Beginnings are very important, its important to get them right.
And so, moments after sitting down in front of the laptop/novel, with two versions of 'the beginning' in front of me, I begin to question which one is the right one to go with.
Originally the story starts with a death, it gets the story moving quite quickly but then we slip into some back story - which is important, before picking back up where the intro left off.
The new beginning, starts with a wedding, and the first inklings that the MC's sister has married a control freak. After this I am imagining that time will zip forward until the MC moves in with her sister and takes over the business due to her sisters illness, which then leads to the death, and the rest of the story.
I don't know which way to do this. After writing it like that, possibly the second way seems the best, though in reality, the story isn't about the wedding, or the marriage, or the sister who dies so much as it's about the MC and her relationship with her sister, her nephew, and the other mysteries which are not even hinted at in the beginning of the novel (well, in rewrites there will be some hints, just so that the reader is prepared, though it's never come up as an issue for any of the people who have read it so far).
I'm aware that too much back story can sink a story, but then I am also really wary of starting a story in the wrong place. Too early or too late can be killers for a good story.
I want the focus to be on what the story is about, not on the back story - which leads me to the conclusion that I should stick with the original opening, and find ways of incorporating all the relevant, important information into the story without drowning the reader in it. It won't be that hard, I just have to be a little bit clever about how I do it.
And now to figure out how to do that....
Query: For people who have edited novels before, do you break the whole thing up into scenes and/or chapters before you start editing? or do it all in one big document?
P.S: Thank you ten minute blog for clearing that all up for me!
And so, moments after sitting down in front of the laptop/novel, with two versions of 'the beginning' in front of me, I begin to question which one is the right one to go with.
Originally the story starts with a death, it gets the story moving quite quickly but then we slip into some back story - which is important, before picking back up where the intro left off.
The new beginning, starts with a wedding, and the first inklings that the MC's sister has married a control freak. After this I am imagining that time will zip forward until the MC moves in with her sister and takes over the business due to her sisters illness, which then leads to the death, and the rest of the story.
I don't know which way to do this. After writing it like that, possibly the second way seems the best, though in reality, the story isn't about the wedding, or the marriage, or the sister who dies so much as it's about the MC and her relationship with her sister, her nephew, and the other mysteries which are not even hinted at in the beginning of the novel (well, in rewrites there will be some hints, just so that the reader is prepared, though it's never come up as an issue for any of the people who have read it so far).
I'm aware that too much back story can sink a story, but then I am also really wary of starting a story in the wrong place. Too early or too late can be killers for a good story.
I want the focus to be on what the story is about, not on the back story - which leads me to the conclusion that I should stick with the original opening, and find ways of incorporating all the relevant, important information into the story without drowning the reader in it. It won't be that hard, I just have to be a little bit clever about how I do it.
And now to figure out how to do that....
Query: For people who have edited novels before, do you break the whole thing up into scenes and/or chapters before you start editing? or do it all in one big document?
P.S: Thank you ten minute blog for clearing that all up for me!
3 comments:
I'd start with the death. I'm always a fan of starting with maximum action. You want to throw the reader right into the middle of something.
I almost always end up starting with what I originally thought would be chapter 2.
I use one big document, but I do try to get the chapter breaks in there as soon after the first draft as possible.
Thanks for confirming what I was already thinking :-) Feeling good about the decision!
I used yWriter4 to edit Life on Fire. It breaks a story up into scenes and you can progress each scene through different status', write project notes and add lots of great things to each since like conflict, goal, reaction, locations and characters.
I liked that I could approach each scene as a seperate piece of work once I got going and I felt like I was accomplishing something quicker.
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