WRITING – Four Things to Think About When Writing a Novel Part 1 of 4

Simpsons Quote:

Lisa: ”Miss Tan, I loved The Joy Luck Club. It really showed me how the mother-daughter bond can triumph over adversity.”

Amy Tan: “No, that’s not what I meant at all. You couldn’t have gotten it more wrong.”

Lisa: ”But…”

Amy Tan: ”Please just sit down. I’m embarrassed for both of us.”

Hi, this is a four part series about “things to think about when writing a novel”. This part one.  In this post I’m going to be talking about where to start a story.

You can watch the video below or read the transcript:

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The Beginning

I’ve been my wife’s editor in her series, The Gray Tower series. Her first book is called The Tower’s Alchemist. The second one is called Dark Rift. The third one is called Circadian Circle, and I’m currently editing it. So I have that editor on the brain kind of a thing. There are a lot of things that I tend to look at when I’m reading her manuscripts.

I’m trying to make sure that the story’s going to be as good as possible, of course. But there are certain things that I’m really honing in on. Some things she’s gotten really, really good at that I don’t have to call attention to t anymore.. But there are some things that she still continues to do that I think could improve.

So, today I’m going to be talking about one of the bigger things that I think is really important when writing a novel. And that is the beginning of the novel. That’s where you get hooked, right? In any kind of story at all, you kind of want to make sure that you hook the audience immediately when you first start reading- at least the first chapter maybe.

In Medias Res

Just try to really like especially show what the reader’s going to be in for in the first chapter, what it’s going to be like, what’s going to happen. One of the best ways to do this is to start your story in medias res. In medias res is Latin for starting in the middle of the action. I keep telling this to my wife. Sometimes she likes to just start her story just in a conversation or something.

Well, it’s not the best hook. Often times, there’s really nothing happening. It’s all setup. I always get on her case about it. Usually what I tell her is start there, but keep writing until you get to somewhere interesting, then start there where it starts getting interesting and get rid of the first part. If it’s all setup and there’s a lot of things that need to be done, you can somehow put it back in.

The Movie LIMITLESS

There’s a movie called Limitless, starring Bradley Cooper. And it’s great, because what happens is at the beginning of the story, you see Bradley Cooper’s character on top of a building. He’s at the edge, he’s about to jump.

There’s obviously somebody at the door trying to get in, and he’s going to jump off the building and kill himself because it’s better to do that than to confront whatever’s trying to bash down his door. That is like, in the middle of the story. You immediately get hooked. You ask yourself,

“What the heck? And say, how did he get there!?” Then you flashback to the rest of the movie. It eventually  loops around, and you start off back there where he was on a building.

But the whole point is to start where it’s good, and then work your way back. It’s really very important.

How it’s Done in The Tower’s Alchemist

With my wife’s book, originally— and I don’t think it’s a big secret, because she used to have both first chapters of her first two books, both of them online. In Tower’s Alchemist, when you read the book, the original first chapter was what is now, chapter two. If you look at chapter two, it’s good, it’s a conversation between two characters in the intelligence agency office right before her lead character got an assignment.

That’s great, and it sets up the world, and the conversation of these two characters, but it’s really dull because, you’re starting the story on a conversation in an office. And even though that’s the chapter where you get the catalyst to the rest of the story, what the story’s going to be about and the character’s sent off on a mission in that chapter, you don’t get a flavor or taste of what you’re in for.

If you read the actual chapter that’s in the book now, chapter number one, it starts off in the middle of gun fight. And basically, the entire first chapter basically goes, this is what you’re in for- this kind of action, this is the world that we’re going to be in, this is who you’re fighting, you’re fighting Nazi’s and then there’s like a monster in there, and then there’s Cruenty in the woods, and there’s magic being thrown everywhere. And it’s like, what!? You know?

You understand, from that first chapter, that’s what you’re getting in the book. Then, you can slow down and then rebuild back up to that. And that’s exactly what Alesha did. She wrote a really great first chapter, and then she was able to slowly build into the next chapter by moving chapter one into chapter two and creating a brand new chapter one which establishes the world. And it’s not just the throwaway prologue type of thing either, because what it does is it sets up the character’s motivation for the rest of the book.

That first chapter sets up the character’s personal motivation. You can actually see why the character is thinking the way she’s thinking in chapter two by that point. It’s great.

Pay Attention to the Beginning

So, that’s my first recommendation, to start in medias res. And like I told her, it’s okay, don’t kill yourself, just start writing wherever. Just start writing wherever. The moment it starts really getting good, that’s when you cut off everything before and that’s where you ought to start. Okay?

Those are just my tips. It’s one of the many things that I look for when I read my wife’s manuscripts and her story, and make sure there’s something that hooks the audience from the very beginning.

Alright? So, I’ll talk to you about the next thing, next time. And if you want to get a free book, Art of Luis Escobar, which is me, you can subscribe to my newsletter. Just put in your email and you’ll get a free digital copy of my ‘Art of’ book. Okay? So, I’ll talk to you next time. Bye.

MOVIES – Can’t Wait to See Man of Steel movie

(Some of the links below are affiliate links. Thanks for your support)

If you’ve read my blog for a while, you know that I’m a huge superhero nerd.  I love superheroes. But my favorite all time superhero is Superman.

He is definitely NOT the most popular. Arguably, I’d say Batman is. There is a LOT of people who think Superman is just lame.

They often say, “I can’t relate to Superman, he’s too overpowered.”

At some point, I’m going to have to write a post as to why Superman is awesome.  BUT maybe I won’t have to.  Maybe the Man of Steel movie coming out (as of the time of this writing) tomorrow will do the job for me.

I’m hoping that the movie will do to Superman what the first Ironman movie did for Ironman.

I really hope I don’t end up having to write a post on what Man of Steel got wrong.

All that said, I couldn’t get my mind off Superman for the last two weeks. But what to do? Well, I decided to re-watch as many episodes of the last three seasons of Smallville as I could.

The show is really the only way that you can really binge on a good modern live action take of the Superman myth. All the other live action Superman’s are either really dated or don’t get it.

Especially the last three seasons.  They were exceptionally good. Those season introduced more DC characters combined than they the entire run put together.  I mean, they even introduced the Legion of Superheroes for the first time in a live action setting.  That is awesome! And it was written by Geoff Johns too.

So if you’ve seen Man of Steel and want more Superman or you’re like me and just want to watch live action Superman stuff before going to watch the live action movie, go watch some Smallville.

Here’s a peek at what you’re in for:

Did I mention it has the best Lois Lane EVER?

Oh, and here’s the trailer for Man of Steel, in case you missed it:

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