There are a lot of checklists for building a first chapter, and sometimes they can get overwhelming. MBT has an advanced checklist we use to help people build their Frasier Contest Scene (it’s the same checklist I use when building my first chapters!). However, I admit, it can get overwhelming. So, let’s start building that chapter one with 5 essential elements. In fact, this is step two in your process. As Sally and I talked about yesterday in Conversations, sometimes it just helps the writing process to let your characters walk on the page and wander around a bit. We can hear them, talk to them, discover if we have profiled them correctly. No, these wanderings probably won’t be the final first chapter, but it gives you a chance to […]
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Conversations: First Chapter Essentials
“I’m angry with you!” Sally said as she sat down. She was smiling, so I frowned. “You let me write the first chapter before I was ready.” “Oh, that,” I said. “Yes, I did, knowing you weren’t quite ready. But I knew you had so much story in you that if you didn’t get started you’d only get frustrated. I know why you weren’t ready, but you tell me.” “I didn’t really know what my character wanted, nor how to hint at his greatest fear in the first chapter, so I created exactly the wrong scene.” “You created the scene that helped you jump start your story. You were doing a lot of “Wax On, Wax Off” and getting ansty. So, I told you to simply let your character walk […]
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Quick Skills: Ways to get your Story Summary onto the page
I know that people panic about writing a synopsis. The fact is, there are many different synopsis styles and deliveries. There is no one right way – but there are few principles. Let’s start with Delivery: You can write the synopsis a couple different ways. First, you can tell it is if you are the narrator – telling yourself the story. e.g. This story is about Maggie, a former Red Cross nurse who lives in World War 2 New York City. More than anything she wants to get over the grief of losing her fiancé during the attack on Pearl Harbor, but her life seemed to stop the day she got the news and she doesn’t know how to start it again. Until, one day, she runs – literally – […]
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Conversations: Writing the Synopsis
“I’m stuck.” Sally said as I hung my purse on the chair and shucked off my jacket. Outside, the last remnants of a late-season snow clung to the ground. I’d had to dig out my Uggs for a trip to town for our weekly chat. “Good,” I said. “What do you mean, good? I thought you were rooting for me!” “I am. But let me guess – you’re in chapter six or seven and the thrill of the first act has worn off, and now you’re slogging through the middle, wondering what to do next.” She narrowed her eyes at me. “How do you know that?” “I’ve written thirty-five books. I know what happens around chapter seven.” I smiled at her and sipped my coffee. A raspberry white chocolate indulgence. […]
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