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@joy-caroline
I actually don’t write out of chronological order. I kind of have to follow the story from beginning to end, because I feel like I maintain the natural progression/momentum of the story better that way. Then I go back and edit however much I want, and that’s when I jump from scene to scene out of chronological order. I’m also a bit of a pantser though, so I feel like if you’re a plotter it would be easier for you to pick and choose which scenes you want to write from the plot that you already have all laid out in your mind.
While some articles can be helpful, I definitely wouldn’t take all their advice. When I just started writing, I spent so much time getting extremely discouraged by reading articles where people tell you how you must write because that’s how it works for them, but that’s not how it worked for me. It was freeing for me to read Ray Bradbury’s Zen in the Art of Writing because it helped me realize there isn’t only one way to write. The best way to write is the way that gets your story across in the manner that connects most with the reader, in my opinion.
@joy-caroline
I totally feel this struggle. I have rewritten so many chapters, especially opening ones, because I’m almost never satisfied with chapters that I’ve written. Opening ones can be so difficult because you’re juggling introducing the book’s themes, characters, and conflicts all at once in a way that’s memorable, satisfying, and intriguing enough to keep the reader hooked.
Something I like to think about when I think of opening chapters are TV shows. The first few episodes of a TV show are like chapters—some can pull you in right away, and with others, you kinda have to rely on the good word of your friends to inspire you to keep watching to the good parts.
One of my all time favorite shows is Avatar: The Last Airbender. The writing is just amazing. I don’t know if you’ve seen it, but I think it’ll still be useful as a vague example haha
In the first few episodes of the show, the characters are introduced, and through their dialogue and actions, several things are revealed: the important themes of the show, the character relationships, and the conflicts in the story, some conflicts that will later come full circle (like Aang, the MC, always trying to choose the most peaceful way out of a fight even in episode 1, which becomes a huge problem when he’s preparing to fight the villain at the end of the story in volume 3). The characterizations feel vivid, and because of that, the conflict of the story is rooted in characters the audience already has the opportunity to care deeply about. Showing these vividly realized, sympathetic characters in difficult situations immediately makes the conflicts and the whole plot feel more important and satisfying to the audience.
I suggest a few things: maybe try to find ways to insert problems that will later come full circle in an important way, a Chekhov’s gun situation, if you will (like Aang’s pacifism). That way, the foreshadowing might help give your first chapters that extra satisfying kick.
Another thing to do might be to find ways to amplify your characters’ personalities and struggles in those first chapters. Whenever I’ve found that a chapter felt hollow, it’s usually because I’m not feeling very connected to the characters or their relationships and find their struggles hard to sympathize with. Sometimes, if I can’t tell who’s who, I’m so confused that my connection to the story drops lol, especially when reading my own work.
Double check to make sure that everything in the plot in those chapters is making sense and/or absolutely purposeful, in one way or another. This might just be me, but sometimes, I go back and realize that something feels dissatisfying in a chapter, and then I realize that it’s because I stuffed the chapter with content that has nothing to do with furthering the plot/character development, OR my plot failed in some way and there’s something that doesn’t make sense about it.
Finally, I’d check to make sure that each chapter starts off with a solid hook, and ends with a cliffhanger appropriate to the chapter’s content. Meaning, not necessarily something super dramatic, but something that gives the reader a sense of urgency about finding out what happens next, like an unanswered question or anticipation of a new, dangerous conflict.
If you’ve read this long…thanks for reading! lol I hope this is helpful to somebody. These are just some things I keep in mind for myself when I’m revising.
@lydia-s Thanks for chiming in anyway! XD
@devastate-lasting Thank you so much! I know you have a lot of experience with online publishing, so I’m really glad you wrote an article about it.@joy-caroline I think something to consider is what theme you’d like this character to represent, and then working with that. So if your themes are love and faith, maybe finding a way for this character to struggle with one of those things. An estranged family member they have to reconcile with, and demonstrate love? A health crisis they have to learn to have faith through? A promise they made years ago that they’re wondering if they should be true to for the sake of old relationships, even if the promise is beginning to make them go against their morals?
Another thing is to look at how they became so wise. What problems did they struggle with that made them capable of giving out such good advice? What problems are they struggling with now, and are they the same problems?
Hope this helps! XD good luck with your characters!
@trahia-the-minstrel Ahh girl that’s SO exciting!! Congratulations! The site looks great, it seems like you’ve put a lot of work into making it so nice. I’ll definitely be signing up for your newsletter! I’m so excited to hear more about all your artistic work!
Oooh thanks for sharing!! How exciting!
@joy-caroline Yay! A WIP chat (that I’m super late to! Sorry)! And I’m so excited for WFR 🙂
I’m about halfway through the first draft of a story my sister and I have been working on for years. Technically, this is around the third or fourth time we’ve tried to write it, but this is the new first draft of a freshly re-plotted version of the story and we both love it so far, which is great because usually around the halfway point we start to hate it and notice all the glaring plot holes haha. I’m so excited for this story, it’s been such a labor of love for years. My favorite part about it is the kind of enemies-to-friends thing we have going with the main characters. I love iconic duos and I hope our two POV leading ladies will end up being up there with the greats!
Haha no, definitely not weird!! I love thinking of my stories as a movie, which is kind of similar. I’ve actually taken some directing/filmmaking classes online because of this…but that might also just be because I love movies and visual storytelling XD
@trahia-the-minstrel I’m so late!! My notifications haven’t been working on KP, apparently…
I love your covers! The compositions are great and the details are so cool! It’s super hard making a good cover…I don’t have any for my WIPs at the moment but when I do I’ll put them up here. This is such a cool idea and space to share our covers! 🙂
I love this poem! I think it’s beautiful and emotional, perfect for a captive to sing.
@annabelle Sure thing! And that’s so cool about all the fashion stuff. Your story sounds really interesting!
I totally get that about Psalms. It is poetic and emotional, I really like it for that reason.
It’s so nice to meet you! Hope to see you around the forums 🙂
@annabelle Hey there! Welcome to the Kingdom! My name is Jodi. I write fantasy, historical fiction, and dystopia. I’ve been doing one short story a month for about the past eight months, but I’ve recently started working on a novella-length project. I’m also co-writing a fantasy/mystery book with my sister.
That’s so cool that you’re about to publish a book! If you ever need a beta reader or anything, please let me know. I love beta reading stories and helping out other authors!
I love fashion design! Do you also do research on like the history of fashion, or are you mostly focused on modern styles?
My favorite books in the Bible are Ecclesiastes and Esther. I find Ecclesiastes reassuring and comforting, though it initially seems…despairing, maybe? and Esther is such an inspiring story. I love the VeggieTales take on Esther lol. What makes Psalms your favorite book?
I’ll definitely be checking out your blog. Welcome again! 🙂
@kathleenramm Many, many things. I wish I’d known how to format dialogue properly, I wish I’d known that I didn’t need to follow every single piece of writing advice I’d ever seen to the letter, and most importantly, I wish I’d realized that characters are what make a story interesting. Plot does as well, but it is secondary to the emotional pull and internal conflict of the characters. Plot arises out of the choices of characters, so interesting characters are the place to start, in my opinion. I know maybe not every writer would agree with that statement, but either way, that realization helped me become a better and more confident writer, so I wish I’d known it sooner.
@avacoulter Nice! My favorite Avenger is definitely Iron Man, but I also love Spider-Man 🙂
@avacoulter Thank you!! It’s fun to write with her, we’ve been writing together for years but have never published anything together. Hopefully this project will be the one! That’s cool that you have so many siblings! I have three of them myself 🙂 If you ever need another beta reader, feel free to let me know! I’d be happy to help 😀
Yeah it’s super nice to write short stories, I used to not want to write them but I decided to do it as a way to practice writing so I could get better at it without the pressure of writing and editing huge, long projects haha