Where's the Action?

27 January 2010 | Filed Under Age-Old Debates 

One of the most difficult things about writing a story is figuring out where it starts. Saying “right before the action” isn’t exactly helpful. In my story, the action pretty much starts two months before my main character starts at her new (awesome) school.

I thought I couldn’t go wrong starting my story when my main character arrives at her this school. Turns out, I could.

I found myself getting sucked into touring a school I hadn’t completely thought up yet, introducing my main character seven times over to dozens of characters that needed to be made up on the spot, and – long story short, I wasn’t comfortable creating a world by going from zero to sixty in negative five seconds flat.

It was also soporific to write. Pop Quiz: how many ways can you have people say, “Oh, you’re the new student?”

So I need to find a new starting point a little “further” into the story, after all these introductions are over. I can always cover important introductions in flashbacks, I suppose. When I don’t have a plan, I like to learn about my characters as my readers do. (That’s probably why I would be terrible at writing mysteries.) It might be weird, but that’s how I work.

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    Hi, I'm Jenn, new grad student and old YA fantasy writer. I've long dreamed of being a novelist, and I bet you have too. I hope you find my blog helpful, inspiring, and maybe just a little bit fun. (But not too much fun. Writing is serious business, you know.)

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