my current WIP, the MC's killing of an old man (it's part of his job) begins the tale. Because this event profoundly changes the MC's outlook with all the attendant uncertainties and second guessing, I think it will work as a beginning.
Needless to say, there are a dozen other effective ways to do it, but this kind of thing works for me.
"My advice is to start in the action and fill in the backstory later. What is the 'actual' point your story begins? Start there, not before it. :)"
ReplyDeleteWhat she said. I do think, though, that it depends on the type of story. A character's personal journey type story will be different than a murder mystery.
I like to start things with dialog, when possible, because I feel that gets a character going. I've found that starting inside someone's head and with a lot of back story is really, really boring to read.
Sometimes when I'm really stuck, I'll write "I'm really stuck" and then let the character unstick things. Sometimes that even works.
I've written beginnings over and over and over...
ReplyDeleteWhat works best for me is to start with action, but weave in back story when appropriate. I try not to bog my readers down with an info dump, either. Good luck with your beginning!
Funny that you blogged about that -- I have that Pub Rants post starred in my reader! I've even been keeping it unread because I know I need to refer back to it ASAP.
ReplyDeleteI've been really struggling with my backstory-heavy start. I can so relate to how you feel!
You know you have the right beginning if you read the first (and only the first) paragraph to someone whose opinion you respect (and who knows nothing of your novel), and that person is interested and hooked.
ReplyDeleteIf it's not in the first paragraph, usually the first line sadly, the agent will not read further.
And don't forget Andrew's Bad Girls Blogfest, Roland
Like Laurel, I too read Hooked, thought it quite good, and recommend it.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I do think genre, writing skill level, and, of course, whether it is your first book or not, does make all the difference in what you can get away with in the first chapter.
Because you (and I) are un-agented/unpublished, we must write to capture the agent's attention from the slush pile. Hence, we gotta hook 'em and reel them from word one of the first page.
We'll have a little more artistic leeway after we've been published and have a fan base.
All this today: read Hooked. It will help.
And get advice from your critique partners.
Love,
Lola
Oops, that should have read: 'all this to SAY: read Hooked.'
ReplyDeleteMy auto-spell sometimes changes things and I don't notice. Sorry.
I love writing beginnings! It's all that stuff that happens after the climax that I need help with. The way I write the beginning, is almost instinctual...but, there has to be some action. Perhaps pick a scene where you know something big is happening and write from there. You can always go back and change it with the rest of the story in mind. In fact, I think it's necessary to write the beginning with the end in mind.
ReplyDeleteI'm struggling with this, too. I spent about six months last year working on the first few chapters, writing and re-writing my opening. Finally I decided to leave it and just keep moving forward, and as the story goes forward I'm getting a better idea of what needs to be up front.
ReplyDeleteAlso, getting feedback from other writers has been extremely helpful. They are letting me know if there's too much backstory or too little. It's a very fine line to walk, but mostly I think you just have to go with your gut instincts. Character and voice will sell the book to an agent more than having the perfect structure, or so I'm told, so I'm focusing more on those for the moment.
'Cuz you can really drive yourself crazy!
And, I didn't know the ending when I started. I just put some characters in a scene and started writing, and the story grew from there. Then I went back and revised again and again. I'm currently in the 4th complete revision, but I keep going back to the beginning so the second half of the book is still pretty much in first draft form.
!!!!