ToM: The Beginning Is in There Somewhere...
How do you find the beginning of your novels? How do you know where to start them?
Trial and error.
I don't outline, and when I start a book, I have only the vaguest idea of where I'm heading. The combination of those facts means I find the beginning of a story by starting it. A lot. I write a lot of wasted words in the early stages of a book- sometimes it's just a few pages. Sometimes it's upwards of 25,000 words.
Trying on beginnings sounds like wasting time, I know. And I've been known to procrastinate. But all those opening pages- whether I use them or not- teach me about the universe. They help me find the narrative voice, and the characters' voices.
Even though the process- in the midst of it- is frustrating, it's scouring around to find the beginning that often shows me how the book will end. And in the meantime, I end up with a lot of pages and... well, a lot of doodles:
And who couldn't use more half-written expositions plastered in semi-anime girls?
-Saundra Mitchell
Trial and error.
I don't outline, and when I start a book, I have only the vaguest idea of where I'm heading. The combination of those facts means I find the beginning of a story by starting it. A lot. I write a lot of wasted words in the early stages of a book- sometimes it's just a few pages. Sometimes it's upwards of 25,000 words.
Trying on beginnings sounds like wasting time, I know. And I've been known to procrastinate. But all those opening pages- whether I use them or not- teach me about the universe. They help me find the narrative voice, and the characters' voices.
Even though the process- in the midst of it- is frustrating, it's scouring around to find the beginning that often shows me how the book will end. And in the meantime, I end up with a lot of pages and... well, a lot of doodles:
And who couldn't use more half-written expositions plastered in semi-anime girls?
-Saundra Mitchell