Getting to grips with beginnings

As it's the beginning of a new year I thought I would begin with an article on beginnings and getting them right -  in writing, that is not as in New Year resolutions!

Beginnings are tricky! They are one of the hardest things to get right. Writers, both novice and experienced, can agonise over them for hours, days, weeks, maybe even months, amending that opening page, that first paragraph, the first sentence, first word even, changing them many times and sometimes getting so hung up on them that the novel never gets written!

That first page has to grab the reader and hook them, making them want to read more.  When buying a book or borrowing one from a library, or when perusing that novel on Amazon, and clicking on "read sample" we ask ourselves is it my kind of novel?  Do I like the style? Does it draw me in? If the answers are yes then we’ll give it a go. Therefore, getting the beginning of a novel right is very important.

The best piece of advice I was given, and I can’t recall by whom, was to write the first three chapters, then IGNORE them. DON’T return to edit them but press on with that first draft.  Only when that is almost complete, or complete, go back and revise them.  There is a strong chance then that you end up ditching the first three chapters and starting the novel at chapter four because that is often where the action starts.  While I don't always ditch the first three chapters in entirety I usually edit out the dreary unnecessary stuff and often find I am left with one chapter instead of three.

The beginning usually needs to introduce the main character although not always, it can introduce the situation as in one of J. Jefferson Farjeon's novels Seven Dead when a burglar stumbles on the bodies of seven people in a manor house. The beginning  should also set the scene, establish the time of day and very often the weather, the period (present day or historical) and genre.  And this all needs to be weaved in and not produced as a statement of fact otherwise it might just as well be a work of non-fiction.  I always think George Simeon's Maigret novels superb at this.

This is a tall order and we might not always get it right. Some novel beginnings are stronger than others. Sometimes the more we edit the weaker the beginning can become, that's when the fresh eye of an editor can help.

Striving for great beginnings is one part of the challenge of writing.  Providing a riveting atmospheric plot, believable characters who you want to engage with, whether that be a love or a hate relationship, and scintillating dialogue are some of the others.  When it all comes together it's a great feeling for author and reader.

Happy New Beginnings.