Page 1

(It is important that the opening page sucks in your reader. There has to be a reason to turn the page.)

The alarm blasted from the right side of the bed on the side table. Monte raised his head from under the mound of covers to feel the cold on his face. He looked over at the cell phone that had been set to wake him up. He reached over to grab the phone. He could feel the coldness on his left hand as he turned the alarm off. The outside light peeked through the louver blinds partially open in front of the patio doors. He took a deep breath and sat up in bed.

He began to think about what he wanted to do and what really needed to be done. He usualy made a list of things to do, but he hadn't done that in advance. He slid out of the bed and went into the bathroom to get washed up so he could think clearly.
His life was changing, but he didn't know to what extent. Nothing seemed different. He was doing the same thing he had done for the last eleven months. He was not regretting the day and not resisting what was coming, but he wanted to deal with it in his own way.

He decided to get dressed and he would make his list while having breakfast. Monte fixed himself a bowl of cereal and sat at the dinning table. Just as he began to eat, his cell phone began to ring. He hesitated to answer the phone. He looked to see who was calling and by the fourth ring he decided to answer.

"Hello."
"Happy Birthday," the voice on the other end said.
"Thank you," Monte answered in a soft voice.
"How does it feel to be fifty?"
"Not very different from forty nine," he answered.
"Well I hope you have a great day. I didn't want you to think I had forgotten."
"Well, thanks again for calling."

Monte ended the call and began to eat his breakfast and thinking he shouldn't have answered the phone.

Are you ready to write?

When you are selecting a book, what is it that draws your attention? Is it the book jacket? The cover? The fact that its an author you are familiar with?
As a writer you have to answer these questions so that you can figure out what would make someone interested in reading your book. What audience are you trying to reach? Is your book for intellectuals? Is it of some importance to history? Is it fiction, or a memoir? What is it about your writing that stands out? What is the story that you are trying to tell that would make a reader want to pick up your book and not put it down?

After one has decided on characters then one has to select the setting. Where will the story take place. What is the time that the story takes place. Writing an outline helps the story flow. Select the characters that will kick off your story and see how it flows. Are you loving your characters? Is there any interest in what you are writing? Although most artists create for themselves, you have to keep in mind that if you want to sell a book or story, you have to reach others that are going to love the story as much as you do.

Start off with short stories and then you can string them along using the same characters providing you haven’t killed them off. If the stories work well together in no time you can set up chapters and you’ll have a book.

The number one rule about writing is to write what you know. Don’t try to write about a football team if you’ve never played football in your life. Don’t put a character in a court room if you’ve never stepped foot into a court room yourself.
Keep in mind that your readers can tell when something doesn’t work. If they’ve experienced it then they know if there is some truth in the story.

Every experience gets a little fabrication and embellishment, but don’t go overboard. Read your story as you go along to see how it reads. Then get yourself someone that knows books and get them to read it and tell you if something needs to go or be added. Even the best proof reader makes mistakes and don’t count on your word processor to find mistakes because punctuation and certain words aren’t always in the memory.
Look at the books that you like to read and see how they come together. You don’t want to copy someone’s style, but you can get tips from what you like to create your own way of writing.

Next up Page 1.

Thanks for stopping by, Do come again and why not become a follower of this blog while you’re here. Open Your Mind. Relax, enjoy and believe.

Character development

When I begin to write, I have an idea of what I would like to happen to my characters. I have a tendency of creating a lot of characters, but just as in real life, some only have a cameo appearance. Still if that person is crucial to the story or its a character I would like to develop further then I create a bio.
I make a list of my characters, ages, race, occupation, and just like you create your outline for the story, you create an outline of who has a connection with whom.

You can use a note book or if you're using a computer you can put the info there. I find it best if you put the characters in first that way you don't have to scroll back to the top of the page. You can also put them in a different document and open that window for reference.

Another thing I've done recently is to take images from magazines to bring my characters to life. It helps with descriptions and remembering if a character has any disguishing marks that are crucial in the development of the story. You don't want your character to have blonde hair in one chapter and be a brunette in another unless you clarify that the character decided to get a new look.
Same goes for height, weight, etc. If you don't inform your reader what is going on then the story is lacking in detail.

Of course every writer works differently. Make a list of names, think about what you want your characters to look like. Take pictures, make sketches or clip images from magazines that come close to what you think the characters would look like. You can always change the image once you have cut it out. Add tats, blemishes, whatever. Even if you don't use all of the characters that you have created on your chart, you have them for another story.

Thanks for stopping by; keep an open mind.

The Beginning

A story can begin anywhere the author sees fit. The key is to get the reader to want to take the journey and turn the page to see where it leads. This will be a work in progress. Since I have a about me, a blog on art and cinema, I decided I should do one on writing.

A story can start at the beginning, but the author may realize there wasn't enough information about a particular character or a new character is introduced and so a back story or flashback may be created.

It was cloudy outside the apartment. There was a slight breeze, but there was silence. The sound of birds were absent. Normally nature has something to say, but not today. Maybe just not at this moment. Everyone takes a moment to just say nothing.

The story should start with some sort of setting to give the reader an idea where the story is taking place at that moment. If you give the reader something to relate to, then they are certainly more likely to turn the page.

Science fiction or fantasy can be easier to write because you can let your imagination run wild. Still, no matter what you write, you want to enjoy reading it even if you're only doing it for yourself.

Rule number one when writing is to write about what you know. If you don't believe it then neither will your readers. Change the names to protect the innocent, but draw on your own experiences.