For Writers

Cara will regularly post new tips, techniques and advice for aspiring writers. So check back often for latest, or visit the For Writers Archive for previously posted materials. Also, keep an eye on the Events page for news about Cara's writing seminars.

Cara’s favorite quotes on writing:

“Good writing is always about the particulars.”

— Edna O’Brien

“There are three hard and fast rules to writing. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.”

— W. Somerset Maugham

“I cannot understand how anyone can write without rewriting everything over and over again.”

— Leo Tolstoy

I was a writing teacher long before I developed a desire to write fiction. And the journey from wannabe published novelist to published novelist took well over five years – and my first three novels were rejected with form letters (reputedly, the worst kind of rejection letters)! Along the way, I learned many things, not only from books, but from other writers and editors as well. If you are serious about writing and becoming published, this page is for you. Below are some important tips, as well as some workshops I have presented and a book list for writers.

Off to the Right Start: Great Beginnings for Your Novel

First a caveat.  Not everything in the following article will work for you.  What I’m going to give you is advice I’ve found in books, from attending workshops, from my own personal experience as a writer.  And the suggestions have to fit the particular story you’re telling.  But they’re not hard and fast rules.  Writing is an art, not a science.

One of my favorite quotes about writing is by Somerset Maugham who once said:

“There are three hard and fast rules to writing.  Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.”

Take what works for you.  I’m going to tell you that you should not use interior monologue and reflection in the opening chapter of your book.  And I did just that in the third book of my Tall, Dark and Dangerously Hot trilogy.  I was totally in the heroine’s head until she reached the front door of the church and heard the gun shots.

All romance novels are a part of what’s called “popular or genre fiction.”  Genre fiction is in the same business as movies and TV—its purpose is to entertain.  In the kind of books we write, it’s important to grab the reader immediately and draw them into the book.

E.B. White once said this when referring to James Joyce.  “It takes more than genius to keep me reading a book.”

Bob Mayer in his book The Novel Writer’s Tool Kit says that the beginning of a book has two main purposes:

• Hook the reader—bring him/her into the world of the book.

• Either introduce the story theme or question or introduce the main character(s).  The beginning could do both—but not always.

We can talk about the beginnings of novels as first lines, first pages and first chapters.  And in fact that’s what I’m going to do.  I’m going to talk about all three in terms of hooking the reader and keeping them reading.

First lines:

First of all, let’s consider first lines.  Ideally, the opening sentence should be concise, memorable, compelling, intriguing or even startling.  It should raise questions in the reader’s mind.  Above all, it should make the reader want to read the second sentence.  And remember when I refer to reader throughout this talk, I’m including editors and agents as readers.   There’s a saying that the first sentence of your book sells this book.  The last sentence sells your second book.

I have a few examples;

“Daisy Devereaux had forgotten her bridegroom’s name.” 

From Susan Elizabeth Phillips’
Kiss An Angel

(What questions does that sentence raise in the reader’s mind?  What kind of a book is this going to be?  What is the tone of the book?  Do you want to read the next sentence?)

“Do you want her?” 

From Christina Dodd’s
Candle in the Window

(Who is the woman?  Who wants her? What might he want with her?  Do you want to read the next sentence?  Tone?)

“Last night I dreamt I was at Manderly again.”

From Daphne DuMaurier’s
Rebecca

(What questions are going through the reader’s mind?  What does it reveal to the reader?)

Tom Clancy began Patriot Games something like this:

“Jack Ryan almost died twice that day.”

(Questions in the reader’s mind?  Does reader want to read on?)

Not all first sentences are this dramatic—and that’s okay.  They can be more subtle, but they’re worth working on.  Study and analyze the way your favorite writers open their books. 

A second caveat: Whatever you do, don’t get all hung up on the first line.  Don’t spend days staring at a blank computer screen while you try to come up with the perfect and unforgettable line.  Put something down and continue writing.  You will revise and rewrite the beginning of your book more than any other chapter.  So you have a lot of time to work on that first line.

First page:

After you’ve written your first sentence and you’ve got the reader hooked, you have the rest of the first page to write.  You have to continue to keep the reader hooked.  The basic rules of journalism apply.  Establish as quickly as possible the following:

• Who?  (And the who has to be the hero or the heroine.  No secondary characters.  Readers bond with the first character you present to them.)

• What?  (At least give a hint about the story question?  What will your book be about?)

• Where? When?  Place story in a time frame, a place, a season.

Mary’s fear grew as she watched the police surround the old New England farmhouse.  What was happening couldn’t be true, but she knew it was.  She’d so wanted to be a June bride, yet here she stood facing a murder charge for her fiance’s death.

                        Or

“You’re charging me with murder?” Mary sagged down in the chair.  Despite the warm June wind blowing into the old New England farmhouse, she tried to rub some warmth into her cold, clammy skin.

• Why?  Establish motivation as quickly as you can.  If not on first page, then in first chapter, reader has to know what the main character wants and why he/she wants it. 

First Chapters:

The first chapter has to continue to do what the first line and first page have done—keep the reader hooked.   Your goal is to keep the reader with you.  The following “Do’s” and “Don’ts” are crucial for creating a great beginning.

Do’s:

1. Thrust the reader into the story head first.  Start at a turning point in the plot.  Put the reader in the middle of some action or event that is potentially life changing.  Dean Koontz (a writer of horror/suspense novels) calls this putting your hero/heroine in TERRIBLE TROUBLE.  Dwight Swain (author of Techniques of the Selling Writer) calls this STARTING ON THE DAY THAT IS DIFFERENT.   Study the ways your favorite authors begin their books.  Study the way blockbuster movies begin.  Think Indiana Jones.
2. Begin your story in the context of the events (the conflict) your book will be about. If the book is about a child-snatching, start there.
   
   (Think about Mary who is being charged with murder.  We don’t start with what leads up to the arrest.  We start with the arrest.  The rest of the book will be about how she proves she didn’t kill her fiancé.
3. Introduce your hero and/or heroine—hopefully both.  There’s a “rule” in romance novels that the hero and heroine have to meet as soon as possible.  (But sometimes the story won’t allow that.)  If one of them is not on the page in the first chapter, at least allude to them (if at all possible) so that the reader can at least anticipate the meeting.
4. Present your hero and heroine to the reader demonstrating one of their dominant character traits.  First impressions are important.  (In Silence of the Lambs, both Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins were asked by the director how they wanted the audience to first “see” Clarice and Hannibal.  Clarice is running a course at FBI headquarters.  Hannibal is sitting and smirking in his cell.  With every book, I ask myself how I want my reader to first “see” my hero and heroine.)
5. Establish empathy with the protagonists.  The reader has to “like” or at least experience an emotional connection to the hero and the heroine.  Think of blockbuster movies.  Analyze how that “connection” is created.  Establishing empathy with the protagonist is a must.  Otherwise, no one is going go to see the movie (or read your book).
6. Establish the goal of the heroine or hero and then put it in jeopardy.  (Establish conflict).
7. Keep the pacing fast.  This is critical.  Show, don’t tell.  Use action and dialog.  Keep narrative short.  Concentrate on the three S’s: suspense, surprise and sexual tension.  Every scene in your book must be necessary, but this is especially true in the first chapter.
8. Establish the tone of your story—dramatic, funny, light, dark?
9. Begin introducing the theme.  (We all have themes, and we tend to return to them.  Some authors favor the theme of redemption.  Jennie Cruisie always writes about the epiphany a woman in her mid-thirties goes through when she takes a look at her life and decides that she’s not happy and wants something different—and then she goes after it.  The books are almost always about a shift in identity.  I play a lot with the theme of appearance vs. reality.  When my hero and heroine fall in love I like them to discover what lies beneath the outer layers of the person they’re falling for.  I use disguises and masquerades and pretending almost as much as Shakespeare did.)
10. Think about the final scene.  Your book can end where it begins.  It can come full circle.  This won’t always work, but it’s worth thinking about.

Don’ts:

1. Don’t begin your book with back story or even a set up.  Keep the focus on action and dialog.  Craft books talk about “slipping” or “salting” the back story in gradually or now and then giving the reader a “glimpse” of it.  Granted, back story adds motivation, texture, interest, but at the beginning keep the focus on what’s happening now.
2. Don’t begin with internalized monologue.  (The hero or heroine musing to themselves).  There’s no action here and you’re probably writing it to shovel in back story.
3. Don’t begin with description of either setting or character.  It’s stagnant.  It kills the pacing.  Keep any description lean and mean.

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