Whose Story Is It?

When beginning a novel, it is important to give depth to your characters. This is critical to making the reader care what happens and entice them to read the book. In my current work in progress, my hero is the first character the reader meets. However, this is the heroine's story. So, I pondered if she should be the first character on the page. The issue with that is the heroine will reveal her story LATER in the book. What to do?

I ran the first chapter by my critique group with the hero in the opening paragraphs. They all liked it, and I didn't get any feedback about back-story dumping. All good. So, it seemed I'd done my job. BUT, I still felt strongly that the heroine should be introduced first so the reader knew it was her story. What to do?

I revised with having the heroine be in the first paragraph.

My critique group liked the first version much better. Why? Because I was able to develop the hero with likeable traits. My heroine's traits cannot be revealed until the story moves on.

This clearly tells me I have work to do. I must find a way to bring my heroine on stage at the beginning, give her some traits to make the readers want to find out what happens, and weave their paths together. Or, perhaps I may decide this is the hero's story after all.

The decision I make will determine how the story plays out. This will take a lot of brainstorming and planning. The one thing critical to any story is to know in advance whose story you are telling. If you get that right, then you're on your way to writing a great novel.

Remember when you start writing, ask the critical question, whose story is it?

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Just Write It

I read a lot of writing blogs. Experts are always giving advice on what to do and what not to do. I see all the rules that will make my books the next bestseller. I know that I need to grab the reader from the very first paragraph, from the very first sentence. I know that I need to incorporate the five senses. I know I shouldn't use the word "that." (Ha! Thought you had me, didn't you?) I know should write what I know. I know the sequence to follow: beginning - intro characters and establish goal; middle - plots, subplots, problems, conflict, tension; ending - black moment when all looks lost; climax - when the final clash happens, followed by the happily ever after (in the case of romance).

If you are a writer, you've read all these things, too. And, you're probably as confused as I am sometimes. HOW do you remember to do all these things...and, gasp, how do you accomplish them? You know what needs to be done...but how do you actually DO it?

Let me ease your overload and fears. First, just write the book. Don't get hung up on what you should do or what you shouldn't do. You are a storyteller. Tell your story. Just let the words flow from your head, your heart, your fingertips. Don't stop along the way. Don't go back and read that first chapter over and over again. Don't revise. Just write. After you reach the end, you will have done what you set out to do. You will have written your book.

The time for looking at the "rules" and all those vague things you know you should do is after that first draft. Use the writing tools to edit your words and make them come to life on the page. Look at each scene and incorporate the five senses where you can, use description to paint the setting, the emotions, and ramp up the tension. Remove unneccessary words like "that." Take out unnecessary "ly" adverbs, overdone adjectives. Vary the length of your sentences. Use your thesauras to find new words to spice up old overrused nouns and verbs.

But, trust me. If you don't throw out the rules when you are writing, you'll never get that book written.

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