The Beginning
Every story involves a quest. The problem is that the quest generally does not begin until the beginning of the Middle or 1/4 of the way into the story, which begs the question -- what do you do with the Beginning 1/4 of your story?
The first quarter of the book, the Beginning, has to hook the reader. But, how?
I'll offer you a few suggestion tomorrow and on Monday. For now, I want you to create the Beginning portion of your Plot Planner similar to how you created the End of your Plot Planner on Day Eight.
To review, so far, you have an index card or piece of 8 1/2 X 11 piece of paper or whatever works best for you as the Plot Planner of the End of your story AND a smaller version for the Beginning and Middle where you had plotted at least one or possibly two scenes from the Beginning section and at least one or three at the most from Day Five.
Today, you are to expand the Beginning portion to its own index card. Simply draw a line that travels from the left to the right with a gradual ascent that ends at the End of the Beginning.
Write in the End of the Beginning scene you came up with in your first draft. Plot any other scenes you remember in the first 1/4 of your draft. Don't refer to the draft itself. Just write what comes to you. Don't push to remember. Give each scene/event a title. Write the scenes above the line in the order of appearance in the story. Write in pencil.
2 Comments on International Plot Writing Month -- Day Thirteen, last added: 12/17/2008
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Dear Martha,
THANK YOU SO MUCH for this! I'm an aspiring writer who is struggling and wondering if I will ever see my way through to a finished manuscript. I have your DVDs (just got the one for mysteries), and they help break down the process in a more manageable way for me. I've got ADD, and also have trouble coming up with ideas, so I often wonder if I'm expecting too much of myself to try to write a novel. But I can't get rid of the writing bug, so I'll keep plugging away. I appreciate your time and effort on this 30-day project!
Thanks for your kind words!!
I'm so glad you're sticking with your writing and continue to be "whispered" to by the muse.
Great good luck with your writing.