This week, while writing, I remembered that I actually do have to WRITE to figure out a story. Outlining is all well and fine, but for me to even know what my story is, I have to start writing the first scene. That only happens when the first scene has presented itself to me, usually when I’m in the shower.
Writing it AS IF it were the actual book, well, that’s how the whole thing comes together, the bits and the characters that won’t show up for ten, twenty, a hundred pages, all reveal themselves to me as I compose and construct my novel’s opening scene.
That’s why this is one of my favorite quotes about writing. Not only is Kurt Vonnegut one of my all-time favorite authors, his creative writing advice is spot on.
Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To heck with suspense. Readers should have such complete understanding of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story themselves, should cockroaches eat the last few pages.
If you’re scratching your head (or squirming due to the cockroach image) stop for a minute. To me, this doesn’t mean give away the twists and turns and surprises. To me, this means, setting your readers’ expectations. Allowing her to know who and what this story will be about. Wait (that’s what you’re thinking, isn’t it?) aren’t we supposed to surprise the reader? Yes, sure, but…how many times have we all heard, or known someone who has an agent, editor, or critique partner say:
I don’t know what the story is about.
How many times have you not even known what your story is about?
That’s what Vonnegut’s advice does for me. It absolves me of the pressure of keeping the novel a secret. It says let the reader be able to imagine what the story is about. Will she be right? Probably not. Imaginations have unique qualities, even if our ideas overlap. But that will add to the fun, for you and for your reader. As writers we think that cloaking the story will make the reader turn the page, when in fact, revealing the story is what will do that again and again through three hundred pages.
I often share with my editing clients that setting up the reader’s expectation as soon as possible is what’s most important. You can have a beautiful writing but most of the time (like 99%) that’s not enough. You have to have a great story, or at the very least, the promise of a great story, to hook the reader. Hints at who your main character is, what she wants, where she’s going, and how she’s going to get there should be present almost right away—even if it changes as the story progresses!
In most reading experiences, readers today do not turn too many pages because of beautiful writing alone. They turn the pages because the story compels them to do so. From page one.
That’s why it has taken me a week to write the first draft of a 1200 word first scene for my next novel. And by first draft I mean, I have rewritten it six times (that’s a low estimate). I am writing and rewriting and tweaking and polishing, knowing that it will likely change, and that it might not end up even being where the story starts. But writing it, I learn more and more about what’s to come later, and judiciously add bits that allude to the past and to the future of my characters and their stories.
Starting a new novel is literally starting all over again. I take with me what I’ve learned but am applying it to something new, which means, some of it works and some of it doesn’t, and some of it works in ways I didn’t think it could, or would.
It’s encouraging to me that little by little this new story is revealing itself to me. My plan is to write three to four chapters at which time I should (oh, I better) know more of the details of the rest of the story and can roughly outline it. Right now I have the main points set, but as we all know,
Authors plan, characters laugh.
For The Glass Wives I wrote a chapter and outlined the next. For The Good Neighbor I had a twenty-page synopsis that loosely guided my writing. For Left To Chance I used index cards, then decided I didn’t need them, then realized I wrong, then used index cards again. For this next book, I’m going to combine the methods I used for each book.
Next Sunday I will share my one-hundred times revised first scene of either Left To Chance or my WIP, and we can decide together if I’ve set up enough expectations for my readers. After that, I’ll ask for guinea pigs volunteers!
How was your week in writing? How do you feel about Vonnegut’s advice? Let me know in the comments!
Amy xo
Amy,
I totally agree. If your book is primarily character driven then those first few pages allow you to establish how they will react given any conflict or interaction. Are they kind? Snarky? Distant from the extended family? Irrational? Damaged? Most of those things can (and should) be established quickly – then let the chips start falling. Great post!
Thanks, Ella!
I loved when you described how your planning approach to each novel has varied. Because one thing I have learned is that each novel is different. What worked for one, doesn’t necessarily work for the next one. My life would be a helluva lot easier if there was one cookie-cutter planning method that worked every time, but alas, I’ve not yet found it.
As you can see, me either!!
I am in the middle of the ‘meat’ of my WIP and the scenes are rolling. Had to laugh when my critique partner (for this rough draft) chowed down almost a whole bag of Doritos reading through the previous five I had written. She said there was a lot of action and it was like being at the movies and needing some popcorn! Hopefully, that’s a good sign. It’s helpful to know someone with your experience still uses different methods to get to the heart of her story. Look forward to more posts!
You’ve got to do what works for you to get the story out. As a writer of character-driven, “up-market” women’s fiction, it’s important to me to lead the reader through the plot by way of emotions. Getting that to work in tandem with a compelling plot is always the trick. The beginning, for me, lays out the possibility of plot and those first plot points that likely transcend the entire story. The sub-plots and the details come along in time.
Thanks for chiming in!! And YAY YOU!!! A Dorito-worthy novel is indeed an accomplishment!
Vonnegut is right. I’m with you on the If I have no clue who the character/story is, I won’t keep reading.
And you’re right–outlining will only get you so far, but stories are organic. They need room and time to breath before they come to life.
It’s a delicate balance, isn’t it, Zan Marie? Sometimes I feel like an author just gives away too much, other times not enough. That’s why I’m a fan of the many-drafts method! 😉
Yes indeed! One member of my critique group is sure that keeping his readers in suspense is the way to go, and it’s a frustrating experience working with his draft. Too much “hinty-poo” about where the story’s going and what the main conflict will be just makes me want to put down the book.
“Hinty-poo!” LOVE IT.
I don’t mind some hints as to character or secrets or what might come later, but I think some things needs to be there on the page. It can be subtle. I don’t like to hand things to readers on a platter either. Gotta give the reader credit, while giving her something to hang onto. Women’s fiction, and other character-driven fiction, as Ella said above, really demands this treatment. Might be different for other genres!
Thanks, Rhonda! 🙂
Exactly! Thanks.
<3
oooh, can’t wait to read it! (I was a born guinea pig)
Get your sparkles ready, Kelly! 🙂
This one has lasered me between the eyes, Amy. I feel like I’m stuck in an infinite loop of revision for my opening chapters, trying to make them perfect before I move to Act 2. Wrote five completely different opening chapters. Five. And it’s as you say, I’m getting to know my characters better as I do it, which requires even more adjustments. With me, however, I think it also has a lot to do with fear, being afraid I really don’t have a story to tell. So I stick to the familiar, going round and round and round.
Maybe it’s time to let a trusted someone read it, Scott. Sometimes we’re too close to see problems, but just as often, we’re too close to see when something is working.
I also know that as we revise our opening pages, there’s a domino effect. That’s why I rework the beginning until I move on, and go back in bits to figure things out as I move forward.
You have every right to have confidence, Scott! “Lemoncholy” was deftly written, compelling, and complex. That was no accident.
Sometimes I wonder if it was. LOL Seriously, I do. But thanks, Amy.
And I’m just about to the point where I’ll send out those chapters to my critique partners.
Have you ever found your head stuffed with so many plot elements (I have 24 pages of a what if? exercise) that you’re having trouble organizing them coherently in your opening chapters? I’ve got alphabet soup going on, and I’m still missing a couple letters. 😉
I think I have the opposite problem. I can write a whole book and then realize, OH SHIT THERE’S NO PLOT. I do love the idea of pages of what if. Maybe send your discards my way. 😉
Hi Amy,
This is helpful. I have rewritten many times my first chapter (you even read one version) and I’m still not absolutely certain that it’s ready. BUT— I am focussing on my MC and the reader is learning about her life as a mother, a wife, and her occupation—so I am definitely not leading my reader into a closet with the light out, but into the brightly lit hallway of the story where I hope she (he) will be eager to move forward. Beth
Sounds like you’re on the right track, Beth!!! It’s hard to know sometimes because WE know the characters so well after a while.
Ah, Amy, this came at just the right time for me, because I’m starting my new novel TODAY, as in, I’m finally about to commit some words to a page instead of just mulling things over endlessly in my head, as I’ve been doing for months now. Thank you for this great advice, and for the reminder that, yeah, writers have to WRITE. There’s no other way to tell a story, but to feel blindly through the visions in your head and pour the words onto the page. We can fix those words later, but they have to emerge first.
Yay! A novel Holly Robinson novel! Can’t wait to see what you’ve come up with this time, my friend!
I agree with everything you’ve said Amy–and I too need to write 50-ish pages before I can write a full synopsis.
Yes, the first pages give clues to the full spectrum of the story, hopefully without being so vague that the reader is lost and doesn’t care. Be warned: do not confuse vagueness with cleverness.
Lorrie,
It doesn’t surprise me that we think (and work) the same way. And you’re so right! Do not confuse vagueness with cleverness. I’m tucking that one away for safe keeping!
This post came a the perfect time for me! I’ve found that for each WIP, I get about 60% of the way through the manuscript when I have the urge to revise/rewrite the opening scene. Character and plot elements crop up during the act of writing that I hadn’t originally planned, necessitating a first scene revision because new seeds need to be planted. I shoot for a decent dose of stakes and character empathy in the first 250 words, too.