How to Write a Book Series - The First Sentence
Someday, in the future, you will be able to observe in retrospect the beginning moment. You will look back and say, "Here, in the first sentence, is where it all started!" Still, when you are in the early thinking stages, imagining that you have a story you would like to write, it is best not to place too much symbolic importance upon the moment of creation. Why not?
It can become overwhelming. Even the seasoned, published writer of previous masterpieces can think: "Oh no. These first sentences have to be perfect or all is doomed!"
That's bologney! Most of the time, the first sentences and early paragraphs are not knock-out stuff to memorize and hold up as great examples. They are simply how you, as a writer, will open the door, to a room you have never entered. And the important thing is not to be scared, tentative, or timid.
How critical is the first sentence to write a book?
Do not think about writing the story, or manage in your thoughts the kind of story you would like to tell. That goes against the act of writing and will lead to delayed beginnings. The single, most important solitary key that makes the difference between thinkers and doers is the Act of Writing.
Do not imagine in your mind what you are going to say. The Nobel novelist William Faulkner had a short, imaginative vision. He saw a little girl sitting down in a mud puddle. That was it. He didn't ask himself what he was seeing. He did not hesitate or philosophize. He reached for his typewriter and started in a strange direction. The novel became The Sound and the Fury.
If you find yourself venturing forth to form a sentence in your head, the beginning of your story, go immediately to paper and pen or to the keyboard. Let the sentence breathe its first breath on paper, or with the typed word. What is happening? The story has chosen the time it wants to tell itself, and you need to honor that with writing, not thinking about it. You will have to catch up with the story as it pours slow or fast. You are the recorder. Recording the thing is the thing that is most important. This can only happen by writing.
Write down the first sentence, and the second, and let the rest of the introduction flow from the moment of writing. It will flow with its own energy. Do not dispare if its comes slowly. Bear in mind thatthe first expressions that hit the page need not be in complete sentences. The very spirit of the story or message will determine the form the words fall into or out of. The point is: Let them fall onto the page however it happens. You can always worry about form later on.
So many experts and legends in the field of writing have said it a thousand different ways. Thinking about it first is not the best way to go.
Ernest Hemingway, when asked if he outlined his great short stories prior to writing them, said he never dared to think about the story until he sat down with pen and paper, or stood before his typewriter and paper. That is when the story would begin.
A novelist of contemporary fame and expertise, Larry MacMurtry, said he never thinks a portion of writing until he sits down at his typewriter. Only when his fingers hit the keys does the story begins to develop, and never sooner.
For writers who have never written a blockbuster or a zippy Elmore Lenoard crime genre novel, spontaneity should RULE. It is the most crucial ingredient in beginning any writing project.
It is better not to say, upon completing a day's work, "Tomorrow I will cover the Wolf eating up poor grandma."
Let tomorrow decide the exact details of what you will write. That is how it will be alive and function as a living, breathing story, from beginning to end. When you write your first book, simply do your best to keep it alive.
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