Those Darn First Pages

Since there's no post here today, I thought I'd talk about my experiences with the first 3 pages of every story I write. An editor told me once that if she wasn't interested in a mss by page three she read no further. On my own blog I just did a bit about the synopsis and hints to writing it but I've been struggling with the first three pages since I began writing in the dark ages. I figure I've re-started the first three pages on my many manuscripts enough times that I could have completed at least 20 more novels - the long ones above 80,000 words. Maybe I exaggerate but it seems that way. My last attempt in a story I'm finishing got me to chapter 3 and fizzled. So I tried the opening again and again. What finally hit me was that I'd started with the wrong chapter. Tore up all those pages. Actually deleted them and began anew. Started with the heroine and after the funeral. Wonderful thing happened. In less than four weeks I had the entire thing written. Now it's a novella but the last one I wrote took me two months. Finding the right character to open with is important. I'm about to begin another but I've no choice of character to begin the story since it's the fifth in a series and told first person so I must start with the heroine. What other things are important for the first three pages. Starting point. In the middle of the action is the best beginning. Or there is a moment before the action begins. The point where the character is thinking everything is wonderful, then a paragraph later bang. Another good point is a moment after the triggering event has happened. The character is now faced with how do I get out of this disaster. So that's the starting point. During the writing of the story, one has to look at things like what kind of story is this going to be. The tone needs to point to romance, mystery, fantasy. There's nothing that sets a reader off that to discover the story they're reading isn't what those first few pages promised. The setting needs to be established in a few short sentences. There should be hints as to what the character wants and to why they want it. This doesn't need to be spelled out in page after page. Just little hints. One thing to avoid is the backstory. I've been critiquing manuscripts of other writers for years and what always stops me cold is a long explanation of what happened to the character from birth to the present. Later in the story these facts can be woven in. What i usually say is the backstory is what the writer needs to know but the reader doesn't need all the gritty details. Since I'm about to start and tear up my first few pages a dozen or more times, I'll say good-bye and get to work.

Ginger Simpson Gets Real with Love Scenes

A few years back, I queried HQ on a short, historical story that I considered 'spicy.' I thought I was writing something really hot by using a few 'buzz' words here and there and trying to come up with something creative. When I shared the finished product with my friend, Phyllis, who IS the Queen of Steam,  she loved the story but said it wouldn't fly for the line I targeted. I know why!

 It's hard to be inventive. I realize there's a lot of ME in each of my stories, and I don't feel the least bit sexy...for reasons described on my own blog numerous times. If I truly wrote what my mind sees when I think about sex scenes, I highly doubt anyone would be swept away to anything but hysteria.

 Here's an example:

 Moonlight filtered through the venetian blinds and highlighted him as he disrobed. He pulled his shirt over his head, then shimmied out of his pants.

 Her breath hitched. When had his stomach gotten so huge?

OR

 His lips trailed upward, warming her neck. He nibbled at her earlobe then arched back and gazed upon her face. His mouth, a few inches from hers, he licked his lips and drew closer.

She recoiled and rolled away. "Geez, I told you not to have onions on that burger. You reek."

OR

 He entered her with a quick thrust. She gasped, feeling a sensation all too familiar. "God, get off me. Quick! I have a Charlie Horse in my left leg!"

OR...last but not least....

Tonight was the night he'd waited for. They hadn't made love for a month, and he was determined to make up for lost time. Maybe more romance was needed. He hadn't been all that passionate or attentive of late. The moment was right. The children were gone for the weekend and except for the two of them, the place was empty. Only  the flickering TV lit the room. He slithered off the couch and crawled toward her chair. She appeared deep in thought, lost in the movie she watched. He inched closer and, reaching her side, took her hand.

 She jumped, then smiled. "What are you doing down there?"

"Come on." He raised to one knee and searched for a sexy tone. "Come to bed with me. I want to show you how much I love you."

 She unfurled one leg from beneath her and placed a foot on the floor. Tears glistened in her eyes as she offered her hand.

He clasped palms with her and attempted to stand. A popping noise sliced the momentary silence between commercials. "Ow...my back!" He managed to get to his feet, but remained bent at the waist. With pain etched on his face, he hobbled to the couch and collapsed. "I guess we'll have to wait."

 She blotted her tears. "That's okay. My other leg's asleep and I can't get up anyhow."

****

 I think I'll stick to what I know I can do and leave the erotic and steamy writing to those who can handle it without laughing. *lol*

 Note: This is something I shared on my own blog back in 2008, so if you're one of the three people who viewed it...just consider it a TV re-run, something we're all used to seeing. Welcome to Books We Love. The title of the site says it all. I hope you'll check my BWL author's page and see if either or both of my books tickle your fancy.  Thanks for stopping by.

Don't Ignore Me!

~*~  Publisher’s Corner ~*~

By Jude Pittman

I have a day job, so a lot of the work I really love to do (publishing) gets squeezed in between the “must do firsts.”  As a member of the publishing team at Books We Love, I’m the formatting queen.  If a book comes out with off center headings and missing indents—I’m the one who receives the pointed finger. 

Most of the time this is a relatively simple chore – straightforward and not too different from the demands of my day job – except writers are generally a lot less stressful to work with than lawyers. 

There are, however, exceptions, and Amazon’s ever-changing Kindle evolutions is enough to make any sane word processor joining the folks at Jane Toombs’ Thirteen West residence. 

Of course my life inside Books We Love isn’t all formatting.  There are lots of little ups and downs to make my day.  Since we’ve gone primarily Amazon exclusive, we make it a point to closely monitor where the books are on the best seller lists, if our scheduled free books are actually showing up as we promised the readers of our official Books We Love Blog, BWLPP they would be on any particular day.  And if, as has happened a couple of times recently, the Amazonians who release the free books are either sleeping late or have forgotten us altogether, then it’s up to me to send an SOS and ask them what happened?  Sometimes I get an answer, and then sometimes I don’t.  But, at least they know we’re around and watching them.

Then there are the interviews of our authors appearing at various blogs and sites, I try to make it a point to pop over to the hosting Blog and read the interview – sometimes I even comment, but sometimes I just enjoy reading and letting others do the commenting.  Janet Lane Walters recently hosted Vijaya Schartz over on Eclectic Writer.  Definitely a “not to be missed” segment, especially for those of you who are entertaining the idea of writing your own book one day – or maybe even in the process.  Vijaya’s one of our most talented authors, and this interview is packed full of helpful tips and interesting ideas.

Of course, there are emails by the dozens – some days by the 10s of dozens.  We have a rule at Books We Love, no email goes unanswered for more than three days.  My biggest pet peeve, and the thing I hated the most about epublishers I have been with in the past, was being IGNORED. 

Never, in my entire working life, have I encountered an industry as Rude and Inconsiderate as the Publishing Industry, when it comes to replying to correspondence.  Books We Love is the exception.  If you have written to us and three days have passed with no response, then you need to be following up on your inquiry, because your email must be lost in cyberspace.  We have a rule.  I DO NOT CARE IF WE GET 1000 EMAILS A DAY.  If our business is so busy that we can’t answer an email in three days then we’re going to hire someone to answer the emails!

Ignoring email is just plain bad manners.  There is no excuse.  Deal with it folks.  If someone emails you, reply.  Tell them you’re too busy to give their matter consideration at the moment and you have diarized it for January 25, 2030, and will get back to them.  Tell them you don’t want to correspond with them by email any longer and request that they quit emailing you.  If they don’t quit write back and tell them you’ve added them to your SPAM filters (along with all those folks from Nigeria who keep trying to give you money) and you won’t receive anymore of their emails.  I don’t care what you do, but let’s try to improve Publishing’s Bad Reputation.  Just because the mega-corporations in New York got the idea that it made them look busy and hard to get if they ignored all their correspondence for months at a time, doesn’t mean we have to follow their example.  Hey, even lawyers – the subject of all those “KILL ALL THE LAWYERS” books, make it a point of answering their correspondence at least on a weekly basis, if not daily.

Happy Writing All, and Happy Answering emails.  

Jude