In today’s Journal
* Quote of the Day
* A Note on Openings
* A Quick Note on Pacing
* A Writer Shares
* A Note on Mentorships and Scheduling
* Of Interest
* The Numbers
Quote of the Day
“For fiction to work–for it to feel right–countless tiny elements have to come together in a manner so seamless that readers are unaware that they are being manipulated.” John Gilstrap (see Of Interest)
Part 3: A Note on Openings
A good while back I mentioned taking your time as it pertains to writing openings, especially the “big” one at the beginning of a story or novel.
As I put together these three posts on Controlling the Reader, I realized when I wrote my 10-volume Journey Home SF series, the entire first novel served as the opening for the story. (Talk about taking your time!)
To be clear, the opening is the place where you pull the reader to depth (into the story) in the setting, introduce the POV character, and hint at or introduce the main situation or problem of the overall story.
I was aware I’d written openings as short as a few hundred words and as long as 1200 or more words (the first entire chapter). But I’d never realized until now that I’d written an entire novel as an opening.
Of course, that novel and each major scene and chapter within it also had an opening, but that whole novel was the lead-up to the journey itself. That was an interesting revelation.
In that case, I knew consciously before I started writing that the story would span several books. After all, it’s a story about a generational star ship and what happens and how the people on board react as they fly off into deep space in search of a new home.
Had I written that saga with my conscious mind (outline, etc.) the story probably would have started with the liftoff from the ship (or rather, with the ship leaving lunar orbit, where it was built).
But I wrote it as I always do, with my creative subconscious, and let the characters take over. So unbeknown to me, my creative subconscious took its time, started the story with the setting on Earth with the POV character and his recruitment.
A Quick Note on Pacing
The pacing in the example in Controlling the Reader Part 1 was slow.
The pacing in the example in Controlling the Reader Part 2 is fast.
Yet both were the result of the writer (me) slowing down, taking his time, and hitting the Enter key at the appropriate time. Pacing has everything to do with paragraphing.
Once you learn that, your pacing will improve with almost every new story or novel you write.
A Writer Shares
A young writer recently shared some exciting news with me via email:
“I’m starting a new novel and getting to know my protagonist as I go, and I wasn’t really sure about her at first. But on the way to a certain event she just introduced a memory I did not at all see coming, and it was so exciting. Also horrifying, but really interesting. It got us pleasantly off track for a bit, and I’m so excited to learn more about her past. It introduced more tension too.”
My response
Are you kidding me? That’s HUGE! Congratulations!
You’ve just unlocked the whole secret of why writing into the dark is so much fun. Not having a clue where the story’s going, giving all of that over to the reader, is frightening and therefore exhilarating.
A few things:
You wrote, “I wasn’t really sure about her at first….” That’s perfect. You let your characters simply be who they are and get to know them as their story unfolds.
“she just introduced a memory I did not at all see coming, and it was so exciting.” Exactly.
“It got us pleasantly off track for a bit” This is critical mind. It got you “off track” of what you expected with your critical mind, but it got you ON track of her authentic story.
“and I’m so excited to learn more about her past. It introduced more tension too.” If you trust your creative subconscious and your characters, it will continue to be just this way, not only through this story but through every story you write in the future.
Cling to that feeling. When you’re tempted to “guide” the story, get up and walk away for awhile. Tell the critical voice to shut up and leave you alone. It has no place in authentic fiction.
This is the best lesson you can ever learn about writing fiction.
A Note on Mentorships and Scheduling
Thus far I’m conducting only two mentorships: one specifically focused on Openings, Depth, and Pacing (an excellent combination) and one focused on General Craft.
In both of those, the writers will send me at least one short story or part of a longer work per week. I’ll read the stories for pleasure and offer a critique on opening, depth and pacing for one writer and on general craft for the other.
I’m also working with one writer on self-discipline and WITD.
If anyone else would like to join in either of those, I can do the same for you.
Or if you have any other self-perceived weaknesses in any other craft- or writing-related areas and you’d like to explore a mentorship, you’re welcome. Be sure to read this post, then email me at harveystanbrough@gmail.com.
I’d be happy to help, and the monthly cost will never be more than you can personally and comfortably afford.
Because I occasionally receive requests for an Opening Critique or a Copyedit, I’m also setting aside one or two days a week to “work,” by which I mean focus on only mentorships, opening critiques, copyedits, and writing new posts for TNDJ.
Hmm. If I could bring myself to stop posting my daily numbers and the Of Interest section, I could even schedule TNDJ for the next week on that day or days of “work.” But I’m pretty sure that isn’t going to happen.
Back tomorrow with a guest post by fictionist and ghostwriter Dan Baldwin.
Talk with you again then.
PS: Had a good day on the novel yesterday. It should wrap in the next couple of days.
Of Interest
The Art Of The Em Dash Interruption I thought John’s take was an excellent addition as I end this series on controlling the reader. Kind of basic stuff, but you’ll see how it fits.
The Numbers
The Journal……………………………… 1070
Writing of Blackwell Ops 26: Tailor Moses
Day 11…. 2747 words. To date…… 23357
Day 12…. 1425 words. To date…… 24782
Day 13…. 3020 words. To date…… 27802
Fiction for July…………………….….… 30565
Fiction for 2024…………………………. 460110
Fiction since October 1………………… 727653
Nonfiction for July……………………… 29790
Nonfiction for 2024……………………… 240670
2024 consumable words………………… 665266
2024 Novels to Date……………………… 10
2024 Novellas to Date…………………… 0
2024 Short Stories to Date……………… 4
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)……………… 92
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)…………… 9
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)……… 241
Short story collections…………………… 29
Disclaimer: I am a prolific professional fiction writer. On this blog I teach Writing Into the Dark and adherence to Heinlein’s Rules. Unreasoning fear and the myths of writing are lies, and they will slow your progress as a writer or stop you cold. I will never teach the myths on this blog.
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