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Great tip! (As a struggle to write soemthing, anything, today)

Glad you&#39;re writing, Chris! We need more of your books! <br /><br />Congrats on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/When-Mike-Kissed-Christine-Marciniak/dp/1601545452/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1250103011&amp;sr=8-1" rel="nofollow">WHEN MIKE KISSED EMMA</a>!

Thanks, Vivian! Some days it&#39;s just harder to find the time than other days. :)

And these silly sentences will string together to write silly books. But books nonetheless.<br />love it!

Yes!!!

Thanks, PJ and Liz! <br /><br />When are your books coming out?

I really like this! Thanks for the motivation.

OMG, Liz!!! ALL THE WORLD is on the <a href="http://news.bookweb.org/zstage/6986.html" rel="nofollow">Fall 2009 Children&#39;s Indie Next List</a>!!! Congratulations!

You&#39;re welcome, Calliope.

Oh, I long for a line or two from this day.<br /><br />But only the corporate work prevails just now. My stories don&#39;t know what they are yet.

Does blogging count for word count =)

I love this, because really, how can we make any writing better unless we write it down in the first place?

Good question. I struggle with this and use it to put in backstory that I think is important for the reader to know, without taking away from the main story. Thanks for the links. I'm off to read these with great interest. I can't wait to see how people vote on this.

After reading over my comment, I'm realizing my prologue is all information dump. Maybe not the best use of space. Hmm.

I go back & forth on this one. And whenever I answer it, I sounds sort of...duh! But what the heck. :)I think a prologue has to be REALLY necessary, not just a fallback because we haven't quite figured out how to weave the info into the main story. I get very frustrated when I think the author sort of "cheated" with the prologue. On the other hand, there are times...well, like I said, you can see

I find prologues boring. Typically, I think they're a cheap way to add backstory or foreshadow. I especially have a prejudice against prologues in fantasy stories--it's ALWAYS the evil villian plotting or the prophet making a prophecies or something cliched.That said, some are good. I like the prologues in the Twilight series, and in HP. I guess as long as they are short and not typical and

I like prologues. I like reading them and writing them. So much in fact, I've just added one to my WIP. Of course it could be a really short first chapter in this case, too.

Prologues are tricky. Most editors and agents will flat out say not to use them. But while attending the Big Sur Children's Writing Workshop a couple years ago, I was told by the genius Nancy Lamb (www.nancylamb.com - author of my new bible, the Writer's Guide to Crafting Children's Stories) that I needed to start with my inciting incident and then flashback. (Thank god her book has an entire

Suzanne,<BR/>Thank you so much for your thoughtful answer. How wonderful to get the feedback that it works for your book! Now to figure out whether mine works...<BR/><BR/>PJ,<BR/>Can't wait to read yours! <BR/><BR/>Beth,<BR/>You're right, a lot of them tend to fall into a pattern. <BR/><BR/>Becky,<BR/>I hear you. I go back and forth, too. Sigh.<BR/><BR/>Calliope,<BR/>Glad you've found this

A friend of mine has a prologue at the beginning of her novel that totally pulls you into the story. An agent (who never read it) told her children's books should not have prologues. But one of my favorites, City of Ember, starts with a prologue. So while it's not common, if it's well done and it sets the stage for the action, I say go for it!

I agree (mostly) with Beth. Prologues, as a general rule, seem to be a way to get extra information in without "really" being the first chapter. If you do have a prologue, consider it the first chapter. That said, I have seen some really good prologues. Just make sure you are not doing it out of laziness. If there is direct purpose to it in the story, by all means, full steam ahead. :)

You have me thinking here, Vivian. I'm rather not a fan of a prologue in fiction (sometimes they are necessary for nonfiction). Very very rarely, epilogues work.

You guys all rock with your wise insight. I go back and forth on whether I like prologues or not. <br /><br />Thank you for your comments!

On some of the stories I've written the spot to begin seems very clear. On others, not so much. I think in that case it's best to just start writing the story and the beginning will become clear (often when you get to it, 3 chapters in). But yet, I found in one story that I needed to back up my starting time by about six months - I started too far into the story.The story will tell you - if you

I seem to be getting better at learning where to start a story, though I think each story is different as you mentioned. One story may not call for major action at the start. Another may.Now off to critique PB (sorry I'm late!).

I write mostly short stories, but I go through much the same process you do. Some stories I know where to begin. Most of the time, I start writing and decide at some point along the way where the story needs to begin. Once in a while, what needs to change surprises me. I was baffled about where to begin one story until I changed the setting. In another one, I realized the characters were reversed

I always start with action. It might not be too far into the story but I always start my scene with action.

Chris,You're right. We just need to listen!PJ,No worries! Can't wait to find out what you think.Jim,Thanks so much for stopping by! I would imagine short story beginnings are very tricky. Best of luck with your writing!

Shelli,And there you are! Thanks for sharing where you start your story.

I love that you're actively playing with starting the story at different points & then "testing" that place. I just wrote an initial draft of a PB & I'm not thrilled--and maybe you've hit on my problem. Thanks! Have you read Hooked, by Les Edgerton. It's all about these beginnings--that's the whole book, and I was really impressed. In fact, it might be time for a reread!

Becky,Thanks for the book recommendation. I'll have to check it out!Good luck with all your writing projects! You're going to have a great spring!

One thing I've noticed consistently with my writing students is that MOST (not some, but MOST) of their stories begin on about page 2. The whole lead up is just about revving the engine...

Many drafts are needed, always, to find the true center, the story's meaning. You've gone through the process just as you should.

Love your post. Beginnings are so difficult for me. I need to try a few different ones and just practice and see which one fits.Writing is a process. It's never what you think it is.

Morpho Ophelia,Glad you stopped by. Best of luck with your beginnings!Beth,Thank you for the validation.Liz,As always, you speak the truth.

From all the stories I've started and never finished, I've gathered that a strong beginning is necessary in order for a writer to have faith in their story. So, for example, I'm probably not going to go very far in the one I'm working on right now because I don't think I have a very strong start.So I think the remedy for this is to start it with a bang -- a major event that affects the story,

Maya,Great observation. Best of luck with your rewrite!

The start is always the hardest part of stories for me to write -- prologues are easy, but the actual first chapter not so much.I usually try to start just before a defining moment though, sort of the place in the story that sets off the chain of events that will cause the things in the story to happen... the moment isn't always something that really stands out, but when the story is finished

Ooh, excellent question. My current wip is a pb with a storm as the 'main character.' But I have to show the day calm and quiet before the storm for the storm itself to have any impact. I've gone back and forth a few times on how long to spend on the quiet--need enough so the storm has more impact, but not so much the reader is bored. It's a short ms, so I'm talking the difference between 7 and

Laura,Sounds good. I would imagine you really have to work it with picture books. They are hard to write! And by the way, congrats on the new book! Lanna-Lovely,You sound like you have a good handle on your stories. Way to go!

I'm going to sound like the biggest nimrod since all of you can tell when your beginning isn't right. How do you tell? I keep coming back to see if someone will reveal the secret. People keep telling me my beginnings don't work, but I like them, but even if I try to fix them, I don't know where to start.I hope you understand that I need to be anonymous for this one.

This might sound a little crazy (but hey, I'm among friends!) - I begin the story where the character starts "talking" to me. I hear the voice loud and clear, and it startles me. I hope it will also startle readers enough to want to know more.

Oh, this is totally something I struggle with! I wrote so many different beginnings for Silksinger. And I never can REALLY move on into the meat of the story until I feel like I've got the beginning right. Above all, I want it to be really intriguing. Usually it's somewhat in the middle of something happening, with enough intrigue to generate curiosity but not to confound. So tricky!

I heard a piece of advice from an agent that I will never forget: Start your story as late as you possibly humanly can and have it still make sense.This is a tried and true method for me. After seven subsequent drafts, I've ended cutting over four chapters before where my story really needed to start. I thought "but they need to know [X] or I have to introduce [X] first!" Not so. It's brilliant

I love your site, as I'm fascinated by good writing. I'm a by chance blogger and by no means consider myself a professional, but I learned everything I know about decent writing from my Dad. He always told me "write as you would speak", which always helped me relax and just get started, no pressures. This also helped me write efficient, power word based resumes that landed me interviews. I

I've been thinking quite seriously about this issue lately, HWM. I think, however, that polished perfection isn't what will be required, but rather fail-proof entertainment value. I think fighting the fluff will be even more difficult than before. Tried-and-true series will be hot and celeb books will be hot.

Kelly,You're right. The entertainment value is going to be key. I didn't even think about the celeb books and the tried-and-true series...

Hmmm. Eye candy. Will we be seeing more Gossip Girls?

Tricia,I haven't read any of the Gossip Girls, so I can't judge this one.

Oh, great. So how is a newbie writer supposed to get in? This is depressing.

Anonymous,I didn't mean for this to depress anyone. Information is key, and if you have a general idea of what's happening in the marketplace, it'll help you figure out what type of approach you need in your writing. Does this make sense?

Thank you for the tip! I agree!That said, I don't think anything can ever replace the experience of turning pages...especially where children and their favorite stories are concerned.:)