posted
I have rewritten the beginning of this... stinker four or five times. I am not sure whether I should soldier on or just drop it for now and write something else.
It looks clunky on the page for reasons I cannot explain...
posted
I find it is because I am doing something wrong. Maybe starting in the wrong place or forcing a character down an unnatural path. Just write it out and let it sit.
Posts: 475 | Registered: Jul 2010
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posted
I agree with both of the above comments. Most likely, you're starting in the wrong place. You might try writing out the scenes you need, just a simple sentence for each, and see if that sets you right. That, or write further in and backtrack to your opening.
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posted
Ditto to the above. One thing that works for me is I Map out all the characters that are in the beginning. More specifically though, I write how they react to certain questions and what not. From there I usually mold scenery around that beginning.
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posted
If I start to have trouble getting something written, I generally take it as a sign I should be working on something else...but that usually happens for me within a couple of pages, and yours sounds like it's gone further along.
Finding a different place to start is pretty good advice...sometimes the further ahead, the better.
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One of the things I like most about OSC's lesson about "beginnings" ( http://hatrack.com/writingclass/lessons/1998-10-29.shtml ) is how he shared the 3rd attempt of a beginning to Ender's Shadow to his wife. She said "I like it but didn't Ender's Game begin with action?"
He didn't discover the problem on his own, which I think is key when something as important as a beginning isn't working. For him, he changed the character who was telling the story at the beginning, and it began to work because Bean was suddenly a mystery, someone we saw from the outside looking in.
Your story might be that way. You might be starting at the perfect place in the story, but with the wrong tactics.
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