How To Write A Strong Start For Your Novel

How To Write A Strong Start For Your Novel

I revised my Civil War novel Hearts of Stone many times before selling it to Dutton Children’s Books. My editor only had one major suggestion: Consider a new beginning.

If you’re revising a novel, considering the first scene should be one of your last steps. It’s hard to know how best to begin until you’re sure how the story ends. And although everyone needs to revise in a manner that works for them, writers who perfect every sentence along the way can fall in love with sentences or scenes that ultimately don’t best serve the story.

Skilled novelists convey character, conflict, setting, and voice in the first page, paragraph, even sentence. It’s a tall order! But here are eight strategies that command readers’—and editors’—interest.

1. Grab readers’ attention.
Katherine Paterson begins Lyddie, one of my favorite children’s novels, this way: “The bear had been their undoing, though at the time they had all laughed.” Or how about this, from Richard Peck’s A Long Way from Chicago: “You wouldn’t think we’d have to leave Chicago to see a dead body.” Who wouldn’t want to keep reading?

2. Begin with Action.
Here’s Walter Dean Myers powerful opening of Monster: “The best time to cry is at night, when the lights are out and someone is being beaten up and screaming for help.” Action can also be quiet, as in Beverly Cleary’s The Mouse and the Motorcycle: “Keith, the boy in the rumpled shorts and shirt, did not know he was being watched as he entered room 215 of Mountain View Inn.”

3. Arrive mid-conversation.
E.B. White’s Charlotte’s Web begins like this: “Where’s Papa going with that axe?” Lisi Harrison uses dialogue to start The Clique: “‘Massie, wipe that confused look off your face,’ Massie’s mom, Kendra, said. ‘It’s really very simple—you’re not going.’” Both opening lines convey conflict.

4. Begin with an omniscient passage.
Occasionally, skilled authors begin high above their protagonist before zooming in and continuing with a more intimate point of view. Swallowing Stones, by Joyce McDonald, is about the repercussions a teen faces after he discharges a rifle and accidentally kills a schoolmate’s father. In the book’s beginning, readers travel with the fatal bullet: “There is no stopping it; the bullet rips through the hot summer haze, missing trees, houses, unsuspecting birds, coming to roost, finally, like an old homing pigeon….” The stage has been set.

5. Begin by mirroring the ending.
An Na does this beautifully in A Step from Heaven. In the opening chapter, the young protagonist describes how being in her father’s arms at the seashore makes her feel safe: “I am a sea bubble floating, floating in a dream. Bhop.” Her father ultimately leaves his family, and yet in the end readers feel hopeful when they read the same words used to describe her sense of security. Laurie Halse Anderson employs a similar technique in the opening and closing of Fever, 1793. The main character experiences daybreak quite differently in the first and last chapters, which reveals how she has matured.

6. State the problem.
Simply stating the problem in the first sentence immediately takes readers to the story’s emotional heart. “He did not want to be a wringer,” Jerry Spinelli writes in Wringer, about a boy destined to wring pigeons’ necks in a local event. Many authors use this technique: “All I’ve ever wanted is for Juli Baker to leave me alone.” (Flipped, Wendelin Van Draanen.) “I am Mary. I am a witch.” (Witch Child, Celia Rees.) “Chapter One: Summer 1849 – In which I come to California, fall down a hill, and vow to be miserable here. (The Ballad of Lucy Whipple, Karen Cushman.)

7. Let your character reflect.
Julie Johnston begins Hero of Lesser Causes with this reflective moment: “It started out as a peaceful, plodding kind of summer, the summer of 1946. We didn’t know that our lives would charge wildly out of control.” For another example, see Jennifer Donnelly’s lovely Northern Light.

8. Provide a prologue.
Some writers hate prologues, but I say if it works for your story, use it. A prologue can help readers feel how desperately a protagonist does not want something to happen, as Jerry Spinelli does in Wringer. It can help readers understand what a character is about to lose, as Pam Munoz Ryan does beautifully in Esperanza Rising. And it can set a tone, as Gary Paulsen does in the marvelous prologue to The Winter Room.

Ultimately, I decided to write a prologue for Hearts of Stone. The novel originally began in the summer of 1863. Fifteen-year-old Hannah’s father had already left their home on Cumberland Mountain in East Tennessee to fight for the Union Army. Hannah is estranged from her friend Ben because his father had joined the Confederate Army. Soon orphaned, Hannah shepherds her younger siblings on the long trip to a Nashville refugee camp, all the while longing to get back home.

The problem? Too many crucial events were lost in back story. My new prologue is set in 1861, when Hannah’s father announces that he’s joining the army, and it allows readers to meet Ben while his relationship with Hannah is still good.

Finally, I worked on a first sentence that could reveal both Hannah’s conflict with her father and her strong sense of place. The book now begins this way: “Pa ripped our family apart just as spring began whispering sweet promises up on Cumberland Mountain.”

Hearts of Stone’s review in Kirkus concluded with a prediction that “Readers will be hooked from the start.” I’m glad my editor asked for a new beginning. Sometimes it really does make sense to save the first for last.

BONUS : How To Write A Successful Application Essay

So you are now ready to join the college. But getting admission into the college of your choice won’t be that easy, as more and more pupils are applying for the limited slots every academic year. You are now facing the challenge of writing the most successful application essay for the eyes of admission officers; who would also be judging the essays of all the other applicants, probably with the same profiles, backgrounds and test scores as you have.

This 500-word application essay becomes the bases for the acceptance and rejection, as it is the only way admission officers can judge the worth of the applicant. It is very natural to feel concerned at this stage; standing out in a crowd is not an easy task and thus calls for extra care and preparation. But what ever the case may be, let not the essay stress you out, be very playful to gain utmost.

Follow the following while you write the essay:

Brainstorming; a crucial step:
The key to truly presenting an insightful and incisive application essay is to go through the exercise of brainstorming. It brings out the ideas and thoughts out on the paper that might not be consciously significant to you in the first place.

If you are finding it difficult you can always take help from your friends and family that knows you well. There point of view would be different and really revealing at times. If you have a role model, study his or her personality to discover yourself.

It would be better if you set out goals for the life ahead of you. Brainstorming sessions will help you go through it. It might give you a fresh outlook of what you really want out of life.

Prepare a rough, unedited initial draft and consider the following when pondering:
1. Note down your skills, aptitude and interests no matter how meager they seems to be, like wise accomplishments and ambitions.
2. Noticeable highlights of your life, which have changed your perspectives in anyway.
3. The struggles of your life and their outcomes; either positive or negative and how it has changed your life.
4. Your contributions towards the society through community services etc.
5. And most of all, brainstorm why you want to join the specific institute, what is compelling you to apply there and how will you proof commendable of it.

What to write; choosing the theme or topic of the essay:
The essay could be about anything, you can describe you in any way you desire. You can discuss any topic you wish on earth. But the challenge remains of using the essay up to the maximum. Remember it is the only way of proving your self to be outstanding.

Present your goals, ambitions and accomplishments of life. If you are not the high achiever explain why you are not so. Always keep the theme of the essay positive. Show yourself as a stronger person rather than a pitiable one. Present as if you the one who could work against all odds and can put up a good fight against obstacles. You must attempt writing on such topic that shows your individuality and promotes your desire to be the attendant of the college as well.

Choose a theme about which you have ample amount of knowledge. Difficult and tricky topics, merely to impress the readers will render you with nothing. More avoid the complex, controversial topics. Like politics and religious affairs, even if you choose to write about them, write down more about your point of view rather than commenting who is right and who wrong.

Final Draft: Tips for writing good essays:
1. It is quite advisable to visit the desired college or visit its website and read brochures and introductions. This way, you will have the insight of what the organization believes in and you can arrange the essay accordingly.
2. Take your time and understand what you are expected to write. Understand the questions you have been asked and the requirements you have to fulfill. Take about three or four weeks to ponder on the essay and the ideas you have in mind.
3. Analyzing other previously attempted application essays would help you a lot. Writing application must be a new task for you and going through the others gives you a good idea for writing your own.
4. Copying the style of others would not help, be original and be you. There would be experiences in your life that can set you apart from other people and similar actions. So be open to express yourself and your feeling about a topic you decide to write about.
5. Make an outline or a plan to follow through out the process and refer back continually. The paragraphs of the essay should relate to each other, follow the rules of logical flow in writing.
6. You could be creative in your presentation. Catchy openings can do much more then a dry, lengthy and uninteresting essay. Introduce yourself in the first paragraph as the readers are found to maintain the interest for first few minutes. Show off your self as captivating as you can for those few moments. Creating Mystery is one good idea of keeping the interest of the readers for the rest of the essay.
7. Show what have you achieved by using the action verbs and active voice. Describe your life by applying adjectives and descriptive nouns. It would be more impressive and will make a picture in the mind of the admission officers. Imagery presentations are like five-sense experience and eye catching. At the end of the day, after reading thousands of the essays, your way of presenting yourself will be in the minds of the admission officers.
8. Conclude your essay with caution. It might be the last chance of convincing your reader that you deserve to be in there.
9. Your essay should not be the repetition of your information given in the other parts of the application; it must discuss the dimensions of your personality that needs description.
10. Use different words to express yourself. Do not hesitate to use dictionary or thesaurus. It will give a good perspective to your essay. Remember too much of the repetition of the words would dull the essay and loss of interest on the part of the readers. But using thesaurus doesn’t mean complex words can impress the officers, it might rebound if you use them out of context and if simple and common words are better off.
11. Too many long or short the sentences makes the presentation monotonous and boring.
12. Take great care in using the language. Look out for the spelling mistakes and other common grammatical errors. These avoidable errors make the essay off-putting and the impact on the readers about your personality is ruinous. You might be assumed as careless person.
13. You can proof read the essay before submitting it. Revision is one of the most important key to a successful and custom written admission essay.
14. It would be better if you could leave the essay after writing for few days; and then get back to it. The fresh look might help you improve the essay.