Kishi
asked
Michael J. Sullivan:
Hi there. I know this is very brazen of me, but I'm trying to write my own novel and I can't get past the first chapter. Or at least the opening scene. I keep on doubting if it's good enough or strong enough, so I keep on writing and rewriting the opening scene, never moving forward. I tried to, but I couldn't. Any advice? Please??? :(
Michael J. Sullivan
Hey Kishi,
Thanks for asking...and congratulations for taking the plunge. I have a lot of advice. First, don't worry that your early work isn't "good enough" --- they rarely are. It takes a lot of practice to learn what works and what doesn't. And that means you are going to write a bunch of books that aren't "ready for primetime" - but with each one you'll learn a little more, get a bit better, and eventually you will.
Stephen King says you should consider your first 1,000,000 words as practice. And Malcolm Gladwell says it takes 10,000 hours working at something to gain a level of proficiency. Those numbers sound just about right to me (based on my own writing). My first published book was the fourteenth I wrote.
As for getting stuck early on -- just write your way through it. Rarely do you truly know where the best place is for a story to start. I've had books where I've thrown out 50 - 60 pages at the beginning, other books where the original beginning actually ended up being around page 105. If you spend too much time on the beginning you can get "wrapped around the axle" and that stops all forward momentum. What you need to do is get through to the end. Then when editing determine you'll find where the start of the story actually is, and, again, it's rarely where you thought when you started.
Hope that helps.
Thanks for asking...and congratulations for taking the plunge. I have a lot of advice. First, don't worry that your early work isn't "good enough" --- they rarely are. It takes a lot of practice to learn what works and what doesn't. And that means you are going to write a bunch of books that aren't "ready for primetime" - but with each one you'll learn a little more, get a bit better, and eventually you will.
Stephen King says you should consider your first 1,000,000 words as practice. And Malcolm Gladwell says it takes 10,000 hours working at something to gain a level of proficiency. Those numbers sound just about right to me (based on my own writing). My first published book was the fourteenth I wrote.
As for getting stuck early on -- just write your way through it. Rarely do you truly know where the best place is for a story to start. I've had books where I've thrown out 50 - 60 pages at the beginning, other books where the original beginning actually ended up being around page 105. If you spend too much time on the beginning you can get "wrapped around the axle" and that stops all forward momentum. What you need to do is get through to the end. Then when editing determine you'll find where the start of the story actually is, and, again, it's rarely where you thought when you started.
Hope that helps.
More Answered Questions
Trine Lise
asked
Michael J. Sullivan:
Hi Michael :) As a mythology-buff, I wanted to ask a few questions about the gods of Elan. Were you inspired by any mythologies when you made the creation story and deities, did you simply develop it to fit the story or was it primarily based on the redemption theme the Riyria books have? And, if it’s not considered some sort of spoiler, did Erebus ever manage to collect all the feathers and be forgiven by Muriel?
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