Launching a book…how to make the opening GRAB and HOLD

I’ve said before here that the beginning of your book needs to explode!

And in this blog post about how to begin a book I talked about the basics.

Explode

Story

Anchor

Moment of Change

Cute Meet

But today I want to expand on the very most basic thing, the explosion.

Mary Connealy--giving orders AGAIN!!

To launch a book be thinking about the reader. Maybe flipping through your book in a bookstore. Maybe reading an excerpt on Amazon.

You need to grab that reader and HOLD THEM.

And this is important….when you’re an author think about the editor you’re pitching to. Think about how hard it is to catch someone’s interest who reads books all day every day. What you need to do to catch that editor’s attention is exactly what you need to do to catch the reader’s attention.

You need a first sentence that just BANG grabs them, makes them wonder what’s next. Makes them curious.

Now I know we can’t all be shooting people all the time. (I can maybe but not all of us).

My constant advice to ‘shoot somebody’, works perfectly to represent what you need. You need to MAKE SOMETHING HAPPEN.

Something fascinating, something important, something that makes the reader be riveted to your pages, forget the clock and lose herself in the pages of a book.

Now seriously … each and every one of you. (Yes, you too, Ruthy, Miss Million Books in Print!!!) go look at the first sentence, the first paragraph, the first page of your book.

Does it GRAB and HOLD. Not JUST grab, but also HOLD.

We all know not to start with the heroine driving and thinking about all that has brought her to this point in her life, right? WE KNOW THAT RIGHT???

This is basic training stuff. Go look at your beginning and please tell me if your book does that, you are going to GET RID OF IT.

It's free...have I mentioned that???

And don’t start with a backstory dump either.

No, the beginning needs to MOVE. At the very least the doorbell rings and GREAT BIG TROUBLE (in the form of an old boyfriend, or a deadly serious policeman, or maybe an angry, doorbell ringing rattle snake) is on your character’s porch with bad, bad, bad news.

If anyone is brave today, I’d like you to post the first few paragraphs. Look at them. Do they grab and hold. Do they explode? If not, why not? What can you do to fix them?

We can talk about them. We can revise if you need it or if you’ve really got something great, we can learn from you!

Trouble

If your book starts with a phone call to come to the hospital, your father had a heart attack, do NOT start with the phone call, start with the character sprinting into the hospital calling for help.

Gunfire

Heroine dangling by her fingernails from a cliff.

An explosion blows you out the fourth-floor window of your apartment.

A rabid dog lunges at your throat.

It doesn’t have to start on the first sentence, that should be a charmer all it’s own. But soon, the first paragraph, certainly the first page.

I’m going to list the openings of some of my books. Read them if you want, skim them or skip them, I just hunted around and tried to find books I think started really well. I’m actually a little dismayed at some I THOUGHT started well and realize now, as I read to select great openings, that some of them could’ve be faster, more explosive.

RELEASING TODAY!

No Way Up

The steep sides of the pass into the canyon pressed down on Heath Kincaid until he could hardly breathe. Though it was a blustery November day, a sheen of sweat broke out on his forehead. It surprised him because Heath knew mountains, and he knew tight places.

He rode behind Chance Boden, the owner of this vast New Mexico Territory Land Grant, and John Hightree, the foreman of the Cimarron Ranch, and two other men brought up the rear riding single-file, their aim to fetch the cattle that’d gone in here.

They passed the busted down gate Chance had put up to keep cattle out of this rugged, grassless canyon.

             “That fence was stronger than the backbone of the Rockies.” Chance looked in disgust at the gateposts that just yesterday blocked the entrance. “That cantankerous bull shouldn’t’ve been able to knock it down.”

He led his men around the splintered lumber. “Let’s make short work of getting ’em out!” “

Heath was just passing the ruins of the gate when he heard the rumble. Right overhead. Only one thing made that sound.

“Avalanche! Run!” Heath reined in his stallion so hard it reared.

In horror he looked up as he whirled his horse. He saw tumbling rocks knock debris loose. The rock slide grew, picked up speed. Those ugly, rolling stones, raining down the side of the narrow neck of the entrance to this canyon aimed right for them.

Click to Buy

Now and Forever 

Matt Tucker could take people for only so long and then he had to get up in the mountains, all the way up where he was more likely to run into a golden eagle than a man. He’d wander in the thin pure air for a week or two, to clear his thoughts. Forget the smell and behavior of men.

            He slung a haversack over his shoulder, it had everything in it he needed to live, and rambled up a trail that'd scare the hair off a mountain goat. He’d left his horse behind, wanting to travel light and go places even his tough gray mustang couldn’t.

This time it wasn't men driving him to the high-up peaks. This time it was a certain head full of dark curls and a pair of shining blue eyes. Not a man—though no one would admit it—which was so odd he almost turned around.

In fact he wanted to turn around so bad he walked faster.

            That hair, those eyes were why he wasn't paying attention, which was a good way to get a man killed in wild country.

            He scooted past a boulder on a trail as narrow as coal black lashes on bright blue eyes. Then rounded a curve as tight as dark curls—and stomped on the toe of a bear cub.

A squall drew his eyes down. A roar dragged them up. He looked into the gaping maw of an angry mama grizzly. He hadn’t heard her or smelled her. Honestly, that was so careless and stupid he almost deserved to die.

            She swung a massive paw and he had no time to dodge. She knocked him over the side of that mountain.

The hero of No Way Up is a little boy in Over the Edge

Over the Edge

Chapter One

A bullet slammed through the door of the stagecoach, threading a needle to miss all four passengers.

            “It’s a hold-up!” Callie grabbed her rifle. “Get down!”

The stage driver yelled and cracked his whip. More flying lead hit, higher on the stagecoach. The man riding shotgun got his rifle into action.

“Get on the floor.” The woman sitting across from Callie was frozen with fear. That endangered Connor and it made Callie furious.

The bullets came fast. They were going slow on a long uphill slope. With the driver's shout the stage picked up speed. From the roof came a steady volley of deafening return fire.

Reaching reached across, Callie grabbed the woman by the ruffled front of her pink gingham dress and dragged her off the seat. Somewhat more gently, Callie picked Connor up from the seat beside her and set him on the woman’s lap. Eight-month-old Connor yelped, more a shout of anger than a cry. But crying would come soon enough. Her little wild man didn’t do anything quietly.

 “Can you shoot?” She shouted at the young man, hoping he’d snap out of whatever panic had seized him. He shook his head frantically. “Get on the floor.”

Callie used her whiplash voice and hoped it got the man moving. She threw herself across to the woman’s seat to face backward. With her Colt in her left hand and her Winchester in her right, she shoved the curtain aside.

Click to Buy for $1.99--here's a woman who could really shoot

Sharpshooter in Petticoats

Tom Linscott slid backward five feet before he caught a slender rock ledge and clawed at it to stop himself from plunging a hundred feet more.

            The rock was nearly sheer. He felt blood flowing from his fingertips. His grip was shaky already and now it was slippery. He clung to that ledge like a scared house cat, afraid to move, fighting to slow his slamming heart and steady his breathing. He’d been climbing a long time and he had a long way to fall if his grip didn’t hold.

            Then he did what any thinking man did when something scared him. He got mad.

So, he clung to the side of that stupid mountain, gathered his strength to go the last twenty-five or so feet, and fumed. He was a rancher not a mountain goat. He should not have had to climb up here.

No woman should be this hard to get.

I’m Not Kidding

Those first few words need to matter.They need to GRAB AND HOLD.

I’ve just re-read No Way Up and I really like the beginning of this book. I think it’s a grabber. 

Leave a comment to get your name in a drawing for a signed copy of

NO WAY UP!

Click to read a longer except from No Way Up

No Way Up

Cimarron Legacy book #1

Releasing today

New Western Romance Series from Bestselling Author Mary Connealy

When Cimarron ranch patriarch Chance Boden is caught in an avalanche, the quick actions of hired hand Heath Kincaid saves him. Badly injured, maybe dying, on his way to a distant doctor, Chance demands that his Will be read and its conditions be enforced immediately.

Without anyone else to serve as a witness, Heath is pressed into reading the will. If Justin, Sadie, and Cole Boden don't live and work at home for the entire year, the ranch will go to their low-down cousin Mike.

Then Heath discovers the avalanche was a murder attempt, and more danger might follow. Deeply involved with the family, Heath's desire to protect Sadie goes far beyond friendship. The danger keeps them close together, and their feelings grow until being apart is the last thing on their minds.

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Where to Start a Novel (Tips and Traps)

with guest Janalyn Voigt.

Ah, sweet relief! You’re alone in your office with every other member of your household occupied elsewhere. The fragrance of your favorite beverage fills the air. Brain foods (like chocolate) await your pleasure. Your phone is muted, and a Do Not Disturb sign warns would-be intruders away from the front door. Now is the time! You power on your trusty computer and settle in to start your novel.

But, wait... 

Now you’re not so sure about that beginning. It seems sort of…well…bland. Maybe you should blow something up, instead. Aren’t you supposed to grab the reader with action? Another starting place might work better for that. Oh, bother! You’d have to leave out part of the story and try to work it in as you go. How would that jive with avoiding backstory? 

You have too much of that, already. 

What if you went backward in the story, instead? Starting at the very beginning, like Julie Andrews in that song might solve everything. Except that readers in your genre probably won’t want to start with your heroine’s childhood.

Now what?

It occurs to you that there’s laundry to be done, dishes in need of washing, and weeds overtaking the garden.

Where to Start Your Novel

Your novel’s opening is where you’ll introduce the main character, reveal the primary theme, initiate the story problem, set the tone of your story, introduce conflict, establish the setting, and raise questions for the reader, all while engaging the emotions by connecting a sympathetic main character with a universal experience. 

Are you sweating, yet? 

Make it easy on yourself by finding the starting point that helps you accomplish all of this in a single scene. Your preferences, genre expectations, and the needs of the story should all factor into which starting place you choose.

The Main Character’s Normal Life

With some genres, readers are there for the story world as much as for the characters. This allows a slower pace at the beginning. Epic fantasy and historical fiction are two examples that come to mind. For genres of this type, starting with a slice of the main character’s normal life rather than jumping in with the inciting incident can make sense. The biggest danger with this kind of beginning is losing your readers’ interest. Counter this by providing a terrific hook as early as possible, at least by the end of the first chapter. I would go so far as to include it before the end of the first scene, if possible. Make sure you keep up the pacing. Beginning at a slower pace does not mean a ‘snail’s pace.’

The Inciting Incident

Starting with the point of no return where your protagonist’s life changes forever is much touted these days but requires precision. By jumping in at the inciting incident, you risk reader apathy. It’s hard to care about the struggles of a character you’ve only just met. Have you ever watched a movie that opened with a gratuitous car chase? Chances are, you disconnected emotionally. This happens in fiction, too. Since you haven’t given a glimpse of the main character’s normal life, you’ll have to work this information in later without overloading the pacing with backstory. Opening with the inciting incident is not for the faint of heart, but if done well, can satisfy reader expectations in genres that rely more on action than introspection, like thrillers and classic westerns.

In the Middle of the Action

Starting after the action begins, or in medias res, Latin for “in the middle of affairs,” can create immediacy. However, since much of the story has passed, this kind of opening calls for the skillful use of flashbacks, introspection, and dialog. Homer’s Odyssey opens with Odysseus turning homeward after the fall of Troy. Science fiction and fantasy readers may be more willing to accept such an unusual format. This isn’t a common place to begin a novel, but I’ve included it in case it sparks ideas for the adventurous.

At the End

Opening at or near a story’s ending can pique a reader’s curiosity. Why does the heroine throw a valuable necklace into the ocean? Will the hero’s airplane crash in the next few minutes? Why is that noose around the hero’s neck? With the reader hooked, the story returns to the beginning to unfold chronologically or progresses as a series of flashbacks. This sort of format used to be called a ‘frame story’ and was frowned upon because so many authors mishandled its use. It can feel clunky and may be difficult to write but can work well for mystery novels, in particular.

DawnSinger & WayFarer.

Tips From My Own Writing Adventures

Deciding where to begin can be the hardest part of writing a novel. I know. I had to back up into the backstory when writing Tales of Faeraven, my allegorical fantasy series. Every time I tried to begin the story, I became disoriented. Out of self defense, I outlined the backstory of my complex story world, becoming so enmeshed that I had to give up and write the thing. DawnSinger is the first book in the series. Here’s the backstory I couldn’t resist:

The High Queen is dying… At the royal summons, Shae mounts a wingabeast and soars through the air to the high hold of Faeraven, where all is not as it seems. Visions warn her of danger, and a dark soul touches hers in the night. When she encounters an attractive but disturbing musician, her wayward heart awakens.

But then there is Kai, a guardian of Faeraven and of Shae. Secrets bind him to her, and her safety lies at the center of every decision he makes. On a desperate journey fraught with peril and the unknown, they battle warlike garns, waevens, ferocious raptors, and the wraiths of their own regrets. Yet, they must endure the campaign long enough to release the DawnKing—and the salvation he offers—into a divided land. To prevail, each must learn that sometimes victory comes only through surrender.

Tip: If you’re fascinated with your backstory, maybe it deserves even more attention.

When it came to plotting Hills of Nevermore (Montana Gold, book 1), which will release in 2017, I wrote three different openings before figuring out where it needed to begin. Sometimes you have to try on a pair of shoes to find out if they fit.

Tip: If you’re stuck, try writing several beginnings.

With Deceptive Tide (Islands of Intrigue, book 3), I’m venturing into romantic suspense as part of a linked-fiction series with two other authors. I started the story with a large dog knocking down Piper, the heroine, on a dock, thereby introducing her to its owner, a young girl at the center of a mystery. I loved the beginning, but my critique partners informed me (correctly) that you can’t open suspense novel with an amusing incident. I reworked the scene, and now as Piper stands up after being bowled over by her canine admirer, she notices a pair of binoculars trained on her.

Tip: Sometimes you only need to make a few adjustments to fit within your genre.

Novel Beginning Traps

I hesitate to pass on writing advice that tells authors what they should and shouldn’t do, because invariably some writer will prove everyone wrong. I’m of the opinion that there are too many writing ‘rules’ for writers nowadays. Reading vintage writers, as I do, can be eye-opening because many of our modern rules for writers weren’t even on their radar. (Read my literary review of Jamaica Inn by Daphne Du Maurier to see what I mean.) I can give my opinion, however. The following beginnings might best be avoided.

False Beginnings

The novel starts with the protagonist in danger, but then we discover it was just a dream. Only after the main character dies at the end of the first chapter do we find out he was actually a minor character and the hero is someone else. Readers don’t like being manipulated by contrived hooks. Instead, find a hook relevant to your main story.

Prologues

Some readers automatically skip prologues, and most agents and editors hate them, so unless there is a compelling reason to include one, don’t.

Too Much Description

You may have kissed the blarney stone when it comes to description, but your reader is a stranger to your story world and needs a gentle introduction. Front-loading description at the beginning of your story overwhelms not only its readers, but the pacing as well.

Death by Trivia

Does the reader really need to follow your heroine as she climbs out of bed, brushes her teeth, squints at her face in the mirror, and makes coffee? Unless something interesting and relevant to the story is going on, start at a different point. As science fiction author Elmore Leonard put it in his 10 Rules of writing: “My most important piece of advice to all you would-be writers: When you write, try to leave out all the parts readers skip.” 

Death by Backstory 

The story opens in the moment but then moves backward to hash out backstory. This doesn’t work because the pacing (and the reader’s interest) goes to minus zero. 

Final Thoughts

Choosing an opening for your novel can be a painful process, but don’t let it hang you up. Deciding where to start is not as important as beginning to write at all. You may never feel entirely certain that starting the story somewhere else wouldn’t have floated the story better, but sometimes you have to wade in and take your chances.

Have you struggled to begin a novel? Please share what helped you find a starting point.

 Today Seekerville is giving away a Kindle copy of DawnSinger to one commenter in honor of Janalyn's visit. Winner announced in the Weekend Edition.

Get your copy here.

 Additionally, Janalyn is sharing her free, printable character development worksheet, available on her website with our Villagers. 

 

 Janalyn Voigt is a storyteller who brings her unique blend of adventure, romance, suspense, and whimsy to several genres. Beginning with DawnSinger and Wayfarer, the Tales of Faeraven series carries readers into a fantasy land only imagined in dreams. Sojourner, the next title in this series, is pending publication. Deceptive Tide (Islands of Intrigue: San Juans), a romantic suspense novel set in an island paradise off the coast of Washington, releases this month. Look for Hills of Nevermore (Montana Gold, book 1). a western historical romance set during Montana's gold rush, to release in 2017.

Live Write Breathe, the website where Janalyn teaches writers to live with passion, write well, and remember to breathe, was named one of the Write Life's 100 best websites for writers in 2016.

Janalyn is represented by Wordserve Literary Agency. Her memberships include ACFW and NCWA. When she's not writing, she loves to discover worlds of adventure in the great outdoors with her family.

Learn more about Janalyn Voigt and her books.
Visit Live Write Breathe, Janalyn's website for writers.


Coming in 2016:

In The Beginning....

We all know that love is the main ingredient in every great romance. In these stories love overcomes every seemingly impossible obstacle and in the end finally triumphs. We cheer when our hero and heroine eventually come together and live happily ever after, just as we expect they will. Love conquers all is at the heart of romantic novels and anything less won’t satisfy readers. Who can blame them?

But the way to HEA is a long, crooked path strewn with both external and internal obstacles that keep the hero and heroine apart until they resolve their differences at the end. The readers (and writer) suffer right along with the characters as the couple struggles to realize they’re really made for each other. However, if the hero and heroine resolve their differences too soon, they won’t have time to work through the obstacles that stand in their way of real love — and the reader will feel disappointed and cheated that it all happened much too fast.

As we get to know the characters inside and out, we learn to relate to them and empathize with the difficulties that keep them from the mate God has chosen for them. Heroes and heroines have raw wounds deep inside that prevent them from falling in love too easily or too quickly. Sometimes the internal conflicts are even stronger than the external ones. A wonderful story needs plenty of both kinds of conflict. A word of warning: we shouldn’t throw in every single obstacle we can think of. Save some for other stories!

Love draws the hero and heroine together but obstacles drive them apart.

In my novella, The Innkeeper’s Promise, which is part of With this Kiss, the historical collection, a young innkeeper tries to convince her absentee co-owner to keep their failing hotel open and operating despite his determination to make a quick sale. (external conflict) They’re fighting their attraction for each other until they learn that placing their own desires and ambition ahead of their loved one’s wants and needs will cause unhappiness for both of them. (internal conflict). The conflicts blend together in the story.

At the beginning of any romance the hero and heroine should meet in an interesting, and hopefully unique way, often on the first few pages or at least during the first chapter. They feel a pull toward each other. Sometimes they’re attracted by good looks, or they’re impressed by a kind or heroic action that heightens their emotions toward the other person.

Sometimes they’ve met before and have strong, unresolved feelings about something that happened between them in the past. Their feelings might be positive or negative. Sometimes people instantly dislike each other even though they’re strangers. I think the opposite can be true, too.

But there should be a spark of some sort when they meet because we definitely don’t want the hero and heroine to find each other forgettable. They need to stay on each other’s mind even when they’re not together. They’re relationship is the real reason for the story. It took me a long time to figure that out!

After the couple meets, the romance really begins. Then they’re drawn together through attraction and later love, and then they’re wrenched apart because of obstacles in their path. These barriers cause them to stumble and fall.

I’ve noticed in a lot of romance stories the couple is at odds with each other soon after they meet. They start arguing about an issue that’s important to them. The conflict should never center around a trivial matter because the reader won’t feel compelled to continue. Who wants to read about two people disagreeing over which brand of coffee to buy? (Okay, a married couple might bicker over coffee, but not a man and a woman on the brink of a promising love relationship.)

Their sparring should concern something worth fighting about. The environmentalist verses the developer or the vintner verses a crusader for prohibition have strong, differing opinions that they won’t change — at least not until the end after a lot of soul searching and compromising. Start the hero and heroine on two different sides of an issue and find a unique hook that will keep them apart despite their attraction to each other. A strong external conflict will keep the reader turning the pages.

Conflict sounds like the great way to start a story and it often is.

But what if your story doesn’t lend itself to an immediate clash of goals or personalities?

In some romances the couple fall in love right at the start without major barriers to drive them apart. They have fun, discover they share similar values, backgrounds, interests etc. They’re on the fast track toward love and marriage because so many things bring them together.

Many of the couples I’ve known who have had a successful relationship that ended in marriage didn’t face major problems beforehand. They fell head over heels in love and basked in the glow of their romance. The old saying love is blind means just that: the two lovebirds don’t see each other clearly. They gloss over each other’s faults and recognize only virtues.

However, romance without problems to overcome won’t make for a great story. It’ll be downright boring. In a book the hero and heroine can’t be speeding along or the story will end too soon.

At some point they need barriers to slow them down, both external and internal. Their love must be tested and through these difficult situations they’ll grow and develop as characters and learn to deal with the problems that prevent from getting together.

But at what point does this happen? That depends on the story. The writer has to decide when to throw obstacles in the way of the romance.

Personally, I think trouble should erupt or at least be strongly hinted at by the middle of the book. Some writers say smooth sailing can continue nearly to the end. To keep the story interesting the reader must see hints of trouble looming ahead. Those hints need to create enough tension about the future to keep the reader turning pages.

In You’ve Got Mail the hero and heroine fall for each other online without knowing they’re opponents in real life. There’s still tension since they don’t know the entire truth about each other but the viewers do. The audience anticipates fireworks in the future and that keeps them glued to the screen.

Where do you think obstacles should start to disrupt the romance? In the beginning or a little later? Any reason for one preference over the other?

Please leave your name and e-mail address if you’d like to be in the running for a $15.00 gift certificate from Starbucks, my favorite coffee shop.

Have a cappuccino and a croissant and have a wonderful day!