Chapter 1 completed for the moment
It's all very strange. Normally I rattle off a story at top speed,
often producing in excess of 8,000 words a day. The writing is
dire, of course, but the ideas are on screen for me to edit. I
expect to edit a story something like 20 times before publication,
with each chapter being edited several times within one edit, if
you see what I mean.
But this time I find myself editing as I go. It has taken three days to feel mostly satisfied with the opening chapter. Not that I am writing all day. I am also a craftswoman and have some orders that need to be honoured, and for the next fortnight, I will be distracted by Wimbledon, starting with Laura Robson at midday when she steps out onto the brand new court number two.
What has my first chapter achieved? Well, Q and C are the stars of the show. I have not attempted to describe them as yet. The reader doesn't know if they are tall or short or dark or fair. What the reader has learned is how they are feeling and their very different life-styles. As yet, they have not met. The trick has been to tell two stories without one story getting in the way of the other. I don't think it's quite right yet, but it will do for now.
I have made Q and C's feelings etc part of the action, just as their appearance will be when it is appropriate. I try to avoid passive writing. As Chekhov said, “Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.”
For the moment, the reader has met both Q and C. Vaguely similar unsettling events that turn quite scary by the end of the chapter are happening to each. These events are not frightening for the reader. I am not writing a Thriller, I am writing an adventure story for youngsters. At this stage, the fear is for the characters to feel. By the end of Chapter one, the reader will be intrigued as well as concerned for the welfare of Q and C. I have left them both in very difficult situations.
But this time I find myself editing as I go. It has taken three days to feel mostly satisfied with the opening chapter. Not that I am writing all day. I am also a craftswoman and have some orders that need to be honoured, and for the next fortnight, I will be distracted by Wimbledon, starting with Laura Robson at midday when she steps out onto the brand new court number two.
What has my first chapter achieved? Well, Q and C are the stars of the show. I have not attempted to describe them as yet. The reader doesn't know if they are tall or short or dark or fair. What the reader has learned is how they are feeling and their very different life-styles. As yet, they have not met. The trick has been to tell two stories without one story getting in the way of the other. I don't think it's quite right yet, but it will do for now.
I have made Q and C's feelings etc part of the action, just as their appearance will be when it is appropriate. I try to avoid passive writing. As Chekhov said, “Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.”
For the moment, the reader has met both Q and C. Vaguely similar unsettling events that turn quite scary by the end of the chapter are happening to each. These events are not frightening for the reader. I am not writing a Thriller, I am writing an adventure story for youngsters. At this stage, the fear is for the characters to feel. By the end of Chapter one, the reader will be intrigued as well as concerned for the welfare of Q and C. I have left them both in very difficult situations.
6 Comments
SecretSpi, I am beginning to think your really are what you claim to be as I see you don't have your age up in your profile. How did you manage that? I don't mind people knowing that I am 56, but I don't want to be defined as 56 and so I'd like to take it down, but I have completely failed. Could the secret spy let me in on part of her world and tell me how to go about it?
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