K. P. Eden

Writing Stuffs! I'm also on Insta: @thewritingweasel

[thewritingweasel]

The Nine Basic Plots

This is the theory that every story - whether it’s about Victorian England, aliens or unicorn-loving truckers - follows one of nine basic plots. 

It’s been about for a while and can be pretty controversial, but whatever your take on it, it’s a fun exercise to figure out where your WIP fits in.  

1) Overcoming the monster

This is one of the most common. There’s a monster (whether it be a Dragon, Jeff Bezos, or one of the muppets) that the Hero must defeat to protect their community. 

2) Rags to Riches

A Cinderella type story in which the main character is missing something (love, money, etc.) and finds a way to gain it. 

3) The Quest

The hero embarks on a perilous journey to obtain a great prize (e.g. The Lord of the Rings, Wizard of Oz and even Finding Nemo). 

4) Voyage and return

A story which sends the protagonist to a strange land, from which they return changed (usually for the better) (e.g. Alice in Wonderland).

5) Comedy

My personal favourite. A story made up of comedic events, involving confusion, misunderstanding and mistaken identity (e.g. Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Office).

6) Tragedy 

This is essentially comedy’s mirror image. Your protagonist falls from prosperity to destruction, because of a cruel twist of fate or their own mistakes (Shakespeare had a talent for writing these).

7) Rebirth

This plot type has roots in religion, but most modern stories simply show a character changing their ways and becoming a better person. A Christmas Carol is a classic example of this one.

These next two weren’t previously included in the list, as they were very rare story types. However, in modern times, they are clearly far more popular.

8) Mystery

Now one of the most common plots, a mystery involves a group of people coming together to figure out the truth of some horrendous event (e.g. Gravity Falls, Murder She Wrote, pretty much anything by Agatha Christie).

9) Rebellion against the one

Here, a hero rebels against a powerful organisation or entity that controls their entire world. This has become very popular in dystopian fiction (e.g. 1984). 

So those are the 9(ish) basic plots! Which ones does your WIP fit into (if any)? And does it fit into more than one?

[thewritingweasel]

What is passive voice and why don’t people like it?

I used to have a HUGE problem with passive voice in my writing. I hardly knew how to notice when I was using it, let alone cut it down. But it’s a big no-no for publishers, readers, and literary agents so it’s good to understand what it is, and how to use it.

In writing you can use either the passive or the active voice. 

The active voice is stronger and makes your writing more direct. The subject either completes the action of the verb, or is something.

Therefore, 7up is lemonade. (subject = 7up)

The dog spilled our lemonade. (subject = The dog)

The passive voice is where the subject is acted upon by another performer of the verb.

Our lemonade was spilled. (subject = lemonade)

Still confused? Me too. Let’s simplify things.

There’s a really easy way to quickly tell what is and isn’t passive voice. Just ask one question:

Did the zombies do it?

Essentially, if you can tack “by zombies” on the end of your sentence, it’s passive voice. 

Our lemonade was spilled by zombies.

Therefore, 7up is lemonade by zombies. (Sentence doesn’t make sense = active voice)

7up is a lie and was created by zombies. (Now it makes sense = passive voice)

So now you know how to identify when passive voice (or a zombie) is taking over your sentence, why should you avoid it?

It’s important to remember that passive voice isn’t a mistake, it’s a style. But it’s often disliked for a few reasons:

1) It makes thing way wordier than they need to be. 

I hate 7up.

7up is hated by me.

Which is shorter?

2) Similarly, because things are wordier, they become harder to read. Yes, a fifty-word-long sentence might make you look smart, but I don’t want to read ten of them.

3) It hides information. Passive voice is less concrete because it removes the subject.

7up was shown to be lemonade. (by who?)

Dr. Pepper showed that 7up is lemonade.

Of course, there’s no hard and fast rule for how you should use passive voice. But if you wanna spice up your writing, keep it to a minimum.   

Thanks for reading! And now, a message from our sponsors:

[thewritingweasel]

No new post today, but reblogging as I've been getting questions about passive voice (from zombies)!

[thewritingweasel]

Five important characters to have in any story

Every story is different, very different, but to write a good one, you might want to take a look at this list. Of course, there are always exceptions, but you’ll be hard pressed to find a tale that doesn’t have these characters.

Small disclaimer: They don’t have to be people. Your antagonist, for example, could easily be an idea, an organisation, or event (zombie apocalypse, climate change, Jeff Bezos’s bald head, etc.).

1) Protagonist

It comes as no surprise, of course, that your story needs a main character. They’re the person through which the reader sees the story, the one they relate to. Their choices, whether good or bad, should make sense. 

Depending on your story, you might have just one, or a whole bunch of main characters (Game of Thrones has as many as 52!).

2) Antagonist

Now, everyone’s favorite character - the antagonist. This is the person or thing that works against your protagonist’s goals. They don’t have to be evil (especially if your protagonist is more of an anti-hero), but should definitely throw some wrenches in the gears of your main guy’s plan.

3) Mentor

This is the person who helps guide your protagonist, for better or for worse. These are your Dumbledores, Yodas and Gandalfs. They’re (usually) pretty wise and help push the character along the right path. 

4) Sidekick

Where would your protagonist be without their trusty sidekick? While the mentor might show your protagonist which path to take, the sidekick accompanies them through their adventure. 

Normally, they have a couple of traits which contrast your protagonist’s and lets the reader see the story from a different perspective (e.g. John Watson, Donkey from Shrek, Chewbacca).

5) Sceptic 

This is a character that may be very close to your protagonist, but they don’t support the protagonist’s goals. They think your character either shouldn’t or can’t reach the end of their journey.

This type of character can be harder to spot - they may not be in every story - but they usually come in the form of worried partners, or parents, maybe even be a reluctant sidekick. They help keep your protagonist’s ego in check, and stop them from doing anything too reckless. 

So there you have it! Five characters that you should try to include in your writing. And don’t forget that sometimes, one character can take on several roles (your sidekick could also be your sceptic for example). 

[thewritingweasel]

Okay so this may sound absolutely stupid but I need to know where to find that dinosaur version of the lion king because its absolutely sending me, pls help, I'm loosing it. Also thank you for your writing advice, I always see your stuff on my insta feed and I just love the way you explain this <3

This may be the best ask i have ever received

[thewritingweasel]

A brief guide on how to punctuate dialogue

Punctuation in dialogue is one of the easiest things to get wrong in writing, and, frustratingly, it can be hard to find decent teaching resources. So if you’re struggling to tell whether to use a comma or a period, this guide is for you. 

1) Every time a new character speaks, the first line of their dialogue must be set apart by a paragraph break. 

Right: 

“I think Jeff Bezos might be a lizard,” said Bo. 

“Not this again,” I replied.

Wrong: 

“I think Jeff Bezos might be a lizard,” said Bo. “Not this again,” I replied. 

2) Only direct dialogue needs quotation marks. Direct dialogue is used when someone is speaking. Indirect dialogue is a summary of what was said.

Direct:

“Come on, Jeff, get ‘em!”

Indirect:

He told Jeff to go get ‘em.

3) Punctuation always goes inside quotation marks. 

Right:

“What would you prefer?”

“A goat cheese salad.”

Wrong:

“What would you prefer”?

“A goat cheese salad”.

4) If you follow or start a quote with a dialogue tag, you end the quote with a  comma. 

Right: 

“Welcome to the internet,” he said.

She asked, “Can I look around?”

Wrong:

“Welcome to the internet.” He said. 

She asked. “Can I look around?”

5) But, if you follow or start a quote with an action, you use a period. 

Right:

“Welcome to the internet.” He smiled. 

Her eyes flicked to the screen. “Can I look around?”

Wrong:

“Welcome to the internet,” he smiled. 

Her eyes flicked to the screen, “Can I look around?”

6) When breaking up dialogue with a tag, use two commas. Or, if the first piece of dialogue is a complete sentence, use a comma and then a period. 

“Yes,” he replied, “an avocado.” (split sentence)

“I hoped it wouldn’t come to this,” she said. “I loved that avocado.” (full sentence)

7) You may have noticed there are two different quotation marks ( ‘ and “). And when putting a quote inside a quote, you need to use the opposite style of quotation. 

Roger looked up. “And then he said, ‘I didn’t steal the avocado.’”

Or:

Roger looked up. ‘And then he said, “I didn’t steal the avocado.”’

(Using ‘ or “ often depends on personal choice. Although Brits like to use ‘ and Americans tend to use “ for their main dialogue)

So that’s my short guide to the main rules when punctuating dialogue! If you have any questions about less common rules, let me know. 

[thewritingweasel]

5 more pieces of terrible writing advice

Hello again everyone! Since you all loved my brilliant advice from last time, I’ve decided to give you some more! And remember, you must follow these rules exactly - we don’t accept rule breakers here! After all, what would be the fun in variety?

1) Never use said

Said is waaaay too boring to use in an actual piece of writing. Instead, take it out and replace it with words like stammered, enunciated, ejected, inset, add, interpose, interrupt, utter, and announce. 

It’s not like you need to maintain a balance between said and overusing other words. No, your readers will love it if they have to read through pages and pages of grumbling and interposing! That won’t get annoying.

2) Don’t use purple

Why say purple when you can say mauve, periwinkle or amaranthine? All short words are bad and readers hate if you use them. No, fill your novel up with ornate, sumptuous prose that normal people can’t fathom. 

3) Avoid giving character descriptions

Spent ages crafting your character’s appearance? That doesn’t matter! Your reader won’t care anyway. Nope, don’t describe what they look like at all. After all, it’s not like knowing Harry Potter wore glasses or that Ron Weasley was ginger actually added anything to their characters.

4) Never rewrite

Think your story could do with a little more work? Well, make sure not to rewrite the entire thing. It’ll just water down your ideas and make you lose the core of your story! It’s not like rewriting could actually help you refine and come up with new ideas now you have everything plotted out...

5) You need to be amazing before calling yourself a writer

Write for hours everyday? Well, if you haven’t published anything, why call yourself a writer in the first place? Pah! If you don’t know the difference between a em dash and an en dash, then you can’t call yourself a writer. 

Being a writer is being part of a super exclusive club. It’s not like the word just means, you know, people who write. 

(seriously tho guys, if you write - no matter how well - you’re a writer. Don’t let people tell you otherwise.)

[thewritingweasel]

The worst ways to end a story (in my humble opinion)

Ever been reading this amazing book or watching a TV show, but when you get to the end it’s just a little... meh? (Looking at you GOT). Well, no ending is perfect, but if you can avoid these, you’ll definitely make me happy.

1) Everybody dieeeesss

This might cause some debate because I know a lot of you love tragic endings, but I find it a little cheap and easy. It’s often a quick way out of writing a truly tragic ending. Personally, I find it a sadder when people are left behind to pick up the pieces.  

2) Deus Ex Machina

Translated as ‘God made it happen’, a Deus Ex Machina ending is when the plot is suddenly resolved by the introduction of a new person or object, etc. It usually happens when you’ve written yourself into a corner. 

Essentially, the resolution doesn’t come from your characters, instead, it comes from some rando called John popping out of the sky and waving a magic wand. You don’t get to see the characters come out on top, and it’s pretty unsatisfying. 

3) It was all a dream!

If you want a sure fire way to annoy readers, it’ll be this one. That story you’ve just spent hours reading? It didn’t matter, none of it happened anyway!

Dreams can be great devices if they have an impact on a character or act as some sort of prophecy, but ending your story with one can feel a little... meh. 

Thanks for reading! Don’t take this one too seriously. These are just common bug bears but some really popular stories still end in these ways (Shakespeare practically invented the everybody dies ending).

[thewritingweasel]

How many characters?

Wondering if you have too many or too few characters in your WIP? Think it could be confusing for the reader or just a little... empty? I’ve had a lot of questions about this recently, so here’s how to figure out if your book is a little too crowded. 

Quick disclaimer! 

The number of characters is highly dependent on your genre and personal choice (George R.R. Martin has about 150 main characters!), but keeping numbers in the typical range is normally the best idea for new writers as it can get confusing (Martin also has to use a spreadsheet to keep track of them).

1) Find your protagonists

This is your main character, normally just the one person, but certain genres like romance might have two. This might be the character whose POV you use or who drives most of the story.

This might feel difficult if you have a big cast, but do your best to pick out a few.

2) Check their purpose 

Write a list of your characters and note down their main job in the plot (whether they move the story forward, help your protagonist, etc.). If they don’t have one, consider getting rid of them. 

3) Overlap

If your cast is a little big, consider merging some characters into one. Can your protagonist’s mentor also be their best friend, or should they be kept separate? 

4) More characters?

Now you’ve whittled your story down to its bare bones, consider what you want the scope of your story to be. Most of the time, you won’t need to add in anyone else, but if you are going for a large cast, or just want a little extra to fill up the words, maybe add in a few new players. 

Just make sure they have their own subplots! There’s nothing worse for a character than being dead weight.

Some other quick tips:

- Beef up your secondaries 

You’ll likely have a pretty firm idea of your protagonist’s character, but what about the others? 

Supporting characters are often the ones that bind the story together. You don’t need to write pages and pages on them, but just make sure they’re more than a weak stereotype. 

- Introduce them smart

Most of us have probably read a story where huge swathes of characters are introduced over a few pages. It can get pretty confusing trying to remember them all. 

so, to avoid this, space out character introductions. At most, maybe have two or three per page to avoid overwhelming the reader. And, when you can, give them a quirk, or memorable trait to help them stick in the reader’s mind. 

Deciding how many characters to have is hard, and every story is different! If there’s one things to remember, it’s to always make sure each character has a purpose, and they’re not just sat around like a limp biscuit. 

[thewritingweasel]

Theme ideas for your novel

Themes. They aren’t exactly the most exciting part of writing, but they give your work a sense of purpose - they make it mean something. 

Maybe you want to show your readers that love conquers all, or tell them to take life a little less seriously. Whatever your message, it can have a big impact, so choose wisely...

1) Love

Clearly not a surprise, love is something that literature, and people in general, are obsessed with. Romeo and Juliet, Pride and Prejudice, and Bridget’s jones’s diary all have themes of love.

Love between family, friends, partners, lost love, unrequited love, forbidden love - you name it, it’s probably been written about before. 

2) Death

Exploring ideas about loss and grief in a safe space is partly why people began to write in the first place. Dealing with themes like this can bring comfort, and you’ll be hard pressed to find a book that doesn’t mention death in some way. 

The Book Thief, Lovely Bones, and The Fault in Our Stars all deal with death as a theme.

And as Emily Dickinson (our favourite, death-obsessed poet), once said:

‘Dying is a wild night and a new road.’ 

Writing’s a bit like that too, I suppose.

3) Good vs. Evil

Yep, this theme is maybe the most popular - and the most likely to be hammered into a story. 

The endless fight between dark and light might be the oldest tale of all, being included in many myths, fairy tales and religious texts. Plenty of fiction talks about it too (The Lord of The Flies, Frankenstein, even Game of Thrones).

4) Individual vs. society

Maybe not the most common theme, but certainly one that gets English teachers all riled up. This one usually talks about a main character, at odds with the environment they live in. Think about 1984, Fahrenheit 451, or pretty much every dystopian YA book here.

There are a bunch of themes out there to pick from, so you’ve plenty of choice for your story. The ones above are some of the most common, but a theme can be based on almost anything (deceit, trust, loss, etc, etc.). Just have a think about your plot and figure out which one(s) fit. 

[thewritingweasel]

Giving your writing a title

For me, coming up with a killer title is one of the hardest parts of writing! I rarely have one sorted until the second or third draft. So if you’re struggling to come up with ideas, give these tips a try.

1) Name your work after a theme

It’s a pretty good idea to have some central themes in your story. When done well, they give a purpose and meaning to your writing. 

A lot of really successful books are named after themes (e.g. Pride and Prejudice, Atonement). 

Once you have your themes, you can try to expand them into thematic statements. These are the key messages you may be trying to get across in your work (e.g. love conquers all, don’t accept your fate). 

Doing this not only gives you a better idea of your story, but it can also give you a pretty nice, thematic title (e.g. Me Before You, How to Stop Time). 

2) Naming after your protagonist

This works best in novels with a clear, singular main character, but it’s a tried and tested method that’s pretty effective (e.g. Carrie, Percy Jackson). 

3) Naming after who your protagonist is

Ask yourself who your protagonist is in relation to other characters (e.g. Daughter of the Pirate King, Daughter of Smoke and Bone).

4) Other names for a character

Does your character have a specific job or hobby? (e.g. The Sorcerer’s Apprentice)

 What do other characters call them? (e.g. The Book Thief) 

What titles might they bear? (e.g. I am Number Four, The Martian).

These tips are mainly for character-driven stories, but I’ll make another post for plot-driven stories. There’s no exact process to coming up with a book title, but whether you have a title before you even write the first chapter, or if you don’t have one until the fifth draft, you’ll eventually settle on one you at least don’t hate. 

[thewritingweasel]

Things to know about guns

Confused about writing about guns? Don’t know the difference between a bullet and a cartridge? Don’t want the FBI to flag up your search history? Well, you’ve come to the right place.

1) Silencers!

Turns out these things are actually called suppressors, and, unfortunately, they don’t completely hide the gun shot. They lower it by just a few decibels so, even if your favorite hitman is using one, the shot will still be super loud. 

Although a lot of movies and books do get away with this (I’m looking at you, James Bond). 

2) Bullet vs. Cartridge

Despite often being used interchangeably, bullets aren’t cartridges, shells, or rounds. 

A bullet is the metal projectile sat inside the top of the cartridge. The cartridge (also called a shell or round), is the ‘case’ that contains the bullet, powder, primer and casing. 

Also, your moody detective probably won’t find a old bullet lying in in plain sight at the scene of the crime, but they might just find an empty cartridge.

3) Keep it out of your pants

Does your favorite character routinely tuck their pistol into their waistband after firing ten rounds? Well, you better hope they have fire-retardant skin, because chances are, it’s gonna be pretty hot. 

Also, it might look cool, but foregoing the holster is a pretty bad idea in general. 

And, finally - something I probably shouldn’t have to say - don’t have a character look down the barrel of a gun to check it’s loaded (unless they’re an idiot). I think you can guess what would happen if the gun went off...

[thewritingweasel]

Terrible ways to start a novel

Struggling with starting your book? Well, here’s how not to do it. 

1) Waking up

I’m pretty sure every writer has been guilty of this one at some point, but watching your character wake up and get ready for school/work can be one of the dullest ways to start a novel (unless, of course, they’re woken up by an alien instead of an alarm clock). 

Starting books like this is generally a bit of a cliché, so if it doesn’t bear any significance to your plot, it’s best to avoid it. 

2) It was a dark and stormy night...

Yes, weather is a great way to set a scene, but it’s not the best way to hook a reader on the first page. Give them some excitement, not three paragraphs about how lovely the sun looks today. 

3) Backstory

Have an amazing and exciting backstory for your character/world? If yes, it can be super tempting to roll right in and explain everything. But doing this will make the reader feel like they’re reading an encyclopaedia. Focus on the action, keep them guessing, and sprinkle the info in later.

Quick word on prologues:

I’ve seen a lot of advice about prologues and they seem to have become super unpopular recently. Personally, as long as you keep it short and sweet, (and don’t confuse the reader by adding a bunch of characters they won’t meet again until book two), I think they can work pretty well.

Just try to keep the reader in the action, and don’t bog them down with detail. 

[thewritingweasel]

Writing Exercises to try

Whether you’re taking break from your WIP or you just want some inspiration, here are a couple of fun writing exercises that might just help you stumble on your next big idea. 

1) Make another story your own

Take a book and steal its first few lines. Then, put it down, and use them to write the beginning of your own story.

2) Letter

Write a letter to your younger or future self. What have you achieved? What do you want to achieve? Where will you be in a year from now?

A great website for this is futureme.org. They’ll actually email you the letter on the date you set!

3) Late night show

Your character is being interviewed by a talk show host. Maybe it’s James Cordon, Graham Norton, or whoever you like to watch. What questions would they ask the character? What would the character say? Would they tell the truth?

4) Nothing but speech

Write a short story that uses nothing but dialogue. For an extra challenge, try to juggle more than two characters. 

5) Start a blog

I know, blogging is very early 2000s, but writing a post everyday will help keep your mind turning over new ideas. Plus, it helps get your writing out there. You never know, maybe you’ll pick up some fans!

[thewritingweasel]

How to make your imagery pop

I’m sure all of you have heard “show don’t tell” at some point in your life, whether it be in a lesson, with friends, or here on Tumblr, and it’s good enough advice. But how do you do it? How do you create description that resonates with your reader and makes your words fly off the page?

Well, that’s a huuuuuge question, but here are some tips:

1) Don’t stop your story

The sunblock hadn’t worked. Morty’s face was splattered with red, angry blotches that - when his grandfather poked them - rang with pain. 

“Oh, don’t be such a crybaby,” said Rick. 

When you can, it’s best to incorporate the description into the action itself. Keep it going, building on the description, incorporating information and putting dialogue in context. 

Suppose I had written it like this: 

Morty’s face was splattered with painful, red blotches that stretched from his forehead to his chin. They ran over his skin, making him look blushed. His grandfather poked his cheeks.

There’s nothing wrong with this, but, by describing his sunburn, I’ve paused the story. And, if I’m not careful, it might start sounding like an encyclopaedia.

2) The five senses

Yeah I know you’ve heard this one a million times, but that’s because it works. Readers love to see through the character’s eyes, hear with their ears, etc.

“Try this,” said Gearman, offering some oil. “It helps me with my sunburn.”

His skin still stinging, Morty took the bottle. He lifted the lid, listened to it pop, and was almost knocked off his feet by the stench of it. Fish oil. Rancid fish oil. Good thing Gearman didn’t have a nose. 

3)  Be different

Readers don’t want to listen to the same metaphors and similes all day. They get boring, and the words lose all their meaning. Instead, wake them up a bit with something different.

“as brave as a lion.” - Gets your point across, but... meh.

Instead trying something like:

“as brave as playing chess with Napoleon.” 

And instead of “as safe as houses”, try “as safe as a bubble-wrapped tortoise inside a bank vault.”

There’s plenty more I could write on this, but I think these are some of the quickest (and easiest) ways to really paint a picture in your reader’s mind. If you have any other tips, let me know!

[thewritingweasel]

Some of my favourite words

Serendipity - Finding something good without looking for it

Clinomania - An excessive desire to stay in bed

Aurora - The dawn (or the Northern lights)

Vellichor - The strange wistfulness of used bookshops

Wistfulness - Desire tinged with sadness

Ineffable - Something too great to be expressed in words

Idyllic - Something extremely happy or peaceful

Epoch - A period of time in history or someone’s life

Defenestration -  The act of throwing someone out of a window

Phosphenes - The light and colours produced by rubbing your eyes

Pluviophile - Someone who loves the rain

Hiraeth - A sickness for a home you can’t return to, or a home that never was

[thewritingweasel]

5 pieces of awful writing advice

Hey everyone! Here’s how to write the perfect book! If you want to be successful, you must use these rules exactly - we don’t accept rule breakers here! After all, what would be the fun in variety?

1) You must use an outline

Thinking of starting to write? Ha! Well, you’ll need to have intricately planned every tiny scene and parts of a character before you even put pen to paper. It’s not like you can actually come up with great new ideas while writing without constraints.

2) Never EVER use adverbs. 

The road to hell is paved with adverbs? Exactly. If you use even one (one!) in your novel, it’ll be ruined.

(seriously though, just don’t overuse them and you’ll be fine)

3) Writing a good book takes ages

Finished in just six weeks? Well, it’s not like the time it takes to write varies from person to person depending on their lifestyle, personality and spare time. For a book to be good, it has to take you at least 100 years to finish the first draft.

4) Don’t use tools to help you

If you can’t write the next bestseller with just a leather bound note book and a quill, then, by god, you’ve no hope. 

Thinking of using a spell-checker or getting help with grammar? Don’t bother, don’t submit to the machines, just avoid the sentence completely!

5) Write only for the money (yes, someone told me this once)

Don’t enjoy writing? Well, not to worry! It’s not like enjoying your life matters anyway. 

Instead, just write for the money it will bring. It’s not like that will sap away all your motivation and leave your work a sad, dry husk with no passion. No! Pick the most marketable thing you can find, and run with that!

See? Writing is easy!

Ngl I had a lot of fun writing this post, and there’s so much bad writing advice out there that I can definitely make some more of these if you guys like it. 

[thewritingweasel]

How to write the first chapter

Now before you look away, I know writing the first bit of your book is hard - super hard. It’s the first bit your reader will look at - and if they don’t like it - it’s going back on the shelf.

A lot of new writers keep working on their first chapter until it’s perfect, only then moving onto the rest of the book. But this is a procrastination technique that has led to hundreds of unfinished novels! 

Re-writing your chapter twenty-five times isn’t doing you any favours. Instead, hash it out, maybe rewrite once or twice, and move on. Then, once you’ve sorted the rest of the story, you can make it effective. 

So how do you do that?

1) Have fun with your first few lines.

Everyone worries about their first sentence, and I could write a whole post on this alone, but here’s a quick tip.

An author once told me that their favourite way to start a book was to confuse the hell out of their reader. She would always drop them into a random scene and let them work it out for themselves. This doesn’t work for everything, but honestly, it’s pretty effective.

Just remember to start with something more interesting than your character waking up and getting ready for school. Instead, maybe they’re looking through their locker when they realise they’ve forgotten something important...

2) Create some stakes

Leaving the reader with a killer cliff-hanger early on makes sure they read on to the next chapter. 

But  remember the stakes can be pretty much anything: you could hint to the overall plot, add in a red herring, or the incident could affect the whole rest of the book. Just keep it exciting: maybe the Pope’s been murdered, or maybe a Karen has struck a deal with the devil, or maybe John’s forgotten to wear pants to work again. 

3) Don’t go too far with the exposition

It’s tempting to tell your audience everything about your character, including their backstory, their secrets, and if they remembered to wear pants this morning. But having the first few pages of your book focused on action will truly make it a page-turner. Then, once you’ve got them hooked, you’ll can reel them into the nitty-gritty stuff. 

A good tip is to pretend your characters are at a party and have met you, the reader, for the first time. Would they really tell you their entire life-story right away? Or would you get a general idea of their main traits before delving into their dark past?

There are plenty of other tips on how to start a novel, but most importantly be interesting. Readers might enjoy laughing at someone who’s forgotten their pants, but tell them about John’s boring work commute too, and they might just switch off.