Starting BRAND NEW novel - Help with starting it?

Maybe try an outline of events you want to happen and that could get the juices flowing. Or, sometimes I watch a movie similar in genre or story to what I'm thinking of. Music. Another book. Long walks.

Type, "It was a dark and stormy night," and go from there. You're doing two or three more drafts. All you need to do it get started. Your actual first chapter might wind up being chapter four in this draft, so it doesn't matter that much.

If you get stuck later on, type "suddenly, without warning, a naked woman screamed," and continue.

"Suddenly, without warning, a naked woman screamed."-James D. Macdonald.

Okay, that was just weird!

I usually read another book and sometimes I get an idea.

Yeah, my current novel idea starts with a normal modern earth human somehow getting transformed into a shapeshifter and transported to an alien/magical world. Exactly how and why this happens will have a big impact on the character's thoughts in the first chapters, making it kind of impossible to write that until I actually figure out what the how and why are. *headdesk*

A great screenwriter once said, "When in doubt have a man come through a door with a gun."

But seriously, you're probably getting way ahead of yourself. With a new idea you need to take at least a month to work on structure and character before you write word one. You have no ideas because you don't have the characters. You may have characters in mind, but that is not the same thing as models of humans with hopes and dreams, motivations and desires, and backstory. The first hundred pages we write always winds up being backstory anyway. An idea does not a story make, regardless of the emotional charge you get when you think about it.

Yes, it is tempting to say to ones self, "It works better for me if I just write. Forget all that boring stuff." If you're one of those, and you may not be, then clearly it is not true because you are stuck. The real reason we all say that, including me, is because quite honestly, the word smithing is the easy part. But Structure, plot, and characters are hard. Yet like with anything, if you do the background work, it will make the foreground work much, much easier.

If this is really a novel worth writing, and you are serious about it, two or three months spent fleshing out the characters and the plot should not be daunting in the least. We would all like to be Mozart and just sit down and write a symphony. Unfortunately most of us aren't Mozart. In fact all of us aren't Mozart. And no one else is either. Because only Mozart was Mozart.

Do your background work and after you've got everything set up, you will find the writing is really exciting, moves right along, and the plot stays tight and focused. And best of all, your characters behave. They aren't always off doing their own thing adding unnecessary page count to what is ultimately supposed to be a product that sits on a store shelf. Right.

So forget about writing for now and figure out what this story is all about.

-MM

In the beginning ...

Start like this: "Once upon a time ..." Seriously. Of course, once it starts flowing, you will throw out the opening "once upon a time" paragraph, it will have served its purpose and can be removed. No kidding, give it a shot.

"It was a dark and stormy night, full of unseen naked women screaming..."

or, alternatively, start writing somewher else: chapter two, chapter thirty, or even right at the end. just something to get the juices flowing on the project. who says you have to start at the start? my WIP started with the monumental cliffhanger at the end. then i went to "somewhere in the middle" to establish another character, then to the start. then chapter 2. and after that, i wrote a prologue.....

"It was a dark and stormy night, full of unseen naked women screaming..."

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sounds like sheffield city centre on a saturday night.

Ok, I'll try and be more helpful. Why don't you go to the sandbox and run your idea through there? Maybe the people in AW will be able to help you further develop your idea into story material.

DamaNegra:

"It was a dark and stormy night, full of unseen naked women screaming..."

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Sounds like it could be a good start for a writer's challenge.

When it comes to writing books, I don't start from the beginning but instead write my favorite scenes. I find inspiration comes quickly.

Start with whatever scene excites you, whatever scene you know how to start and proceed with. You can backtrack later. Or you may find out you don't need to backtrack.

Adding on to the ideal first sentence:

"It was a dark and stormy night, full of unseen naked women screaming, though how I knew they were naked from the mere timbre of their voices, I don't know. Suddenly, a shot rang out, and a Tyrannosaurus reeled around the corner."

Aww, c'mon, be original: "It was a bright and calm day. But then..."

sunandshadow said:

Yeah, my current novel idea starts with a normal modern earth human somehow getting transformed into a shapeshifter and transported to an alien/magical world. Exactly how and why this happens will have a big impact on the character's thoughts in the first chapters, making it kind of impossible to write that until I actually figure out what the how and why are. *headdesk*

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That's the problem I have with the climax scene of my current WIP! I know what the outcome must be, but not the details of what actually happens, and even though I'm working on it again I'm gnawing my figurative fingernails hoping that part falls into place!

Regarding the original post, I have to agree with the others who have mentioned starting somewhere other than the beginning. Find what's perhaps the most interesting scene you want to happen in your story and maybe try with that. Or perhaps even come up with a scene you don't intend to be in there at all, for example, backstory for a character. It might go in a surprising direction and lead to a beginning you never even thought of.

As I crossed the desolate moor and approached the grim gray facade of Gloombury Hall, I did not understand why a chill of apprehension coursed through my body.

Best advice, simply start writing.

OP, sounds like you got started before you had all that you needed. It's best to get an idea and then sit on it for a month or so while you figure everything out. The plot and the characters. Considering you only have one idea, it's no surprise that, once you sat down to write, you went blank. Give the coffee time to brew so to speak.

I second and third the idea that you need to work out characters, also obstacles. You need to gather your research, and also do a major outline.

All that "before writing a novel" business. This will be a journey that might last a year or so (if you are slow) so you need to plan your trip and pack (metaphor-- don't actually go anywhere).

I'm with MelancolhyMan and MystryMan here: If you had the idea last week, it might just be too soon to start writing it. Let it brew in your mind a little longer, let it become more than an idea for a story, let it become the whole story (or close to) and then you can sit down and write. Get to know the characters, the setting, do a little research if you need to obtain a bit more information on certain topics, etc. Take your time. If it's a good idea, it won't disappear into thin air but keep on living and fleshing out in your mind - until it's ready to be born. Writing is more than the act of writing.

Start typing and don't worry if you think it's not any good. It's easy to fall into the trap of wanting to make the first chapter do everything needed when you initially write it--but in truth, you may not even know how the story will open until you finish the book!

Revisions are nice. Once you've finished it, if it's crap, revise until you're satisfied.

DamaNegra said:

"It was a dark and stormy night, full of unseen naked women screaming..."

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...suddenly a shot rang out!

James D. Macdonald said:

...suddenly a shot rang out!

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You mean, the shot could be heard over the screaming?

I sometimes do what I call brainstorm:

OK what is it I want to happen? I want Main Character to realize that JerkAssBoyfriend needs to be X-Jerkassboyfriend. How does she figure this out? Well she takes a trip to see her grandma and sees how grandma's new hubby treats granma and starts to think about JA, and maybe he's not so good. SO in the first scene she is having lunch with gramma....

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That's not real- BTW. Anyway sometimes I don't get very far because I realize what I need and write the scene. Sometimes I write two pages. I type my brainstorms in Times New Roman single space and I type my novel in Courier double space, so when I print them I have an immediate visual of which is which.

Having read the replies, I have to ask why you are writing this novel in the first place. And if it is a novel or a screenplay. Novels don't have scenes. You can't start with some scene just because you have a cool mental picture. Novels don't work that way.

Do you want to write this novel because you intend to finish, sell it, and then start on another? If that is so, then time is important and you must take an efficient path. Writing and revising is the slowest, most inefficient route of all. So if you just want to start by writing, then go ahead, but know it is going to take you much longer.

Now if your goal is just to write, and you enjoy the process of letting your mind take you places no one has ever been, and selling the story is just sort of a pipedream, then by all means, write away, and have a great time doing it. This is really a more pure path and probably closer to the true art form of story creation. I love doing this, but my time is so limited that I can't see enough progress. So I've taken to detailed outlines. It halves the time, but is a lot less fun.

Totally up to you which route you take and one isn't better than the other, just have an understanding how it will affect the overall trajectory of the route you want to take.

Happy scribbling!
-MM

MelancholyMan said:

Having read the replies, I have to ask why you are writing this novel in the first place. And if it is a novel or a screenplay. Novels don't have scenes. You can't start with some scene just because you have a cool mental picture. Novels don't work that way.
-MM

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I totally disagree with you here. Novels do have "scenes." I think it's a bad idea not to have scenes in a novel.

The best advice I've been given is to start in the middle of some kind of action and go from there. That might not even be your correct beginning, but at least it's a start and will help you get words on a page.