How to use this Page

Okay, okay...I know that I am late to the party on this one. The problem is that this book stayed checked out from the moment we got it in at the library until the last day of school! I finally found it at my local public library, and happily read it in anticipation of #3 coming out this fall.

Greg is just a typical kid trying to make a go of it in middle school. His mom gave him the journal (NOT a diary, thank-you-very-much!), and he figures that it'll save him time when he gets older and famous in that he won't have to explain his upbringing. But before he gets famous, he's stuck negotiating the halls, Hallowe'en, the school play, as well as the world of popularity and girls.

Greg is trying to convince his friend Rowley that it is time to grow up a bit. Why can't Rowley ask him to "hang out" instead of "play"? Especially when they are in the hallway at school. The thing is, as much as Greg's big brother and some of the other kids at school aren't so nice to Greg, Greg is not very nice to Rowley either. He mainly uses him to get to play video games when he is punished. Can their friendship survive middle school?

Filled with funny and gross moments (like the cheese on the playground, and the Big Wheel birthday), Jeff Kinney has certainly struck a chord with readers. The comic style illustrations pepper the pages and add extra doses of humor to the book. I can say with authority that both guys and girls love these quick reads, and I myself cannot wait to finally get my hands on the second one.

There is certainly a lack of books for tweensters with male protagonists, and there is a lack of funny across the board. Diary of a Wimpy Kid fills these holes with panache. Do yourself a favour if you haven't already...buy multiple copies!

Yes, my novel writing is continuing along. This was not the best of weeks for volume, but was decent for story structure, so yay! I'm at 38,780 words this week. I will be gone next week, so I won't be posting again until March 14, 2008.

This week I'm going to chat about first chapters. They are difficult to write, but I have a thought or two about how to make them happen well.

Don't be afraid of developing a setting. Be lavish in your description. I like to throw everything in at first. I give myself permission to be untamed and uninhibited in that first chapter, understanding at some point I will have to go through the entire thing at least dozens of times, refining and polishing.

I approach each first chapter from any angle. I open up to possibilities of shifting the voice, tense, and POV. This is where I pull out my mad skills. I find that a first chapter is not the place for a faint heart. Spin your tale out; believe you have a miraculous ability like a spider. Know you are able to cast out a web, though it starts as one thread after another, in the morning light, drenched by dew, it is a miracle to all that behold it.

Let every voice you've ever heard cheer you on. Be mad, fierce, fearless. Be willing to throw it all out and start again. The first chapter is the place to celebrate, anticipate, and conjure up that which is to come. This is the time to believe in magic, luck, angels, heaven, hell, hope, despair, just throw it all in, the more the better.

Here is the place that faith is born. Your words will create in your readers an unstoppable hunger, vision and passion; respect this with your whole heart. If you do these things, you will find your way. You will say, “This is what I meant to say.”

From Psalm 20, verse 5: We will shout for joy when you are victorious. . .