How NOT to Start a Novel

When you sit down to write a novel, the beginning seems to offer limitless possibilities and that can be a problem for some writers. It is for me. If you can start in one of a thousand ways, how do you choose? Knowing how not to start a novel can be as helpful as how to start one.

Don’t start with your main character’s ordinary day.

Like a lot of new writers, I began my stories with two misconceptions: (1) my characters were fascinating to everybody, and (2) I should start my story by showing my characters following their normal routines. Once readers got to know my characters, I’d bring in the problem or event that changed their ordinary lives and kick off the plot. I didn’t think I needed to start with the main problem.

Now I know better. My characters will never fascinate readers in the same way they do me, just like my kids will never fascinate other people the way they do my husband and me. Also most daily routines are boring. Boring readers for a couple of chapters, if they last that long, should not be the goal of any writer.

Looking back, I see why I started like that. It was easier to introduce characters and backstory without having a pesky plot to deal with. Dribble in characters and description and backstory while the plot is under way? That’s hard!

But don’t start with dramatic action.

If you start with car chases and brawls before readers get to know your characters, (1) they won’t care about the danger your characters are in because they don’t know them and (2) you’ll have to increase the action throughout the book because the climax must be more intense than the opening.

And don’t use false starts.

What are false starts? The riveting scene that turns out to be a dream of the main character or a scene in a movie or book he or she is enjoying. I also don’t like beginnings that grab part of the climax and put it up front. Then the rest of the book is about how the characters reach that scene. Usually, by the time I get to the climax, I’ve forgotten the part that started the story.

Since I’ve never written a prologue, I can’t say whether they’re effective or not. Many authors do use them. I think the decision to use a prologue depends upon the story your’e writing.

So how to begin? Start with tension.

If you’re opening has tension, it will entice the reader to keep reading.

Here’s the opening for A Shadow on the Snow:

I’M NOT FOOLED, RAE. YOU’RE JUST LIKE YOUR MOTHER.

I stared at the sheet of copier paper in my hand as the note fluttered in a gust of January wind.

Really? It had only taken three weeks for someone to hate me and my mom enough to leave an anonymous insult?

The book opens with my main character Rae receiving an anonymous note. The questions in her mind are transferred to the reader. Why is she receiving this note? What has happened in the last three weeks to her and her mom? Now I have Rae go through her ordinary day. But it isn’t ordinary anymore because as she works at the library as a check-out clerk, she wonders who could have sent the note.

Here’s the opening for A Storm of Doubts:

“Just stop it!”

The shout made me jerk and get poked by a dead branch of a honeysuckle bush.

Wasn’t that a woman’s voice? Not a girl’s, not my cousin Coral’s.

Swiveling on my hips, I sat higher and caught strands of my dark gold hair on the bush. The fox cubs or kits or whatevers I’d been photographing leaped and rolled over each other between muted beams of sunlight, undisturbed.

Two voices, one higher, one lower, slipped through the budding understory shrubs and bushes .

Who would be out in the woods on the morning of Memorial Day between my cousin’s farm and my dad’s?

Rae’s tension is tension for readers. Who has Rae overheard? Has something happened to her cousin? Those questions keep readers turning the page.

Your turn. What are some of your favorite openings to a story? What are some examples of how not to start a novel?

April 11, 2024 3

Ideas for Using the Eclipse in a Story

If you hope to see the eclipse today, I hope you have clear skies and good company. I’ve never seen a total solar eclipse and I’m looking forward to it. I also want to share ideas for using the eclipse in story. Such an unusual, natural phenomenon could bring a unique plot line to your story.

Eclipse in Crime Fiction

If I used the eclipse for a setting, it would have to be a backdrop for something serious crime–murder, an incredible or extravagant theft, or the pursuit of a master criminal.

During the last solar eclipse seven years ago, my husband noticed something at a business meeting. The meeting was held at a building with security at the entrance. The building emptied for people to view the eclipse at its height. Then everyone reentered the building. So many people came in at once that the security guards didn’t bother to check I.D.’s.

In a crime story, an employee smuggles in accomplices when the crowds return to a busy office building after viewing the total or near-total eclipse. Then they commit their crime later in the day. Or a crime is planned for site in the path of totality when the criminals know employees will be outside for several minutes. In our neck of the woods, the time for the total blocking of the sun is four minutes. So the crooks could plan for their crime to take that long, and I could use the countdown as headings for scenes to build suspense.

Eclipse in Speculative Fiction

Researching the myths surrounding eclipses might provide fertile ground for a story. The site timeanddate.com list many of them. Interestingly, most ancient cultures describe the eclipse in terms of some creature eating the sun.

I could write a story about a certain group of people whose special powers only work when they stand within the path of a total eclipse. They spend their lives traveling the world, from eclipse to eclipse, so they can use their powers, some for evil, some for good.

Or a villain is going to unleash some horrible power but can only accomplish it in the path of totality and if the eclipse is visible to him. The heroes know this. The day of the eclipse, the heroes and the villains watch the weather and race up and down the path trying to get into the perfect position.

I like the idea of this story a lot because I could work in the specific date and real locations that were in the path of totality. It would give a veneer of realism to a fantastic story. I also like the idea of the chase, and the characters racing around in numerous vehicles as the villain hunts for the right weather and the heroes hunt of the villain.

For more writing prompts from nature, click here.

What ideas do you have for using the eclipse in a story?

April 8, 2024 0

What I Wish I Knew as a Rookie Writer

This month’s theme is about beginnings in the writing world–how to begin a story, how to begin as a writing, and how to begin pursuing publishing. Below are things I’ve learned in the last nine years when I began to seriously researching publishing and what I wish I knew as a rookie writer. I’ve been writing since I learned the alphabet, but I didn’t know beans about it or publishing until a decade ago.

Writing Is Not a Talent.

Of course, there are some people who seem to have a gift for writing. But that doesn’t mean a thing if a person doesn’t develop and practice the art of writing. I’ve always looked at the world as writer, tucking away in my mind faces and settings and circumstances I thought I might be able to use later in a story. But that didn’t mean I could write. Thinking up stories and constructing them into something other people want to read are two very different activities.

You’ve probably met people who talk about a book they want to write. And that’s as far as they get–they just talk about writing. Writers write. They read books like the one they are writing. They analyze their favorite stories to figure out why they like them. They read books and posts on the craft of writing. They listen to podcasts about writing. They ask for advice from more advanced writers. They seek constructive criticism from readers and other writers. All of these actions have nothing to do with talent.

Writing is an Art. Publishing is a Business.

I can write the best novel ever written. Agents and editors tell me that to my face, saying how much they love it. But they will turn the novel down because they don’t know how to market it. That’s the difference between writing and publishing.

The best written books don’t always get published, although traditional publishers expect a certain level of competency and skill. But sometimes, so-so books get published because the author has a huge online following. Or the book meets a need in a particular publishing house. Or the publishing house knows just how to reach readers who would love this book.

As a children’s librarian, I saw picture books written by celebrities get published because parents would recognize the famous name and be more likely to buy the book. If those picture books had been written by a new author or an author who specialized in picture books only, I don’t know if the book would have been published because the quality wasn’t that good.

Persistence and Flexibility are Key.

I pursued publishing with the idea that landing an agent at a conference would make or break me. After failing to do that at two national conferences, I figured I had blown my chance of ever being published.

Then my local chapter of American Christian Fiction Writers decided to publish an anthology of stories set in Ohio. I worked diligently to write and polish a mystery short story. It was accepted and I got my first publishing credit. When I heard about another anthology, I spent two weeks writing a Christmas mystery short story. The publisher liked that and said they would like to look at any more stories I wrote with the characters from the Christmas mystery. So I wrote A Shadow on the Snow. After another short story and novel, I’m getting ready to start my third Rae Riley mystery novel.

I could have given up after that second conference. Or I could have stuck with my notion that I had to land an agent and ignored the opportunities to write short stories. By being persistent in my pursuit of publishing and letting go of old goals to accept new ones, I finally achieved getting novels published.

Writers, what do you wish you knew when you were a rookie writer?

For more posts on beginnings, click here.

April 4, 2024 3

How to Use April in a Story

Before I get to this month’s theme of beginnings, which seems like a good theme for a month in spring, I wanted to highlight how to use April in a story as this Monday Spark of inspiration.

April Fool’s Day: The holiday presents a great situation for humorous, middle grade fiction. Maybe a competition between kids to see who can fool the most people. Or maybe a family could be engaged in playing practical jokes on each other. An April Fool’s Day joke gone Horribly Wrong can kick off a mystery or thriller.

Spring Break: A trip always has a lot of potential for storytelling. Whether it’s a family trip, a trip with friends, or a mission trip, the process of traveling in the spring can be exploited for both comic and dramatic effect. Six years ago, my kids and I traveled with my oldest sister and her two kids in their van to visit our youngest sister and her children, who were living in St. Louis then. This trip has gone done in the annals of family history as One of Those Trips–you know, the one in which everything seems to happen.

My nephew was on the verge of wetting himself because we missed the drive to my youngest sister’s apartment. When my oldest sister and I saw on TV at the hotel on the morning that we planned to visit the St. Louis Arch that it was also the opening day for the Cardinals, we kicked into high gear and raced to the Arch in order to get a parking space. My youngest sister met us. Our lunch consisted of whatever she had thrown into a cooler. I thought I’d die of claustrophobia as we went up in the St. Louis Arch, but I was willing to make that sacrifice for the kids. Then I found out the ride was 4 minutes. We visited the City Museum and the three moms nearly lost one or both of our kids as well as our minds.

Each of these incidents could be the raw material for a short story, and all together, I have the inspiration for a comic novel.

Storms: Where I live, in a temperate climate, April is the first month of the year when we usually experience thunderstorms. Storms are a great plot twist or metaphor. As a metaphor, a storm can mirror dueling emotions, desires, or ambitions inside one character. It can also underline the conflict between two or more characters. The storm can be a twist to heighten the tension between characters or force them to survive and reveal their strength and weaknesses.

How would you use April as a setting?

For tips on how to use the themes of Easter in a story, click here.

April 1, 2024 2

Month: April 2024