By:
Jeff Gerke
You’ve
probably heard the adage that you must begin your novel with action—even
if it’s not the main action of the book. While this rule is fairly
well-accepted in fiction teaching circles, not everyone agrees with it.
What
does it mean to begin a novel with action? Usually, car chases and explosions
come to mind. But a lot of novels don’t have a single car chase and nary
an explosion in the whole book, so then what would “action” constitute? It
could be a ballgame , an argument, a stage performance, someone’s
death, or a mysterious discovery. So long as it strikes the right tone for the
novel to come, any of these would be good choices.
But
what if the writer doesn’t want to begin with anything active happening at all?
Must a novel begin with action of some sort? Is there no other option?
We
know there are great ways to begin a novel that are not action by almost
anyone’s definition.
Call
me Ishmael.
Happy
families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.
It
was the best of times, it was the worst of times.
You
don’t know about me without you have read a book by the name of The Adventures
of Tom Sawyer; but that ain’t no matter.
It
is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good
fortune, must be in want of a wife.
Granted,
those are just opening lines, not opening scenes, and those are drawn from
novels of yesteryear. But the point remains that it’s possible to have a great
novel that doesn’t begin with a tank blowing up.
What
about a novel that begins with the unique voice of the narrator? What about a
novel from the lyrical prose school of fiction?
My
fourth novel begins with the hero finding out that he’s been assigned to kill
someone—but the scene itself consists mainly of thinking and talking, not your
typical description of an action-packed beginning.
Why
It’s Often Smart to Begin with Action
.
. .
Read the full
article HERE!
~*~
If
you missed my writing & marketing tweets and retweets yesterday, here they
are again:
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- Novel Rocket: What's In A Voice? http://ow.ly/Ncdy2 "Sometimes the "it" factor causes one voice to stand out above others." #writetip
- Kurt Vonnegut's 8 Tips on How to Write a Good Short Story | Open Culture http://ow.ly/Ncmm1
- What to Do When You Absolutely, Positively NEED a Pen Name | Kristen Lamb's Blog http://ow.ly/Ncn19
- Find Out if Your Prologue Is Destroying Your Story’s Subtext - Helping Writers Become Authors http://ow.ly/NcoCW
- Author, Jody Hedlund: 4 Steps That Can Keep Writers From Dismal Failure http://ow.ly/NcwZj
- How to Create a Best-Selling Cover - Freebooksy http://ow.ly/NcYTQ
- Release News! How Do You Deal with “Hurry Up and Wait”? | Jami Gold, Paranormal Author http://ow.ly/Ndxbt
- Fiction University: Four Ways to Prepare for a Book Launch—Even if You Aren’t Published Yet http://ow.ly/Ndxds
- 10 Reasons Why You Should Interview Your Fellow Fiction Authors by Jason Kong — The Book Designer http://ow.ly/NdxlX
- 3 Ways to Start Your Novel http://ow.ly/Ndxq5
- Why Seth Godin self published – BookBaby blog http://ow.ly/Ndxta
- How to Use Twitter Direct Messages for Customer Service Social Media Examiner http://ow.ly/Ndxwe
- Writability: “But The Book Gets Better!” http://ow.ly/NdxCT
- Quit Being A Commodity: How To Get Visibility And Stand Out http://ow.ly/NdxHm
- How Important is Your Book Title? - Books & Such Literary Management http://ow.ly/NdxPz
- Courage and the Creative Pursuit http://ow.ly/NdxTk
- The Zen of Organized Writing: 5 Steps You Can Take Today | Write to Done http://ow.ly/NdxUL
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