beginnings

I’ve been thinking about first pages a lot lately. When I look for good examples in published books there is one book I keep coming back to. This was a book I found and read solely on the strength of its first line.  The book is SILENT IN THE GRAVE by Deanna Raybourn.

It starts with this:

“To say that I met Nicholas Brisbane over my husband’s dead body is not entirely accurate. Edward, it should be noted, was still twitching upon the floor.”

Isn’t it intriguing? Who is Nicholas Brisbane and why is he the focus rather than her twitching dying husband? Also, there’s a bit of dry humor in these sentences that made me know I would like the writing.

It continues.

“I stared at him, not quite taking in the fact that he had just collapsed at my feet. He lay, cured like a question mark, his evening suit ink-black against the white marble of the floor. He was writhing, his fingers knotted.” 

This sets the stage for what is happening. We also learn something about their socio-economic station in life. They have a marble floor; he wears an evening suit. We also learn a little about their marriage.

Next paragraph.

“I leaned as close to him as my corset would permit.”

Here, with the reference to the corset, it sets the time period.

“’Edward, we have guests. Do get up. If this is some sort of silly prank—“

Again, this sets up their relationship. If my husband fell to the ground convulsing I wouldn’t stand there and accuse him of pranking, or worry about guests. Though married, they weren’t close, definitely not in love, which brings us back to who could that Nicholas Brisbane be?  He shows up in the next paragraph but I’ll let you keep going on your own.

I love how these few sentences set the backdrop and the characters. I may not know Edward well enough to be devastated at his dying, but there are so many questions, so much vivid description that I want to keep reading. That is the goal of a good opening.

What is your favorite opening? Do you have one that you keep going back to?

Define It.

Lately I've been coming across discussions and definitions of what writing is and it has made me wonder about my own definition of writing. 

I think everyone believes 'writing' involves grammar, punctuation, word choice, sentence variety, lyricism, pacing and similar mechanics. But is that the sum of writing?  Is it only about commas and word choice?  Or does writing also include story, plot, characters? 

There are many times when we say at writers "I like the story but the writing wasn't very good." or "The writing was amazing, but I couldn't connect to the characters." does writing include making your characters relatable (obviously there is still room for personal preferences here as not every reader will like every character no matter how well written) and making sure your plot has a beginning, middle and end? Or is that story telling? 

The fact that writing is defined differently by different people is one more reason the whole industry is so subjective and we sometimes feel there are no straight answers. 

For me, writing includes the line by line mechanics, grammar, word choice, smoothness, etc, but it also includes the whole; whether or not the story makes sense, multidimensional characters and such. I don't differentiate between "writing" and "story telling".  They're all part of the same thing. 

How do you define writing? Do you differentiate between the two?

U is for Unique

I recently read a book where the title was a play on words.  It was a single word but spelled slightly different as if made up of two words.  It did have meaning to the book and I can see why the author liked it.

But.

When I thought about mentioning the book to someone I refrained.  They would have asked for the name and I would have to go into a big long explanation about the different title.  If I just used the real word the unique spelling would have made it hard to find.  So I just didn't mention it. And in a business where the best advertisement is word of mouth that's a killer.

You may want to think about that if you are leaning towards naming you book something made up or with unique spellings.  Will your reader be able to find you? And will people want to explain, or talk about the title?

A is for Alphabet

I've been trying to teach my son the alphabet.  He doesn't know it now but the alphabet will open the wonders of the world. Think about it, almost every civilization, once it got going, created some sort of written communication, either pictures or words. They do this because so much can be accomplished with it.

How much do those 26 little letters affect your life?  Not only reading and writing, but road signs, food labels, price tags, instructions, learning.  So much or our world revolves around the alphabet.  26 little squiggles that don't mean anything other than the meaning we give them, yet they change our world.

I think I've been taking the alphabet for granted.  But trying to teach my son, and trying to tell him why it matters, and how it will help his life has opened my eyes.  I love the Alphabet.

Living

I’ve lately been reading a story, and while the story is good, and the writing is clean, I feel that the author is telling me a story, instead of me living the story.  There’s nothing wrong exactly, but it’s not quite there.  I think being told the story and living the story is difference between a good story and a great story, more so than whether the writing is "good". 

What do you think?  Do you see a difference?

Pooped Right Out.

Please forgive the potty mouth title.  The other day I was reading over an excerpt and realized I had put “pooped” for “popped”.  Not quite the meaning or imagery I had wanted.  I think these types of misspellings are the most dangerous.  Not only is the misspelling a real word and therefore there are no spell check red squiggles underneath to give it away, it’s close enough to the real word that when you read it, you read the word you want, not the one that’s there. 

You know how it’s always easier to notice things in other peoples’ work?  I think author intent has a lot to do with that. When we read or own work we are so familiar with the story and the emotions that we don’t notice the clunky sentences.  We end up seeing what we meant not what we wrote.  That’s why crit partners and beta readers are so important. 

Other good ideas to help see your work in a new way are try printing it out, reading it out loud, putting it on an ereader or in a different font.  Anything that helps you view it differently than the last dozen times you’ve read it.  Maybe then you’ll catch the poop before it pops and you hit the send button.

Have you ever had a mistake like this, and did you catch it before you sent it?   

Beginning

The blank page stares back at me.  I only have a glimpse of the MC, a faint idea of plot and the empty page waiting to be filled is overwhelming.  But I start, my fingers hesitant on the keys, slow, unsure as I try to find my way into the story.  As I slip into the characters my fingers go faster, each word inspires three more.  I think of things that need to happen to get them where they are, or to get them out of where they are. My mind wants to write these scenes at once.  It would be easy to get distracted but I keep on the path I started and before I know it the scene is done, hours have passed, and the real world is clamoring for attention, but, I smile.  I know I have a story here.

Snips N Stuff

Does anyone else notice the growing trend of people who have stopped using capital letters?  Is it so very hard to capitalize words?  Or do people just not care about language anymore?  Maybe punctuation and grammar are becoming disposable like the rest of our society.

All right I'll end the rant now. 

You know how sometimes you have a day where you could get lots of writing done but you piddle around and don't do as much as you could. You work, but afterwards you look back and hate yourself a little for not working harder.  Anyone else do this?  Anyway, I'm trying to make up for such a day so I'll just leave you with a little snip I found. Does anyone else find things in their work that surprise them?  Things they don't remember writing, or that are surprisingly good, or surprisingly bad.

He could tell it was her by the shape of her body, the set of her head. He knew everything about how she looked, stood and moved. She was so beautiful, even now, a dark silhouette against the sky. His stomach fluttered and his knees felt slightly weak. It still surprised him, even after all these years, the effect she had on him. His arms ached to go around her, pressing her tight until she became a part of him. His lips tingled wanting to kiss her until she couldn’t breathe and thought of nothing but him. If only she would smile at him, truly smile, or even see him, instead of looking through or past him as she always did. If only she wanted him as he wanted her. 

Have a happy Wednesday!