Starting in the Middle

It took me a little while to grasp the concept of starting my story in the middle. I mean the middle is in the middle, isn't it? However, the speaker of the workshop I was attending was a long time published writer, with hundreds of novels under her belt, so, I supposed I had better pay attention.

After that workshop I took a look at several novels I had written and the light bulb went on. I understood exactly what the speaker had meant. My stories were bogged down in the beginning with historical information about my plot and characters that would be better presented in another way. I was going to disclose the information as the story progressed.

In my novel Mogul, my story was bogged down in the beginning as I took my main character, Amanda, through a long journey from Pennsylvania to Tennessee. My readers were to travel with her every step of the way. Although I at first thought it was an exciting journey, I took a look at it from a different perspective and realized the trip itself was trivial, it was what happened on the journey and Amanda's feelings about it that mattered most. I decided to eliminate the trip south on paper and tell the facts that were important about the trip through Amanda's reflections later in the story.

I have had other stories where I have done much the same thing by cutting out lengthy sections of text and adding a bit of intrigue to the story as the historical facts are uncovered during the novel. This works well when no one really needs to know the facts in order for the story to move forward.

However, sometimes there is something that has happened in a character's life that has influenced them or been a huge part of why they are the person they have become. Again, there are times a little bit of information goes a long way.

In Eye of the Hurricane I reveal the main character's love not only for her children, but for the siblings they were named after. Other things happen that cause her to reflect on the loss of those siblings, and the guilt she felt because of that loss. As she deals with the guilt more of the past story is revealed.



I must add a few words of caution. Not every tidbit of historical information needs to be removed from the beginning of the story. Only you, the writer, can decide what you want to keep.

When you do decide to use other methods to make those revelations that are pertinent to the story, you should be careful not to bog your story down with flashbacks. I prefer to call them reflections, because to me a reflection is shorter than a flashback. Other methods may be through dialogue: a secret told in confidence or some sort of an interrogation. Other characters who know the history can also reveal parts of it.

There are also the tried and true dream/nightmare sequences. Again use them sparingly as they can come across as the ploy that they are. Recently I read a novel that used nightmares in a very effective way, by having each nightmare reveal just a little bit more information until the main character finally remembered the dark incident that had been causing the nightmares to begin with.

Whatever you decide, you are the writer, you are in control of your story. However, if you want the story published, you may need to take another objective look at it to decide how and where you want your story to begin. Remember, the beginning is where you grab your reader. If you bog them down with too much information and not enough plot, they just might not read past the first few pages.

As always, I wish you success and hope your writing brings you the joy mine has brought me.

Where to Ideas Come From?

My first instinct when responding to this question is to say that if you have run out of ideas, you may not be cut out to write fiction. Since I asked the question, that is hardly a fair response. In my case, as a writer, I have to focus on lassoing in my ideas. I have so many it is almost like being in a corral full of cattle hoping to pick out the best from the herd.

When I first started writing at around the age of 12, I wrote about nearly anything that came to mind. I still have some of those treasured stories. I keep them so I can have a good laugh now and then. That's not to say there are no accomplished 12 year old writers, it is just to say that my work needed work.

At the same time my ideas had yet to mature, and research had yet to be added to my repertoire of author's skills. My ideas had to grow as I grew, expand as I expanded . . . Wait! That's not how I wanted to say that. – Editing on the spot: I needed to explore new horizons so that my ideas could move on to new horizons. – Sounds much better, right?

In a nutshell, as I matured so did my ideas. For a while I allowed well intentioned, often "professionals," too much control of my work. Example: At a romance writers meeting I was once told if I couldn't write an eleven page love scene, I couldn't write romance. My friend, Wanda, who had joined me that day, and I both sat stunned, stuck on that comment. I remember nothing else from the session.

As we left that meeting it was a matter of which of us was going to be first to burst forth with some kind of comment on the subject. I recall only that Wanda, a SF writer, said something about trying to figure out how her characters with tentacles, claws, and whatnot were going to manage a love scene at all, much less for eleven pages. I think she also ran a human version by me where a man and woman both wearing braces were stuck in an elevator. They kiss, the braces get stuck; and quite possibly it would take eleven pages for them to get apart again.

Oh yes, Wanda has a great sense of humor. While I, on the other hand, was still in awe of an eleven page love scene. My only comment was something like, "I haven't heard of any man who can . . . " Perhaps it's best I leave the rest to your imagination and just say I began counting pages of love published love scenes after that and realized there was a reason they were called romance.

I quickly realized writing explicit love scenes was not for me. While I loved romance, I saw romance and sex as two different things. Sex might be the culmination of romance done properly, but that is not necessarily the case in every story.

I learned I had to write what was comfortable for me. So, while the chemistry between two people may produce heat, it does not always have to produce fire, if the two components are separated before that happens. Thus, in my case, I had discovered sexual tension, and I use it often.

Sorry, I digressed on that subject. Back on track, my ideas come from a variety of places, perhaps the most is life. However, since I live a fairly uninteresting life, the most exciting aspects of my plots come from other sources. I used to watch Oprah to get ideas for plots and characters. Even the news held an abundance of possibilities. I would even sit in a public place and just watch people, often conceiving a character on the spot. Warning: never follow the people you are watching. Today that is called stalking.

In an earlier article I mentioned researching locations for plots in my stories. That is not to say I have never traveled and gotten a plot. Some of my most interesting plots have come at the most surprising times. Like the time my husband and I traveled to a lovely B&B in Lewistown, PA, to attend our granddaughter's christening. That night as my husband and I explored our lovely accommodations The Pineapple Inn, was conceived. The novel is now available at Amazon in soft cover and e-book.

Also, I have many stories that have come from dreams. I have regretted the nights I have not had a pad and paper handy by my bed so I could jot down a great dream, only to have forgotten it before morning. In fact, if I remember correctly, Eye of the Hurricane came to me in a dream. That short story is included in my first This and That collection.

Last, ideas can come from nearly any source. Friends have told me things, and I have told them while I may change names, I keep no secrets. Not totally true, but it sounds good.

In answer to my original question, ideas can come from nearly any place. Harvesting them and turning them into great stories is what makes us writers. I hope your ideas are many, and your harvest is fruitful.

Reading, Riting and Rejection

Most writers were first readers. We allowed other writers to take us places we had never gone. They introduced us to characters that we loved, or loved to hate. Before long there were new characters, only these were forming inside our own heads.

There was only a choice of letting them die there, or helping them to grow and develop on paper, along with the plots that seemed to be part of their journey.

This is the journey of a story's life, from conception to happy ending. And although the ending in a story is not always happy, it is for the writer who has birthed their masterpiece and seen it through it growth and development.

Now it is time for that masterpiece to go out into the world. It is not an easy process, just as a parent knows, letting go of their child is not always easy. In fact, many writers before me have likened writing to parenthood.

And just like with parenthood, your babies sometimes return home again. It is our job, as parents and writers, to help our children, or manuscripts, to make the journey out of the nest once again. It is up to us to help prepare them.

Unfortunately, sometimes they keep returning. There was a movie about this I think was titled, "Failure to Launch", where the adult child refused to leave home. However, as writers we know we can't blame our manuscript for returning again and again.

A long time ago I was given an inspirational message I taped to the wall of my office. It said, "God answers prayer." The next few years, around it I taped up the rejection slips I had received until the wall was nearly filled with rejections. One day a writer friend came to visit and I allowed her the honor of entering my disaster zone – er, I mean my office. She didn't notice my mess. In fact, the only thing she noticed was my wall. She simply turned to me saying, "Maybe you are asking Him for the wrong thing."

Maybe I was. While my rejections were creating in me a determination to overcome, what I failed to remember that just sending, tweeking, and resending my manuscripts over and over again was not all that was needed. For my stories to grow into adults ready to leave the nest forever, I had to have the tools to prepare them for that journey.

I had to get off the cycle of riting and rejection. I needed to concentrate on reading and riting. I needed to eliminate the rejection. That meant reading the work of others published in the markets I had chosen as homes for my stories, just as a parent might help their child research the field they have chosen for their life work.

I also needed to read my own work as objectively as possible, and seek out others who would give me honest opinions about my stories. Preferably people who read similar work by other authors. I needed people who would not just put on a smile and tell me what they thought would make me feel good. I needed people who would give me their honest appraisal of my work, even if it hurt.

With this accomplished I was able to see what needed to be changed in my stories before they left home again. This time, hopefully for good. With the knowledge I'd gained and applied to my stories, there was a far better chance they would find a new home.

This worked for me. I am happy to say I took down the old rejection slips from my wall. They no longer inspired me. Yes, there were more, but I used them as tools not decorations. I'm happy to say that soon there were less and less of them.

I suggest beginning writers not allow rejections of their stories to be signs of failure. Yes, they can serve as items that strengthen your desire to never give up. But they must also serve as something deeper. They should inspire you to learn and grow, as they did me.

After all, I've grown since the beginning of this piece. I now can spell as well as advise. I'm ending with this, may you all know one good thing leads to another, especially with Reading, Writing and Acceptance.