Begin(ner)ing: A Very Good Place to Start
I've done it. I've broken with my own self-assured know-how
and submitted to the suggestion of expert writer Jon Franklin. Breaking myself
with a chief error beginners make:
“One of the chief errors that a beginning writer is likely
to make in the rough-draft stage, and one that consumed horrible gobs of my own
artistic youth, is to start at the beginning and write your way through, making
every sentence as perfect as you can.”
After initially reading this instruction the first time, I
thought, I will keep that in mind. I started my book by developing an outline
and then wrote from the beginning. My reasoning: I know how the story is going
to end, so I can still just start at the beginning. I liked going through the
journey with my characters, being surprised with them, living the
action with them, wondering what would happen next, letting the concreteness of
the story come as it would. That was how I started, following my self-assured beginners’ thoughts.
It
went quite well to start out. Then I found so many threads going that I rewrote
my outline, discovering even more intricacies to the story unfolding
(keep in mind, there is nothing wrong with rewriting the outline to
make your story better). The outline was helping me maintain focus, but I found
my mind and story wandering. It was getting a bit dull to write.
Then I re-read Franklin’s advice:
“The story doesn't pivot on the beginning, it pivots on the
ending – so write that first.”
I mentioned this advice to my husband one night while
plunking away at my story. He immediately said, That makes sense; you should do
it.
I recently finished my first novel. I, too, started out at the beginning. But about mid-way, I jumped to the end. I could see the ending so clearly in my mind that I felt like I'd lose something if I didn't go ahead and write it. I think writing the ending early on helped me finish my novel.
ReplyDeleteYes! Thank you for your comment.
Delete