In our digital world, the concept of perusing bookshelves has taken on a whole new dimension. While brick and mortar bookshops still exist, they are closing at a rate faster than real estate agents can post their For Lease signs. These days the majority of readers surf the web and online bookstores for new releases and old favorites, a place where they can 'take a look inside' at the teasers and sample chapters authors have posted, and have email reminders sent with new releases and promotions.
Yet, however much the physical act of perusing bookshelves has changed, the process readers employ in deciding on which books they'll spend their hard earned money has intrinsically stayed the same. With the exception of Amazon's free reads program that is all the rage now, for the most part, books are still picked up, flipped through and examined before being purchased.
So what lures a reader in? What is it that entices them to pick up your book and scan it? In the world of publishing, there are varying answers, in varying order...a provocative cover, endorsements from other well-known authors, glowing reviews, marketing, social networking, price... But I would be my next royalty check, editors abound who would all agree it's the hook. That more than anything else, it's those first few beginning paragraphs/pages and intriguing back cover blurb that seal the deal.
Since "Beginnings" is our topic for the month of March, I thought it apropos to talk about how one crafts the beginning of a story. Of course, it all starts with an idea. Some inspiring thought, dream or experience that takes root in our fertile imagination and grows from there. But that's not the beginning I'm talking about. I mean, once the idea for a story has formed, and you're sitting with your hands poised over your keyboard, how do you get from staring at a blinking cursor on a blank page to those first all important words?
I have to chuckle, because the first thought that popped into my mind as I asked the question was the phrase, lather, rinse and repeat. I don't mean I suds it up before I sit down to write, but I will invariably write, read, delete and then repeat the process until the words in front of me not only sound right, but feel right. Most authors I know, write from their gut. Their stories, like mine, aren't formulaic. They have a life of their own, as do their characters, and when you live a character's life through your words, you have to feel the truth of it...viscerally. To sane people, that sounds more than a little crazy. But to writers (and artists of any kind) it makes perfect sense.
How many of us get to the end of our stories, type the coveted words The End, and then go back and reread the opening few paragraphs of Chapter One and tweak them? I know I do.
But what's the best way to write a good hook? Should you begin with dialogue, plunging your reader straight into the mix? What about prologues full of description and back story? Are you a fan of starting your hook in that way? I think there are as many right answers as there are different authors. It all has to do with style and voice. I myself have done it with dialogue, and I've also done it with full bodied description, pages before I got into any real dialogue...both equally successful and both putting the reader right into the story. So, what's your style? How do you hook your readers into wanting to hear your voice tell your story?
I'd love to know...
Marianne Morea
Showing posts with label perseverance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label perseverance. Show all posts
Monday, March 26, 2012
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Show me the love.... please!
February is, at least for me, usually a feel good kind of a month. There's Valentine's Day, and Spring is on the horizon... but this year, it was a little harder than usual to muster up the warm fuzzies.
It seems everywhere I go these days, I come into contact with the reign of snarkdom. Have people just forgotten the basic rule of "treat others the way you want to be treated"... or my mother's favorite, "if you don't have anything nice to say don't say anything at all?"
It seems this way of thinking has become pervasive, from impatience on supermarket checkout lines, to the mean spirited dialogue written for characters on TV, to the God-awful comments people leave anonymously on the internet.
I spend my days creating characters that are independent and strong, yet still compassionate. I pour myself into how I craft their natures, developing them into 3-dimensional characters, tested and pushed, but still finding the strength within to hold onto their humanity. But in the real world, lately, I've had a hard time convincing myself that goodwill isn't dead and buried somewhere under a headstone that reads, "Here lies the Golden Rule." That the strength of character I try to instill in the characters I create, is but an illusion that no longer exists.
People will say, "Well, you're from New York, what did you expect to find...please, excuse me and thank you?" But this isn't something limited to my cynical city. It's all over, and I really don't know what to do about it. What's worse, is I see it popping up in the schools my children attend, in the way the kids speak to each another. Of course, the reason why is they're mimicking what they hear and see around them and on TV.
As a society, have we become so soulless that our idea of humor is so entrenched in the self-serving, that the lines between mean and funny are forever blurred? And where is it written that it's acceptable to leave non-substantive yet hurtful commentary all over the internet, and that today it's not only expected, it's considered downright cool?
Part of me cringes inwardly because I know I sound like our grandparents back in the day, when they tried to protest that Rock-n-Roll Rubbish as they called it. But in this case, it I don't think it's so much a shift in freedom of expression as much as it's a blatant disregard for common respect, consideration and right vs. wrong.
Some argue that it's fallout from not enough accountability and too much entitlement. And while I don't know about that, I do believe the warning signs are flashing red, especially when in places like Cincinnati, Ohio, school districts have to bribe students with gift cards to get them to attend school.
Perhaps it's not as bad as my experiences this past month have made it seem, and there are people out there who still believe you go farther with a kind word than a nasty one, and that a job well done is worth the effort you have to put in. One can only hope. At least that's what I keep telling myself.
Marianne Morea
It seems everywhere I go these days, I come into contact with the reign of snarkdom. Have people just forgotten the basic rule of "treat others the way you want to be treated"... or my mother's favorite, "if you don't have anything nice to say don't say anything at all?"
It seems this way of thinking has become pervasive, from impatience on supermarket checkout lines, to the mean spirited dialogue written for characters on TV, to the God-awful comments people leave anonymously on the internet.
I spend my days creating characters that are independent and strong, yet still compassionate. I pour myself into how I craft their natures, developing them into 3-dimensional characters, tested and pushed, but still finding the strength within to hold onto their humanity. But in the real world, lately, I've had a hard time convincing myself that goodwill isn't dead and buried somewhere under a headstone that reads, "Here lies the Golden Rule." That the strength of character I try to instill in the characters I create, is but an illusion that no longer exists.
People will say, "Well, you're from New York, what did you expect to find...please, excuse me and thank you?" But this isn't something limited to my cynical city. It's all over, and I really don't know what to do about it. What's worse, is I see it popping up in the schools my children attend, in the way the kids speak to each another. Of course, the reason why is they're mimicking what they hear and see around them and on TV.
As a society, have we become so soulless that our idea of humor is so entrenched in the self-serving, that the lines between mean and funny are forever blurred? And where is it written that it's acceptable to leave non-substantive yet hurtful commentary all over the internet, and that today it's not only expected, it's considered downright cool?
Part of me cringes inwardly because I know I sound like our grandparents back in the day, when they tried to protest that Rock-n-Roll Rubbish as they called it. But in this case, it I don't think it's so much a shift in freedom of expression as much as it's a blatant disregard for common respect, consideration and right vs. wrong.
Some argue that it's fallout from not enough accountability and too much entitlement. And while I don't know about that, I do believe the warning signs are flashing red, especially when in places like Cincinnati, Ohio, school districts have to bribe students with gift cards to get them to attend school.
Perhaps it's not as bad as my experiences this past month have made it seem, and there are people out there who still believe you go farther with a kind word than a nasty one, and that a job well done is worth the effort you have to put in. One can only hope. At least that's what I keep telling myself.
Marianne Morea
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)