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Joanna was previously a creative writing
instructor at New Orleans Metropolitan College and is
available to give writing workshops on a variety of
topics including her popular all-day workshop, From
Ho-Hum to Sparkling. The focus is on bringing your manuscript
to life and attracting an editor’s attention. Her schedule
books up fast, but for more information, you can contact
her at Joanna@joannawayne.com.
Lesson Two
Where to Begin
In commercial fiction romantic
suspense, it’s important to hook the reader immediately.
By hook, I’m not referring to a trick or even to the
usual hooks that editors think of – though we will discuss
those in a future lesson. By hooking the reader, I’m
talking of getting reader interest with the meat of
the plot, the developing situation that will be the
backbone of your novel. Not that you should reveal the
entirety of your plot, but you need to fuel it.
For example, in Point Blank
Protector, the prologue begins with this sentence: The
night was pitch-black when Kali Cooper stepped out of
her mud-encrusted Jeep to open the gate to the Silver
Spurs Ranch. During the short prologue, we discover
that she has just arrived at a ranch that she has inherited
with the stipulation that she lives on it for one full
year. We also discover that the ranch is isolated. The
last sentence of the prologue is the hook, the jumping
off point for the story.
Last sentence: One look inside
and she knew the blood was real.
Thus, we know that her living
on the ranch is going to involve danger. The hook is
not just a clever technique for grabbing the reader’s
attention. It is the promise of the story. From this
point on, the writer is expected to deliver a story
that takes the reader to the pinnacle of suspense before
providing a satisfactory conclusion.
Other than grabbing the reader,
there are several other things that should be accomplished
in the beginning of the story. I’ll demonstrate these
by going back to the prologue for Point Blank Protector.
Set the scene – The reader comes
to the first page with a few expectations, but no real
feel for the story. You must place them into the story.
Note that in that first sentence, I said we were at
the Silver Spurs ranch. This gives the reader a feel
for setting from the onset. I further use descriptive
phrases within the action that give added dimension
to the setting.
Set the mood – The beginning
of the story should set the mood. This is not to say
that you can’t have humor or lighter moments in a suspenseful
story, but by the end of the first scene, it should
be perfectly clear that this is a suspense. Some of
the words and phrases I use to build the tone early-on
are: pitch-black, lightning cut a jagged scar, Wings
fluttered above her and something rustled in the grass,
An eerie uneasiness crept along her nerve endings, the
closest ranch…was over a mile away, ghostly glow of
the headlights, stream of crimson spilling out the door.
Identify the characters on scene
- Note that in the first sentence I gave Kali’s full
name. In addition, other facts stated about Kali in
the prologue include: She really wants the ranch. She
has been in a court battle to take possession. She inherited
the ranch from her grandfather. She had a crush on Zach
Collingsworth fifteen years ago, and she does not want
to repeat that. Not stated but insinuated: She is single.
She is a very determined person.
You will also note that the
prologue ties her to the Collingsworths whom the entire
Colts Run Cross series is about.
One of the main things to focus
on when deciding where to start the story is status
quo. The book begins where status quo stops. The status
quo exists when things are going along as normal – whether
good or bad. When something happens to throw the status
quo off, that’s where your story begins. The status
quo for Kali changed when she moved to the Texas ranch
and became involved with a killer. That’s not to say
you don’t need any backstory, but that must come later.
Think of it this way: The reader does not know the main
character when the story begins, so weighing them down
with backstory that explains what makes her – or him
- tick, is a real drag. Give that information-if actually
needed-after the reader has bonded with the character
and actually cares .
So to reiterate, the beginning
of the story should:
- Hook the reader from the
very first with something vital to the story.
- Begin the story where the
status quo stops.
- Set the tone.
- Place the reader into the
setting.
- Identify the character (s)
in the scene.
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