Part 2 - A scene in your first eleventh chapter
Hey there. Welcome. Hope you are feeling positive about having a beginning to your novel at the end of this session.
We finished our last session with valuable notes that we are going to use as a foundation to write the first paragraphs in your novel. I hope you are as excited as I am. The next few sessions are going to be intense and full of opportunity for you to see just how good an author you are. Fabulous. Let’s get on then.
Grab your notes.
Now, spend a few minutes reading over them. Read carefully, as if you were studying. Push your focus right inside the ideas you wrote down. Hopefully, you have managed to squeeze in enough time to go through them a couple of times in recent days and are comfortable with their content. No refinement necessary. In the rough is just perfect.
Here we go.
If you have notes on more than one story, pick one. Now, no hesitation. Do it. The other plot ideas will still be there when you finish working through this one. Tell me about the one you chose. Talk out loud to me, or to the wall in your room, and describe what you want from the story, some of the plot, locations and characters that have been pressing to be released onto the page. What is it that excites you about it? Take as long as you like to do this part. I’ll sit here, appreciating your work, as I listen. Verbalizing your thoughts will help you solidify their intent and bring out possible additions to your planning.
Done?
Good for you. This is it. A great tale set for the telling.
Bet it’s a relief to know your project is under way. Breathe deeply and let us take the plunge.
Now, based on your notes and thoughts, give it a working title. Something that fits the story and makes sense to you. Most likely, it will change. That is the nature of how progress will fine tune the work.
This next bit may take a few moments as you put yourself into the story. That’s right, do not look on and describe. We want to be right there to see, hear, taste, smell and feel all that is going on. Close your eyes and relax. Look around. Can you see any of the characters? Are they starting to stir in the scenery? Put all five senses into action. Your sixth sense, too, may be needed.
Do not try to tell the story to yourself. That will all come. At this stage our aim is to set up a solid footing, otherwise it will all fall apart. Follow your imagination as it pulls you here and there to interesting action and locations. It does not matter where in the story you stop to explore. Maybe it will become your first eleventh chapter. Beginning, middle and end will wrap around it as you go. Describe the surroundings. Download a couple of photos as reference if you wish. How will those surroundings interact with people and other elements you want to add?
In about two hundred and fifty words, more if you can, tell me about the place that will be integral to this scene. This is not necessarily chapter one. It can be anywhere in the novel. Do not try to be too clever and make it a masterpiece in the first instance. Remember, trial and error is the key to skill development. Making it a clear outline that traces what your characters will be experiencing is all we need. I’ll show you why not to get too carried away with the detail in a moment.
Take an hour and see how you go. If you need it, give yourself a break at around the half way mark to stretch, get a drink, stare out the window.
How did that go?
If you need more time, take it, but do not use the time to be critical of your work. Words that show intention are far more valuable than no words at all. Everything will tighten up of its own accord as you write further.
Now, in no time at all, you are about two hundred and fifty words closer to your goal. They may not be anything like the pages you end up with after the next few sessions, but they describe the environment into which you will be bringing your characters. Time for a break. I am going to make a coffee and maybe have a bite to eat. This is a significant milestone. You have begun your project. Stand and stretch and celebrate.
Chill for a few minutes and, as you do, think about two of the characters you had in mind. Let them wander into the room with you and ask them to sit at the table with us as we get to know them. Do not let them see each other. They have not yet met in what will be the “real” life you design for them. That is the magic of writing; you can conjure up worlds where things may not seem “normal” from the outside. Anyway, these two should not see each other, but you must find out about them. Know them inside and out — physically, mentally, historically. Begin to flesh out what you will gradually draw on as their venture transpires.
Books should guide our imaginations into places and scenes and action that stimulate our senses. Enough that readers will feel for victims, love the hero, “boo” the villain, share the same visions as you do.
We’ll discuss why you should be cautious of micro detail too early in the next session. Come back in two weeks when we hope to increase your word count as the characters we just met are placed into their parts.
Looking forward to seeing you here.
