Open with a bang.
That's what I always say. Now, whether that is an actual bang from gunshot, explosion or door slamming really doesn't matter, I like to come in shooting. Literary speaking of course, I myself am scared to death of guns, even though I have shot one.
I've written books-several-where my hero or heroine are pinned down by gunfire, being chased by armed men, or in the midst of a bad landing in a hostile atmosphere in the first line of the book. My characters are truly tortured in the worst sense of the word.
Take my latest romantic suspense for instance. My poor heroine wakes in a hospital with no knowledge of the accident that landed her there, being told by plain-clothes police that her soon-to-be ex-husband was in the car and killed in said accident. Really now. That's quite the shocker to wake up to. But instead of having the old cliched heroine who can't remember her name or her reason for being with Mr. Ex in the first place, I have narrowed the memory loss to the few days before the collision. Thus the mystery begins.
This is what I call an emotional bang. Instead of starting out of the block with the car hitting the brick wall, I moved the action to the pinpoint of light she sees when first opening her eyes. The reader then gets to journey with her and her quest to fit the peices of the puzzle together. A much more interesting take than to spoon-feed the reader the information beforehand. (I'm not a big fan of spoon-feeding, if you haven't guessed.)
The problem comes about when trying to sustain the action at a high level throughout the manuscript. And what about the love scenes? The developing relationship between hero and heroine? All must move along in a reasonable fashion, while not bogging down the action, or dragging the plot down.
Not an easy task.
Well, I've managed to successfully do this in sci-fi and futuristic novellas for some reason. Why then, moving the time period to the present and setting the New Jersey Pine Barrens instead of a space battle outside a station light-years away, is it so difficult?
My characters are universal in emotion and experience. Not saying they are all the same, but there are certain hallmarks of the human experience that are universally recognized. Depending on the culture, these things may change in order of importance, but are usually found on the list of needs. (Remember Maslov?)The way the characters go about obtaining or fulfilling the needs can add to the action and keep the plot from bogging down.
So, the big bang opening gets to ripple out like a pebble on a pond. The physical danger bleeds into the emotional and sexual danger. The characters are poised on a knife's edge wondering whether they are going to be alive to see the sunrise, or die in a hail of bullets tonight. And all the while wanting each other with a desperation that keeps the tension high.
Oh, yeah. I believe in opening with a bang- and keeping my characters guessing as to what peril I'm going to place them in next. What about you?
-Kat
About Us
We are the authors Sierra Wolfe, Tierney O'Malley, Wendy Ely, Alisha Paige, Mark Alders, Kate Davison, and Gracen Miller. Welcome to our blog. We hope to entertain and inform you. This is where we will share our writing journeys and life experiences, and maybe, share a bit of wisdom we pick up along the way. We hope you enjoy it!
About Gracen
Gracen is a hopeless daydreamer masquerading as a "normal" person in southern society. When not writing, she's a full-time basketball/football/guitar mom for her two sons and a devoted wife to her real-life hero-husband. She's addicted to writing, paranormal romance novels and movies, Alabama football and coffee…addictions are not necessarily in order of priority. She is convinced coffee is nectar from the gods and blending coffee and writing together generates the perfect creative merger. Many of her creative worlds are spawned from coffee highs. To learn more about Gracen or to leave her a comment, visit her website at www.gracenmiller.com.
Gracen's Books
About Kate
I like to read and write just about anything. But I am a sucker for a Happily-Ever-After. I need to know characters ride off into the sunset and all is right in their world. That's why I chose romance instead of another category. HEA's aren't always promised in other genres, though I do read them too.
Most of the time you'll find me at the keyboard, moving between the 5 projects I tackle at a time.
Most of the time you'll find me at the keyboard, moving between the 5 projects I tackle at a time.
About Alisha
I write paranormal, magic realism, fantasy, erotic and vintage romance. I live in a haunted house built in the 50s and love to drink red wine and eat dark chocolate while sitting in the swing out back. I love to watch my children play in the sandbox while my dogs wrestle on the grass. Does life get any better? It's the simple things in life I cherish.
Alisha's Books
About Wendy
Writing is an adventure I started at a young age but never took it serious until last year. My focus is on contemporary romance and have two books coming out later this year. Besides writing, I run a childcare, attend college, and am a single mom. Life isn't boring for me!
Wendy's Books
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About Tierney
Hi! My name is Tierney O'Malley, contemporary and paranormal romance author from the beautiful Pacific Northwest. My publishers are Cobblestone Press, Museitup Publishing, eXtasy Books, and Silver Publishing. I'm excited to join this blog and hope to share you fun and meaningful posts. :D Click here or go to my website http://tierneyomalley.com to learn more about my books or contact me. I would love to hear from you.
About Mark
My name is Mark Alders. I live in a house. This house has a street in front of it which is a good thing because if it didn't I wouldn't be able to drive down to the shop and purchase the chocolate I need on a daily basis *giggle* Seriously, I am a mild mannered post office worker by day and an erotic romance writer (mainly male/male) at night. Not much else to say other than, like everyone else, I have bills to pay, a mortgage and family that I love and drive me crazy all at the same time. Oh, and I have a dog, too! See? Average Joe...execpet when I get down and write...then I let my imagination go to places I never knew existed and my characters invade my mind.
About Sierra
I have an Associates Degree in Nursing and work as a traveling nurse. Although, I miss my family and friends back in Missouri, I enjoy meeting new people and love to travel. Of course, I wouldn’t go anywhere without my wonderful daughter and two rotten dogs. Writing has always been a part of my life, but for many years, I thought it was only a hobby. Finally learning that I couldn’t live without writing my beloved stories, I decided to see where it would take me. Who knows where my next adventure will be? Either in nursing or writing, I will continue to look for new and fun places to explore.
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4 comments:
I definitely like when a book starts in the action. It grabs my attention and then later I'll actually care about the backstory LOL
Nice post Kate! You started off with a bang! ;) I enjoyed reading how you like to start off your stories. Thanks for sharing.
This is an excellent way to suck the reader in, Kate! I've used this technique before too and love it. And I hate spoon feeding the reader as well just as much as I hate being spoon fed while reading. Let me figure it out! Keep me turning those pages! Thanks for starting our blog off with a bang!
Good on ya, Kate! Action works for me, too!
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