In the Beginning

I suppose my latest theme on this blog has been opinions on writing.  Sometimes I feel a bit pretentious offering up these opinions, and someday I may find myself disagreeing with what I write today, but keep in mind these are just the mere opinions of an old man still perfecting his craft.

I was a part of an interesting discussion this week and it involved where to begin when writing a story.  In the writing world, we call this the Point of Attack.  In a world filled with expectations of instant gratification, Point of Attack is extremely important.  I guess it goes without saying (yet I'll say it anyway), it hasn't always been this way.

One of the traps that we fall into, as writers, is trying to emulate successful stories of the past, but when you do so with tunnel vision you may be setting yourself up for failure.  Would Moby Dick even make it to print in today's environment?  Would The Hobbit take so long to get off the ground?  In my opinion, no.

We are programmed to believe Moby Dick and The Hobbit are wonderful tales that must be read, so we suffer through what we would now consider shortcomings in an effort to find that wonderful tale.  If either tale was published, as they are, next week, they would fall off into obscurity.  Not because they are bad stories, but because they aren't written to match up with today's expectations.

So, as writers, we can't pick up a book written before our parents were born, copy the formula, and expect the same results.  No matter how good our tale may be.

Which brings me back to the Point of Attack.

Some people say you must engage the reader within the first five pages, others say the first five sentences, and they may both be right, so it behooves me, as a writer, to start the story off in an engaging manner.  We want to share with the readers every aspect of our characters.  We want them to see where they came from and why they are who they are today.  But, if we begin a story with the birth of our character, we may lose the reader in those first five pages and never get to share the growth of the character with them.

You can share all there is to share and still engage the reader.  Begin your story with some conflict, and sprinkle in the past along the way.  Probably not in flashbacks, as they are often overused, but a couple of sentences can say a lot.

"Ole Joe knows hospitals better than anyone in this room.  What with that cancer he had as a child."

You don't even know Joe, but your imagination just painted a picture of his childhood.

When I say to begin a story with conflict, don't take that to mean you must begin with an epic fantasy battle or the like.  A simple conflict will do.  Think about an opening chapter where Joe is panicking because he forgot to pay the water bill and it's cutoff day.  Zipping through traffic to get to the utilities office before noon.  Worried about his wife's reaction.  Hoping the check doesn't bounce.  This is real world situation that could very well connect with your reader.  They find themselves wanting to know if he gets the bill paid on time.  How much more mundane can you get?  But, this is conflict in the writing world.  And, as an added bonus, it is something the reader can connect with.

So when someone tells you to start the story at the beginning, keep in mind the beginning of the story may not be the beginning of your character's story.  If we did that, The Hobbit would have began "There once was a hobbit born in the Shire."

Characters v. Outline

One topic that makes its rounds a couple of times a year on workshop forums is the outline.  Some writer's will create an outline for their story, a hiking trail if you will, while other's preach the evil's of such organization.  Reader's would likely be surprised about the arguments that ensue among authors about this singular tool.  I have even listened to lectures where the speaker claims that a novel sans outline is destined for failure.

To both arguments, I say whatever.

After my novels have been written in my head, an outline is created.  By no stretch of the imagination is the outline a concrete entity.  It can't be, at least for my writing style.  It's begins as a basic outline; a beginning, the outhouse orcs, and an end.  As developement progresses, the outline maps out each chapter in a general sense.  But, like any map, there are places along the road that just aren't shown and you discover them along the way.  And don't forget the occasional flat tire and blown fuel pump that can cause a delay in your journey.

Then there are those lousy, good-for-nothing, disobeying, free-will, hateful, outline trashing characters.

With my writing style, no outline is impervious to character intervention.  Aeldon, a character from the Drums of Rallinwar series, begins as a not-so-bad prince.  His qualities bring you to hate him and love him.  You want this guy to grow out of his hatred and become the good man that he is quite capable of becoming.  The outline for the follow-up to Blood of Two has Aeldon growing closer to the man we all want him to be.  The dirtbag just doesn't want to do it.

As much as I prod and pull him toward his good side, he resists.  He'll launch an inkpot across the room, punch someone in the face, and preach the virtues of keeping the elves and dwarves in their place.  There are times when I look up from the keyboard, I expect to see an inkstain on the wall, or on my outlline.

With almost every scene a character will bring cause to alter the outline.  An encounter in a city is scrubbed because somebody decides it's too dangerous to venture into it.  Another chapter has to be added because a character decides that someone needs to be thrown into the dungeon.

My outlines are organic.  They change as the manuscript is written and all of the changes are due to character's decisions.  In the war between characters and outlines, it is a stalemate.  Neither wins, they both adjust.

Shameless plug:  Blood of Two: Book One in the Drums of Rallinwar series by C. Hollis Gunter is available at most e-book outlets such as: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, iBooks, smashwords, Sony ebook store, Kobo books, and Diesel ebooks.  You can find the book by searching on their sites for Blood of Two, or C. Hollis Gunter.  Buy it, read it, rate it, review it.

The Anxiety of Finality

I just completed this round of edits on my novel.  Honestly, as much as I have tried to track my progress and save the manuscript at various steps, I don't know how many times I have read and edited my own book.
As I approached the end of the novel I couldn't help but feel that a complete re-write was needed for the last few chapters, yet when I got there, I just basically doctored up a few paragraphs here and there.  Which leads me to the anxiety of the situation.
What will my wonderful crew of editors think of the ending?  I find myself a bit Charlie Brownish on this one.  One moment I feel like the ending is a bit anti-climatic, although it is book one of a couple, or a few.  The next moment I feel like the end is perfect, as it leaves the reader wanting more.  But, then, that is why I have the editing crew.  To this point they have been honest with me about the story and I have no reason to doubt that if they feel the ending sucks, they will tell me it sucks.

Waiting for the feedback sucks.

The next step in this process is go through the marked up manuscript that two of the editors have given me.  The most challenging aspect of this will be to re-write the prologue, which I admit is a bit lame.  Beyond that, at first glance, I have quite a few typos and I may need to insert a sentence here and there to clear up some confusion.  With 57 days to release, I have plenty of time to make this book right.

As anxious as I am for feedback on the last few chapters of the book, I can't even begin to imagine how anxious I will be when the novel goes up for sale.

A Change of Plans

I will never be happy with my work, but I believe that I recognize when I'm just being insecure and when my thoughts are accurate. I have done a lot of thinking about my novel and have found that my dissatisfaction has merit.

I frequent several blogs that are hosted by agents and publishers of various genre's. In reference to book length, or story length, there is a common guideline: Your debut novel needs to be a stand alone story. This is where my problem lies.

My story of Devon Coth, the Dalth family, and the Salinosti valley is an epic tale. From conception it has been an epic tale. In an effort to write a salable novel, I cut the story short. In the process of cutting word counts down, elements of a story get short-changed, including the climax.

While I felt like I covered the ending well, at first, after reading a tenth time I realized that the end was abrubt. It lacked true closure; a closure that just didn't exist in my head because of what the story was meant to be.

I also lacked conflict in key parts of the story. Conflict drives a story, keeps the reader engaged, but it also adds to the word count.

I'm not going to toss the novel, nor will I shelve it. I will continue to edit it, and make it into the epic that the characters demand. While I am doing that, I will write my debut novel. This one was intended to be a single book from the beginning, so keeping it that way will not be an issue.

So, now it is time to let Condr's tale be heard.