Writing a killer Chapter One

If you're serious about writing--and succeeding with it--you know the first things that I reader looks at is the cover, title, blurbs, back description, etc.  But before you even get to that point, you have to pass the trials of editors, agents, and publishers.  And how you do that is with a really grabbing first sentence--and a killer Chapter One.

Today while getting lost in internet links and following the long line of suggestions deeper into the abyss, I stumbled on an article high lighting eight ways to write Chapter One Amazing.  I hope you find as much food for thought as I did; I can never find enough suggestions to improve my writing.

http://www.writersdigest.com/article/8-ways-to-write-a-5-star-chapter-one/

Happy writing!

My Muse has ADHD

Some authors can actually visualize their Muses: male, female, short, tall—all that good stuff.  I can’t.  My muse is a dark silhouette that dashes around the labyrinth of my mind and shifts shape and form constantly.  I’m fine with that, as long as it guides me straight, it can be a crow for all I care. 

So, a little while back a friend gave me the good advice of settling on 20 stories out of the hundreds I’ve started and dedicate myself to those 20.  Those 20 will be the ones I fight alongside until the end (publication, hopefully).  The list turned out to be 22 (including 2 manuscripts I’d already completed minus editing) and today it hit 23.  Why?  Because my Muse is ADHD.  Really. 

Most people can focus on one story and dedicate themselves to it….much like a relationship.  Not me.  Usually I’m continuously working on at least three with several on the back burner (I’m very committed in relationships though—I would never cheat).  Today, my Muse (maybe I’ll call it Crow) flew to an old story idea—one that I started, got several pages in, built a rough skeleton outline, and then left.  Well, now, not only have I been thinking about that story all day, and hearing the hero's voice in my head commanding an introduction with the heroine who escaped him, but I’ve got characters and a skeletal storyline for book 2.  Really?  Really?!  As if I don’t have enough characters in my mental army.  22—23 stories, each with a minimum of 2 characters (math is not my strong suit—bear with me!) puts me with about 46 made up people marching through my mind more or less on a daily basis. 

I may go insane before the end. 

Writing Tools, Galore

I don't exactly have my ear to the ground about anything.  I'm a junior in college, I'm trying to juggle writing, classes, working.  I'm an editor on my school's literary journal, I've been researching a summer writing institute that's oddly named after my MC (a sign??), picking workshops for NH Writers' Day....I've been crazy busy.  But on top of all of that, I've also been trying to pick back up on Twitter, Blogging (I started an account with Tumblr) and I'm told to check out WordPress.

Here's the thing.  As soon as I start again, I get overwhelmed.  There are so many links, so many suggestions, and I know I can't just pick one thing and stick with that--one isn't enough.  I need a better balance.  Blog daily, blog often.  Tweet multiple times through the day.  Check these sites out.  Write. 

Obviously these are all invaluable tools in the writing industry.  But I don't know how to use most of them.  Writing is like war, I can't stop, I have to keep moving forward, even when I feel like I'm just flailing through it. 

Anyone feel like sharing what works for them?

My WORST Writer's Block Experience

Over a month since my last post....I'm a terrible person.  Worse than ignoring my blog--I've been ignoring my writing.  Although, technically, it wasn't something I did willingly.  First I had finals, final projects, final reports--and then I had the worst writer's block of my life--and it has persisted for the past month!!

So much wasted time!

I once heard that an author only gets writer's blcok if s/he hasn't thought enough about their story.  I used to agree with that one hundred percent and thought that was some of the best advice I'd ever been given.  I'd take a step back from my laptop, collect a notebook and pen, go sit in a rocking chair outside or find a place inside that's quiet, and then I'd brainstorm.  I would fill up several pages and race upstairs to flesh it out. 

Well, it didn't work this time.  I sat and sat and sat and wrote nothing.  I finally tried switching the story I was working on to see if that helped.  It didn't.  I tried switching genres and tried going back to an old western romance I was playing with a couple years back.  Nothing.  I couldn't write a poem--I couldn't even read a book!!  As habit, I turned on my laptop every morning, opened up my manuscript, and an unproductive half hour later, I closed the program and shut the laptop down. 

Oh I fought, believe me when I said that I fought.  But my characters' voices faded from my thoughts and I was left alone.  As a result, I have spent the last month in a daze.  A writer writes--always--and I couldn't do that.  Literally, couldn't.  In this past month, I've managed to write a shitty total of maybe 13 pages of random stuff. 

I have The Summoner's Fallen Guardian open and ready.  The fact that I was able to write this post gives me hope that the block is relenting and I can return to my story.  I'm bloody well going to keep trying!  I'm a very stubborn person.  I figure that with the start of the New Year approaching, things have to reset, and I'll soon by typing like a crazy person again.