HOW TO BEGIN A NOVEL: FIVE TASKS

First, do not begin with the character waking up in the morning and thinking about her  whatever as she looks into a mirror, combs her hair or brushes her teeth.

I've begun a couple of novels  that way.  But my excuse is that I was a teenager at the time. What got me out of that rut were the articles I read in Writers Digest Magazine. All accomplished novelists and authors said, Do not begin a novel with the character waking up and commenting on (or thinking about) the sun or the birds tweeting or the previous evening with her boyfriend/husband/significant other.

No, they said, the way to begin a novel is in the middle of the story.  Or with some event that's taking place.  With action.

For the first page to be engrossing to the reader you have to develop the character before you begin.  Before you set pen to paper or touch the computer keyboard.

As a reader, I'm vaguely annoyed when I eagerly start a book only to find the first few pages littered with the character waking up rubbing her eyes, stumbling to the bathroom, etc.  It's boring and uninteresting, but more importantly it is NOT sound storywriting or novel-writing.  You can get away with it  in the middle of the book, but not at the beginning.


1-In the beginning, it's important to grab the reader's attention.  What is going on with the character?  What is the problem she's grappling with?  Or it could be something smaller that's symbolic of a larger problem.  For instance, I have in mind a sixteen-year old character.  Let's call her Shauna.
Shauna is a high school student.  She's not the most popular girl in school, but she has a few friends. 

Tell me or hint at a problem she has.  Dumped by her boyfriend?  Best friend's father coming on to her?  Is she adopted but looking for her birth mother?  Is her teacher a surrogate parent and why? 

2--Another thing I find tiresome is those stories and novels whose character has no name.  She goes to the movies.  She goes to the store.   She looked at him ...etc.

I speak from experience.  I have several stories in my files--well-written and cogent stories--whose character has no name.  It's simply "she". My short story "The Silver Bow" begins as follows: "The previous summer she had played tennis eagerly.  She had worn an ivory tennis dress with blue and green edging, white Nikes, and white anklet socks.  She had taunted the shoe salesman with sarcastic wit, even as he helped her with her Nikes, and did not cease taunting him until her mother said she should apologize."

At the time I thought I was being experimental and avant-garde.  The problem is that--unless you're catering to an experimental market--the story (I realize now) is a yawn for me as a reader, and, I believe, for most other readers as well.  Although the story is well-written, I want more information about the character, so that I can be intrigued by her circumstances.

Spend a couple of hours (at least) choosing a name for the main character.  The name gives  us clues about the character and her life. Realize that the choosing of a name is a process.  If the character changes significantly, you may wish to re-name her.

For my first novel, PORRIDGE & CUCU: MY CHILDHOOD, I used an old Webster’s dictionary (hard copy) with a name section in the back.  This section explicated the meaning and linguistic origins of surnames and first names.  For example, Miss Hildy’s maiden name is Hildegarde Blixen, since
she has Scandinavian  ancestry.  I arduously pored over this Webster’s dictionary.  Occasionally, I used the encyclopedia. 

For my second novel, THE HONEYEATER, I spent a day or more choosing names for each character. I wanted to choose names that reflected each character's personality.

3-You should answer the age-old questions What? Who? When? Where? and Why?  These are the questions my former journalism professor demanded of us.  But they also apply to novel-writing. Do not begin a novel until you can answer those questions for yourself.

4-Write an outline and synopsis. Set down the details of the character's life and what happens to her  in the novel.  And be certain to include the resolution. 

5-Define the main character.  Write down all of her personality traits.  How do you envision her?  What are her quirks?  What is her defining characteristic?

Once you've done these five tasks, you can begin.


---Yolanda  A. Reid




_________________________________________________________________

Yolanda A. Reid is the author of THE HONEYEATER, a contemporary women's novel, and of PORRIDGE & CUCU: MY CHILDHOOD, a YA novel.  Check out her essays, "How I Wrote My First Novel" and "Writing Tips" at http://www.sites.google.com/site/porridgeandcucunovel/essays.

WRITING TIPS I LEARNED AS I WROTE MY FIRST NOVEL by Yolanda A. Reid

Years ago, I read an essay about a Pulitzer Prize novelist.  The writer of the essay claimed that the novelist's relatives did not confide in her: they feared intimate details of their lives might spill into her novels.  The relatives wished for some privacy, in this, our most revealing and confessional TV-era yet.

So my question is this: Can a writer or novelist create solid, walking-off-the-page characters without dipping into her own life?  And the lives of those around her?

An interviewer obliquely raised this same question with Native-American novelist, Louise Erdrich--one of my favorite writers.   Erdrich said her novels are "something that's fabricated, but out of real observations and real aspects of people we might have known or imagined."   She creates complex characters by using composites.

Inspired by Erdrich, I adapted the technique of composites (mostly after my first novel had been written).   Some of the other tips, I learned as I wrote; some, I've learned since.   I’ve  made use of these tips in my fiction, to avoid looking like I'm writing about myself and those I know all the time.  They are as follows: 

1-Use composites.--I try to create characters by blending characteristics of two or more people.   For example, try blending the mannerisms of one person you know--let us say, the milkman--with the physique of an ex-boyfriend, and the personality of a third person.  Experiment with the characteristics until they feel authentic. 

At times, a real person you know is one-of-a-kind--in which case, vigorously change one or two major characteristics if you wish to base a character on that person.   In my young adult novel--Porridge & Cucu: My Childhood--I based the grandfather-character on my own grandfather.  He was, for me, unusual and compelling.

2-Change names.--It may seem obvious, but not using real people's names is crucial.  Unless you are writing a non-fiction novel, in which case you ought to triple-check facts and consult a lawyer.   If you make the risky choice of tattling about friends/acquaintances in your novels, then at least change the names.

In early versions of my novel, I broke this rule  by naming the main character "Yolandita"--my own name.  At my mother’s suggestion, I later re-baptized that character with a new name.  Moreover, once or twice, I've met a real person with the same or similar name as a character I was writing about--in which case, I changed the character's name.

Use the internet to find name sites, such  as www.babynames.com

or at www.ivillage.com/namefinder and others.   Phone books, real or on-line, are good as well.  

3-Change locations.--If you and everybody you know lives in northern New Mexico, then change your novel's location to another city/part of  New Mexico, or to the Midwest.  Especially if you live in a small town. You can achieve this by researching the new town on the internet. 

Some novelists, Faulkner and Erdrich among them, have gained success by creating worlds in the very state/city they lived in.   For Faulkner, Misssippi; for Erdrich, North Dakota.    This makes sense, because you impart a sense of authenticity when you write characters in an environment you know very well.

Check out the What to see/What to do sites for most cities (especially in the U.S.), or try www.citysearch.com.

4-Change time.--The same, basic story-line may be told in a different era.  The novel will resonate differently for the reader if set in, say, the 1980's as opposed to present times.  Research historical information

on-line  (headlines, news events, etc.)  at websites such as www.infoplease.com/yearbyyear.html.

5-Create authentically “real" characters.--I try to build characters from within.  Their psyches and their physiques.  Achieve this by being very specific.  Write everything about the character down.   From her hair color to her black Chanel suits.  If she's in cargo pants, are they baggy or too tight?  Was her childhood tormented or happy?  Which events define her life the most?

6-Create a scrapbook.--I once read that Emma Bovary was based on a real woman that Gustave Flaubert, the French novelist, read about in the newspaper.  So, collect magazine articles or news stories that interest you.  If the thought of organizing all that paper in folders is too much

(they pile up!), then  bookmark links to interesting news stories on your PC.  (I personally rarely read real newspapers.  Now I get most of my news on-line.)   Find lots of news stories at www.onlinenewspapers.com/Top50/Top50-CurrentUS.htm.

 

7-Use a journal.--I have a stack of notebooks that I mine like gold for novels and stories.   I also keep a novel journal, in which I write notes about my novel's characters and their lives.  The story grows, changes, and  takes shape.  You might try using your computer or tablet PC to keep a virtual journal. 

Or you might try a blog--an on-line journal that must be posted at a web site.  Bear in mind, anyone with internet access can read your blog (if you make it public).  That means, both your cousin and that girl from college who dated your ex-boyfriend would get to read  your inner thoughts.   You can create a blog at websites such as www.blogger.com   or  www.wordpress.com.

       

Each day that I write, I make an effort to practice one tip.  If you're a  novelist or short story writer, you know what I mean.  But if you're a writer toying with the idea/dream of writing a first novel, then read these tips again.

--Yolanda A.  Reid

               

__________________________________________________________

Copyright © 2013  by Y.A.  Reid