Famous Like A Novelty
I've been quoted. Here on Sean Lindsay's hilarious blog, and also by a gal in Germany, who gulpingly says that she's broken all my partial rules in the first few pages of her novel.
Again, there are ways to break those rules and get away with it. (See the Dirty Looks in a Mirror post.) It's much better to remember the early Beatles and write to agents' and editors' expectations.
Having said all that, if you swear never to use it, here's one way to break rule #1 and #4 and succeed: Write an omniscient prelude section. Notice I didn't say prologue-I said prelude. It can be the first few paragraphs of your novel, or a brief, one-page intro. It shouldn't be any longer. Here's an example, straight from me:
"Above, in the streets of Rundania, the people hailed their new king. Below, in a dust-clothed storeroom, four citizens and one nightmare plotted to overthrow him.
"The four citizens were toga-clad, well-groomed and respectable. One was a butcher, one a respected teacher, and two were merchants. They sat apart from the fifth, who, in Kurhonic fashion, had branded runes into every inch of exposed skin. He was covered in ash and his hair had been twisted like the tails of a whip. The butcher rose to speak..."
So, if you must introduce all five of these characters at once, you do it this way. One character is significantly different. The other four are similar enough that you don't spend a lot of time on them. You use omniscient voice and present the conflict first and the characters later. You can do the same thing with a lot of situations. Here's one that isn't fantasy.
"When it came out that Mayor Jenkins, the rich Mormon mayor, had gotten Julie Muldoon pregnant, she being the sixteen-year-old daughter of the Baptist preacher, most folks were wise enough not to say that they'd known all along."
See? Introduction from an omniscient narrator who knows what "most folks" were thinking. Yes, this is an approved way to get away with breaking those rules, if you must. But this is not the story. It's a brief intro, a pamphlet with a map saying "You Are Here."
Your first chapter will have to give them two interesting, well-rounded characters at a time with major desires and major fears they must overcome to get those desires. Sad, isn't it?
Again, there are ways to break those rules and get away with it. (See the Dirty Looks in a Mirror post.) It's much better to remember the early Beatles and write to agents' and editors' expectations.
Having said all that, if you swear never to use it, here's one way to break rule #1 and #4 and succeed: Write an omniscient prelude section. Notice I didn't say prologue-I said prelude. It can be the first few paragraphs of your novel, or a brief, one-page intro. It shouldn't be any longer. Here's an example, straight from me:
"Above, in the streets of Rundania, the people hailed their new king. Below, in a dust-clothed storeroom, four citizens and one nightmare plotted to overthrow him.
"The four citizens were toga-clad, well-groomed and respectable. One was a butcher, one a respected teacher, and two were merchants. They sat apart from the fifth, who, in Kurhonic fashion, had branded runes into every inch of exposed skin. He was covered in ash and his hair had been twisted like the tails of a whip. The butcher rose to speak..."
So, if you must introduce all five of these characters at once, you do it this way. One character is significantly different. The other four are similar enough that you don't spend a lot of time on them. You use omniscient voice and present the conflict first and the characters later. You can do the same thing with a lot of situations. Here's one that isn't fantasy.
"When it came out that Mayor Jenkins, the rich Mormon mayor, had gotten Julie Muldoon pregnant, she being the sixteen-year-old daughter of the Baptist preacher, most folks were wise enough not to say that they'd known all along."
See? Introduction from an omniscient narrator who knows what "most folks" were thinking. Yes, this is an approved way to get away with breaking those rules, if you must. But this is not the story. It's a brief intro, a pamphlet with a map saying "You Are Here."
Your first chapter will have to give them two interesting, well-rounded characters at a time with major desires and major fears they must overcome to get those desires. Sad, isn't it?
Labels: L.Perkins Agency, Stop Writing
posted by Spencer at 4:45 PM
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