Probably the biggest challenge I had to overcome when I began writing was going from the macro to the micro. I’ve always been fairly strong at getting or creating the “big picture”. The details are usually left to others, and this explains why school essays began with a bang-up first paragraph and then sat untouched for days while I mulled over what would follow.

It’s been the same with writing today, whether it is the full-length article/novel, or a single chapter. (I’ve noticed this tendency when designing websites, also) I have an idea…maybe a good one that sounds like it will make a great story. However, a thousand words into the thing, and suddenly I’m bereft of ideas. This is what led me to the outliner software mentioned in an earlier post. If provides the discipline I need to think out the full story – or the full website – before touching pen to paper.

But, perhaps your strength is in the detail, and your struggle is coming up with that thread beginning that will take you down the path of a good story. Enter…story starter websites. These sites employ millions of words…nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, etc…and present them to you in a way that is supposed to trigger a story idea. Well, you won’t believe the strange results that come forth out of this supposed sophisticated software, and I won’t try and duplicate any of them here. Let’s just say that if you took one and wrote your story from it, they might be reserving a place for you at “the home”.

There’s a better way, in my opinion. Be your own story starter. OK, I’ll admit that this is more of a strength for me, and I tweet these out frequently, because my mind just won’t stop coming up with them. However, you can do the same thing if you will simply take the base concept of your story and write a sentence…a beginning sentence, or an ending one…and see if that inspires you to go further. There was a very wise person who once said that it doesn’t take intelligence to write. It takes guts! So, have the guts to throw a sentence out there and see what happens. Here are just a few from this morning, and the last one is the beginning sentence from “Mandate”.

 

Judge Ryman walked back to his chambers and unlocked his desk drawer. After a moment spent looking out the window, he reached into the drawer and applied justice for the very last time.

 

He poured a full cup of brandy and stirred in his usual spoonful of instant coffee. This was going to be a great day!

 

He smiled an oversized and toothless grin. “I’m big enough that Momma says I don’t have to wear ‘spenders’ anymore!”

 

An Ohio Class – Trident sub is like an Orca, a Killer Whale…massive, black, silent…even more so when its skipper has orders to come and kill you.

 

He would have known that she came from money even if her name had not been entered on his appointment calendar: Grace Sunderlin Dakan

OK, maybe it’s just me, but I get a picture from these…a story that deserves telling. What’s the despondency of the Judge that causes him to commit suicide? Could you weave a back story that brings you to the dramatic concluding sentence of this “book”?

 

Is the Nick Nolte-like character in the second sentence a down-and-out detective? Or, is he a drug abuser? Or, a con artist? What story do you want to tell about this person?

 

Speaking of people, can you almost see the freckles and red hair of the kid who’s bragging that he doesn’t have to wear suspenders anymore?

 

I watched the old TV movie, “Duel” last night, so perhaps that influenced me when I thought of the submarine. I can almost hear the John Williams music as this incredible weapon system slides below the open ocean. What sort of mission is it on? Where will this opening sentence take you?

 

Lastly…who’s watching the woman as she enters the story in the last sentence? The phrase, “from money” tells us (well, me anyway!) a lot, and I have immediate visions of what she looks like, how she’s dressed, along with interest as to what she’s doing here.

 

My opinion is that your broad concept story has to come first here. I’m not the kind to think up one of these sentences and then decide to write a book about that particular subject. Rather, the pattern goes like this (using the submarine example):

1. I have an interest in submarines

2. I want to write a story that involves submarine warfare and Navy servicemen and women

3. I can’t think of a way to begin this story

4. The sentence occurs to me, and now I’m on my way

I sure hope that this helps you in some small way. Often the way that we find a path to success is by finding the first flagstone.

Write on!

Jack Riston

www.jackriston.com