Ten Mistakes that New Writers Make.

I've had to read several books by new authors recently and I've found that there are newbie mistakes that make me want to put the book down in the first chapter.

So I thought I'd share Rhys's Ten No-nos for opening chapters:

1. Don't introduce too many characters at once. We can't take in too many names and descriptions.

2.  Don't give characters similar sounding names. If there is a Joan and a Jean in the room, I'll get them mixed up. If possible don't have names starting with the same letter.

3: Don't feel a need to describe everyone in the scene. It gets boring and overwhelming if we are told that a tall, distinguished gray haired man is talking to a short, red-headed, pudgy man. If the description is important then give us the sentence. If age and relationship don't come out through dialog, then do mention them. I like to know that Sarah is Isobel's mother and not her friend. But this can be done so easily through dialog. "Really, Mother, you're always criticizing."

4;Set the scene well so that we know where we are

5. Make it clear who is speaking, especially at the beginning of a book before we are familiar with the characters.

6: Make sure something happens in the first chapter. I don't mean that we need a dead body sprawled in the first paragraph but the reader has to have a reason to keep reading. I was once given an unpublished book in which the protagonist arrives at his mother's house, chats, has tea, goes to play tennis with her, in the midst of which she says "By the way dear, someone has kidnapped your father." Needless to say this book was never published!

7. Don't interrupt action to give us backstory. If there are things about the character's past that we need to know you can slip in a tantalizing line if you have to but save the details for later. It's more exciting that way.

8. Don't interrupt action to give us a personal description. Someone chasing a kidnapper is not likely to stop, look in a mirror and notice that her face was oval shaped.

9. Don't feel that you have to tell us everything right away. Think of a real life party. You meet someone... you get a first impression of them. They may reveal a fact or two about themself. You may overhear someone saying, "Such a pity about Sylvia." And you are intrigued. You may not find out about Sylvia until much later.

10: Don't start with "It was a dark and stormy night."  Unless the weather is going to play a major role in your story find another way to start the book. Readers today are impatient. They need to be hooked right away, so work extra hard on that first paragraph.

Inspiration from an elephant.

 We writers are always being asked where we get our ideas from. My answer will be forever more simple. FROM AN ELEPHANT.

This is my advisory elephant. He was given to me for Christmas by my daughter Clare who said, "he is supposed to sit by your computer and give you inspiration when you get stuck in a book."
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My other kids picked up on this immediately.
"He'd say 'how about if she was murdered by being sat on by ane elephant?'
How about if an elephnat tailed him through the city?
How about if it was a trunk call?
How about if it's part of a Mammoth Book of mysteries?

Okay they were all silly, but you know, I am finding that he is very wise in his suggestions. Mostly he says 'if it's not working now, go and take a walk. Or go shopping. It will come to you on the way back.' And you know, it does.

I am definitely a seat-of-the-panter when it comes to writing. No outline for me. Not even a story line to follow. I really don't know what is going to happen to my heroine next. I know a little, mostly about the environment she will enter. For example in the new Molly book, HUSH NOW DON'T YOU CRY, I knew that Molly would uncover some dark secret about a family at one of the Newport 'cottages'. I also had an image in my mind of a child's face in a tower window, laughing demonicly in a thunderstorm  So I start with that and stumble ahead.

So it's very comforting now to know there is an elephant sitting nearby who will come to my aid. Only one thing wrong--I haven't managed to name him yet. Any suggestions? Actually I've been waiting for him to tell me but he is inclined to be shy.....
What's that ? No, elephant, they are not going to hide the body in a trunk.

Where the Heck am I going?

Celebrate with me--I've just reached the stage in my new book when the end is in sight--I can see where the story is going and I KNOW I'LL BE ABLE TO FINISH IT!! Heavy sigh of relief.

Every book is the same tortured process--panic at beginning, worry until about page 150 then gathering momentum on the downhill slope to the finish line.
All this could be avoided if I could just outline the story in advance.

The problem is that I can't. I've tried. I can come up with a reasonably good outline for a story BUT it would be nothing like the story I'd end up with if I just let the book grow and develop. And if I had an outline, I'd feel obliged to follow it. Hence the book would not be as good.

Luckily I have wonderful editors who trust that I'll be able to come up with a book in the required length of time and don't demand to see a proposal. If they did want one it would say "she finds a body and then bad things happen to her."

So I have to let my characters stumble through their world, having things happen to them, meeting people I haven't anticipated, finding bodies where I least expected them and in the end it turns out that my characters (or is it my subconscious) knew pretty well where we were going.

Today on Jungle Red Writers , the group blog I belong to, mystery icon Carolyn Hart blogs about exactly this. She can't outline either... and you know, I don't think she's done too badly outlineless.

I hope to finish my first draft by the beginning of April. I'll keep you posted!