Where Do I Start?

Last summer I finished my second book (1st trying to get published) and since then I have had some Saintly friends read it and give me some feedback. Since then I have poked and prodded at it; adding four chapters and then eliminating many useless words. That, had, very, just, etc. (By the way if I see the word suddenly in a book within the first ten pages, I get “judgy”).

After poking at it I started to query agents, so far no takers which has me wondering about the beginning of my book. When you query you only send in the first five to ten pages, so you have to make an impact quick. I have chopped the first two chapters down from pointless babbling to a little get to know our main character as she walks into a house she pretty much bought off the internet without visiting.

I am starting to wonder if this is a mistake.

A few of my beta readers have had problems getting into the book. They of course have lives and in many cases small children that don’t allow for much SSR. And believe me I really appreciate that they would even offer to spend any of their personal time reading, but I do think perhaps it’s not just the bambinos that are making them put down the book.

I think I need to start at a different point in the story.

There are all kinds of “rules” of where you should start your story.

Don’t start it when your character wakes up

Don’t open with dialogue

Don’t start with a dream

Don’t start with too much information

Don’t start with too little information

and no “it was a dark and stormy night”

So where in the hell are you supposed to start? I’m still trying to figure that out.

Ironically I think I stuck the landing. At the end of the book the story is complete but it still gives a feeling of the world in the book continuing (and hopefully it will). I think it helped that my husband is such a stickler for the endings of books and movies. I’ve listen to his reviews over the years and I know what frustrates him as a reader/viewer and I try not to walk into the same traps. Maybe I should get him to start reviewing the beginnings of books and movies too.

One of the beta readers (Mortdecai) suggested a prologue that features a character that is not alive in book, but makes the story possible. She was intrigued by the character and wanted to know more about her. I have messed around with this idea in my head, but then again another rule is “don’t start with a prologue”. Bloody Hell! Heck, screw the rules.

So fast forward to this last weekend where I went to a local Writer’s Group. You were allowed to bring 3 pages of something you had written and read it allowed and get feedback.

I chose to bring pages from the second chapter, about 1700 words in. I wanted to see if my dialogue was engaging.

It was, they wanted to know what happened next and they loved Nina who only had 200 words of page time. Whistle (Mortdecai’s husband) protested the week before not to cut Nina’s intro when I mentioned eliminating the first few chapters of the book… Everyone loves Nina, I love Nina. So now after hearing nine people’s feedback on the subject I think I need to start as close to Nina as possible.

It was a dark and stormy night, Nina was out walking alone in her purple cowboy boots.

Haha.

Where you do you like to start your stories? How did you decide that was the best place to begin?

The Night Circus

One of the reasons why I did not post anything last week was that I was using my free time to read The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern.  I was able to check this book out from the library, even though I had been on the waiting list for it for two months.  I went to the library planning on randomly hunting down something that looked interesting, when that book was there staring me down in the entrance.  It was available through their “Express” service which came with a few rules.

1. You can only have the book for 7 Days

2. You can not renew it

3. You must return it to that particular branch

No problem, I said to myself.  It was just under 400 pages, but the type looked big so I figured I would have it done in three days.  I was somewhere around page 135 in the book when I got a 6 am email message from the library.

This is just a reminder (aka threat) that the book you recently checked out is due in three days.

I have checked out many library books throughout the last year and never once have I gotten an email about it, they didn’t even tell me I had a fine from last October.  They meant business with this express service so I started picking up the pace on my reading,  so it (and other things) encroached on my bogging time.

I finished it a day early and overall really enjoyed it, some people on the other hand have not,  I can guess some of the reasons why.  The description on the book jacket is a bit misleading, it talks about a fierce duel between two magicians and a deep love, but that is not really what the story is about it.  I guess that whoever wrote that teaser was trying to lure the Harry Potter crowd and perhaps the Twilight crowd, because it is more bedtime story than a action packed thriller.   In my opinion, as the title states the story is about The Night Circus; it’s about what it is to people who see it, perform in it, and run it.  It is a circus that only runs from dusk until dawn, it never announces where it will be and when it will leave, but somehow people always come to it and over time gets quite a following.  It takes place in the Victorian Era and the chapters jump back and forwards in time and with different characters featured.  I was not particularly moved by the prominent love story in the book, but I liked  the secondary love story between two teenagers- a boy who loved the circus since he was a kid and a girl who born minutes after the circus first opened.

The description of the circus is detailed beautifully, it inspired me to attempt a black and white dinner party.  In fact as she described the sights and costumes of the circus, it was one of the few times I wanted there to be a movie just so those costumes would be made and in solid form.   There is not a lot of “action” in it but the story kept my attention.  It really does take you to empty grass fields at night under black and white striped tents, at least it did for me.  It is a fantasy novel, but set in a way that you know the real world is out there and that it is only a short visit.  Parts of it also reminded me of the wonder and the “stranger in a strange land” feeling that I had when I first started going to Clubs.  At least with most of the people that I was around there was a ritual to it, an artistry, a dip into a darker side that has now become (sadly) the dominant fashion.  I was never as dedicated, but I was able to watch and visit, as it were.

This was the authors first book, I thought that you could really feel her voice forming as she wrote it.  I also guess that quite a bit of the story lines were cut for publication.  I think the emotions of the lovers and friends were not preserved in the final copy, but overall a novel I really liked and would recommend to those who need a trip to the Le Cirque des Rêves.

The Novel & The Housewife

The Novel

On Monday and Tuesday I wrote for a few hours and added 4,000 words (not including the ones that I found were pointless and then deleted) to my book, taking me to just about 19,000 words total. If I follow my outline perfectly I have just over a third of it done.  Though sometimes while I am writing I find myself moving pass my outline, not throwing it into the wind but finding a different path to get me to my main plot points.

Sometimes when I am about to write I look up famous quotes on writing, just to pump me up before I jump in.  This is also known as procastination, another element of the creative process.  Yesterday I found this one by Ray Bradbury (odd coincidence, that it was yesterday. Rest in Peace Mr. Bradbury) that caused me to stop writing for the day and ponder over it and my main heroine.

Find out what your hero wants, then just follow him!

I believe that is true, even I’ve noticed in my very limited experience that characters sometimes assert their personalities in a way, that make you think- what, I can’t make my character do that, they would never do that!  Even though that was what you had planned for them to do.  I’m not cracking up, I swear. 😛  So Mr. Bradbury got me thinking.  I know the story I want to tell, but in the end what does Angie want?  Her idea of happiness? Forgiveness? Love? Cures to incurable diseases?  Just to sleep in her own bed?  I think I have a better idea now, but I’m still working on it, or rather she hasn’t led me there quite yet.

I hope to get at least another 2,500 down by the weekend.  My problem is that I prefer to write in the morning, but that is the time of day that I want to do everything else.  I want to do yard work first thing in the morning to avoid the heat, I want to hit the shops earlier so they won’t be as crowded, I want to do all of the chores by noon, and I want to exercise first thing in the morning  (also to avoid the heat).  There are only so many hours in the morning, so that means everything has to have their turn.  I have made some compromises and set up a pretty good schedule for the days I write.

Also in proper writing fashion I have been reading a lot, nothing too heavy  just books that sound appealing.  After the first few I decided to read the first novels of writers I liked.  I started with Let’s Pretend This Never Happened by Jennifer Lawson, then Shopgirl by Steve Martin, then a book that I bought for $.99 on Amazon-that I didn’t like so I won’t name it, then Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn.  I found the last book to be quite good, I like the way she tells a story and the images she gives you.  I had read the reviews that made me think it was going to be on the level of “Se7en” for its creepiness,  but either people exaggerated or I am just that desensitized.  It was creepy and provocative at times, but it didn’t give me nightmares or have me pondering the meaning for days.  That book contributed to my desire to keep on avoiding 50 Shades of Grey.  I hear it is “scandelous” and “explicitly erotic” and I fear that if I were to pick it up, that I would say “oh, how cute” and then feel like a freaking perv because I did not blush or feel faint when I read it.  I guess this is what comes from not living in the little bubble I was told to live in.

The Housewife

Since school ended I have been able to devote more time to the house and being all housewifey again.  In addition to the writing I have also caught up with the laundry, ironing, and the overall cleanliness level of the house.  It was never truly out of control, but I always felt I was just barely staying on top of it rather than keeping to the schedule.  And of course it’s warmer now so I have the ceiling fans on most days, which inevitably sends a tumbleweed of cat hair down the hallway right as John walks in the door. Housewife fail. (Really though, I don’t think he cares) =)

Last week I attacked the yard and got it back into shape.  I only have one more palm to dispense with and it is a big one, it will take several battles to win and I might loose some, but in the end I will win the war.  The vegetables are doing pretty well.  The bean bushes are sprouting, the cucumbers are starting to climb the twine lines, the tomatoes are threatening to ripen all at once, and the pumpkins are about to burst out of the protective chicken wire cage I made them when they were just seedlings.  Oh, they grow up so fast. The pictures of the planter box are going to have to wait, we need to make some adjustments so it will hold the six cubic feet of soil we want it to.

As for the food, I must admit I have been resting on my laurels when it comes to my meal planning.  I need to start trying some new recipes and ingredients, especially now that it is pretty much summer around here.  All new things are in season now.  I picked up a Costco sized amount of charcoal in preparation for the occasional outdoor meal, now I just need to pick up some grill worthy meat.

And finally I put a finishing touch on the patio, yes I am obsessed with that color of blue.