For me, with each of my manuscripts, it’s been the first chapter. Hooligans in Shining Armour follows two POV characters, Fiona and Danny. Danny’s first chapter has never been questioned. It’s solid. Fiona on the other hand….
The first several drafts, nothing changed with Fiona’s. Then a number of people from my writer’s group, including a bunch who read the whole thing, said the first chapter was too slow and introduced the readers into a world that they promptly left and never saw again. Too much “ordinary world” before “inciting incident”. That it didn’t feel connected to the rest of the story. So I cut the first chapter entirely and stuck little bits of important stuff from that chapter elsewhere. Fiona’s first chapter was basically a paragraph hinted at ordinary world then BAM! inciting incident. Then I sent it to the editor. She said that she didn’t feel connected to Fiona’s old life or her quest to return home (ha now, inciting incident too soon, not enough ordinary world). She wanted to get a sense of her life in Madison before she went to Belfast.
Meanwhile, I’m trying to get a first chapter together, knowing that that’s the first thing agents will read. It has so many jobs to do: establish tone/voice/genre, introduce protagonist and other main characters, show us what Fiona looks like, give us a glimpse into Fiona’s psyche, hint at what the Fiona’s journey will be, show us the world/s she lives in, and other things, too. All while being engaging and having some kind of tension on every page to keep the reader going. If the first page, the first paragraph, the first sentence isn’t attention-grabbing, you risk turning off agents and readers.
Anyway as I was sitting at the airport waiting to welcome my sister to the wonderful world of Singapore, I think I figured out how to solve both issues at once. I always get this giddy feeling when I finally solve a story conundrum and I really think I’ve done it this time with a little mix of both. Hopefully I’ll get Fiona finalized soon so I can post it! To learn more about Hooligans and read Danny’s chapter, click here.
What’s the hardest part to write in your novel? The beginning? The sagging middle? The perfect ending?
Sarah J. Carlson 
For me, it is probably every chapter that is not as action-packed as the others… I know stories need pauses to allow both the readers and the characters to breathe, but I do not find it that interesting… Those moments always end up in fights between characters, at least for me.
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Yeah, those chapters can be tough. You’re right, you still need tension. Which, of course, fights create 😛 Thanks for the comment!
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I outline quite a bit. I think this is why I always get bogged down in the middle. I know what’s going to happen and want to get there.
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I’m an outliner as well. I have to be or I get bogged down with characters. It can be hard to focus on the middle when you just want to get to the climax!
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The hardest part for me is the beginning. Once I establish a plot, the story usually starts to roll for me, but it’s getting the beginning down that’s tough. I’ve started a sequel to my sci-fi novel, and I’ve found that it is a little easier because I can begin where I left off with relative ease. I’ve also found that the end can be tough until you know which direction you are going to take.
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I totally agree on both counts! Beginning is hard, as I’ve said, but endings can be tough as well, especially if you’re planning a sequel. Then you have to be careful what you resolve and don’t resolve. I recently started work on a prequel. In that case, the ending was easy, but then knowing where to begin, that was a bit trickier!
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Another novel I plan to do in the future has to do with reincarnation, and that’s where I’m going to run into a problem of knowing where to begin as you say.
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Interesting!! And a unique set of challenges! Good luck with it 🙂
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For me, the hardest part is waiting for my characters to take over. When they’re running the show, I’m a lot happier.
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It does make writing a bit easier, doesn’t it? Then, if they’re good characters, they almost seem to write the story themselves, like you’re just the conduit expressing their thoughts and motivations!
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Sagging middle!!!! My beginning and ending are solid, with a little editing, but to get from Point A to Point B there has to be some growth and development and a realistic passage of time. Still, I have to keep it short and concise. Aaaaaahhhh! Frustration.
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Yeah, the sagging middle can be tough too. I’ve found one thing that can help me is having multiple plot points and conflicts, not just the climax. Also repeatedly asking myself, what’s the worst that can happen? Then incorporating that into my story 😛
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I find that my first drafts go fairly smoothly. The challenge for me is usually deciding what to cut once the editing starts (I always, always, always overwrite, haha). I just cut 31K words from my original MS to get to the version we are publishing. Ouch!
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I have a tendency to overwrite as well then sculpt and cut during re-writes. And then end up re-writing substantially at times. 😛 Happy writing!
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Sounds like my process. It’s always tough to decide which are details that the reader needs, and which are there just for you (as the writer) to visualize your own world. They are surprising NOT the same thing, haha. Thank you, and happy writing to you as well 🙂
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Reblogged this on The Pen Life and commented:
The hardest part for me to write is the sagging middle part. I have strong characters in unique situations. Introducing that with a strong start is easy. However, keeping the momentum from Part A to Part B is a challenge.
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Yeah, it can be hard to keep tension through the sagging middle! I have to remind myself to keep asking, what’s the worst that can happen? Thanks for the re-blog:) And happy writing over across the pond 🙂
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How’s life over the island? I love your website. The header looks great. This was a good topic.
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Thanks!! I’ve been working pretty hard on it 😉 And you’re the one who inspired me to start it in the first place! You guided me through the birthing process, if you will. Life on the island is…hot lol. And pretty much the same. We’re moving forward with the new and improved SWG!
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I find the middle always goes the slowest for me because I usually just want to get into the ending but I think the beginning is the hardest to get perfect. Its not really into the plot yet but has to be interesting enough to capture the readers attention.
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I always find the beginning the hardest to write, there is so much pressure to make sure it’s good to catch a reader’s interest 😀
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Yes!!! so many jobs for the beginning to do!
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I didn’t write the first book in a linear fashion, so by the time I got around to writing the first chapter, I had a pretty good idea of what needed to happen, and I just needed to tweak the continuity. The hardest parts to write were the unpleasant scenes (characters behaving badly).
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That’s a good point! I would think that’s particularly hard if they’re characters you’ve grown to care about. And I would imagine having written other parts of the book first made it easier to know where you had to start 🙂
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Everything. It seems like I don’t add enough description to the setting or I add too much in terms of world-building. It sucks!
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Yeah. I have a hard time with that in some novels, too, particularly the sci-fi one I wrote a while ago (where I had to build the whole world) and Hooligans because, although I’d been there, I still didn’t know the setting super-well. I think what I’ve found helps me is not focusing as much on world building and setting in the first draft and then really focusing on it more in subsequent drafts…..
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Definitely the beginning for me. And because I float around and write different sections at a time, finding how to connect those sections is also quite difficult, especially if they’re completely unrelated.
Great post!
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Thanks! And I agree, too (about floating around, not the great post lol). Although I plot at least loosely the whole thing, I do tend to skip around and write different scenes as I get inspired. Then connecting, that can be tough. I’m starting a new novel, and this one’s going to be different in the sense that it’s going to span like an entire school year, so they’ll be jumping forward in time. I’ve never written like that before (usually my stuff covers a few action-packed weeks). This will be a new challenge!
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Good luck! I write quite a bit in the timeline you’re going to be venturing into. Writing a book based on a few action packed weeks would be a challenge for me! Maybe I should do it, then we’d be able to commiserate on the different styles.
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Haha. Any advice for transitioning between different times in the novel? I.e. these are high schoolers, so we see them at the beginning of the novel, then may hope a month or two ahead to homecoming.
If you do try my way, let me know and we can throw ourselves a little commiseration party!
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Now THAT is a party I’d go to!! 🙂
Before I make any transitions, I do a lot of set up for things to come so it doesn’t look like I pulled some event out of thin air. Then I’ll write something like, “Four weeks, three football games, two math projects and one crippling case of cramps later, homecoming week reared its ugly head.” Then a short review if anything crucial happened during those weeks. If not, just pick up where you left off. And the chapter before the jump always ends with a bit of a cliffhanger.
Feel free to use my transition. Unless you hate it, since I don’t know what your book is about. 🙂 I’ve never used that before.
And since they’re in high school, emotions and gossip will run rampant. So set up a bit of that before big transitions. Does that help at all? Clear as mud?
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That does help actually!! Writer friends are awesome!
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Yay! I’m glad it helped! That’s what I love about WP. I’ve met so many awesome writer-type friends.
Like my pun??? 🙂
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Well-played!
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Same with me! The first chapter is still taking me the longest during this editing phase. Maybe because it’s what most agents ask to see with my query letter?
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Yes exactly!! That is totally what adds to the stress. How much of a chance will they give it? Like if they don’t like the first page, first paragraph, first line even will they just throw you in the slush pile? Or will they even read it period after reading the synopsis? So stressful! So much at stake with such a small sample of writing!
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It IS stressful! And the pressure we put on ourselves doesn’t help either. But it makes me feel a bit better to know I’m not the only one focusing on the first chapter 🙂
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Omg no way you’re not the only one! We can throw ourselves a pity party 😛
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I’ll bring the cake 😀
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I’ll bring the champagne lol 😀
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The HARDEST thing to write for me is the middle. I know how I want my story to end but the question is “how do I get the plot from point A and point B”. Ugh–the possibilities! At the same time, I kinda like the challenge!
I can sympathize with you on beginnings but they don’t pose much of a problem for me as the middle..
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Yea… that’s tough too. Plotting and continually asking myself what’s the worst that can happen? How can I make my protagonist make bad choices that lead to conflict? Or make things happen that push him/her to the brink. All that helps me some.
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Just three parts are difficult for me: Beginning, Middle, and End 😉
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Haha!!! Well at least it’s equal opportunity so there’s no part you dread most?
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I outline till I’m blue in the face and still struggle hard with what feels like a constantly crumbling middle. But yeah, the beginning runs a pretty close second. The ending is a not too distant third….
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Haha it’s all hard! The beginning has just been torture on this novel. Happy writing!!
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The hardest part, for me at least, is a) getting the first chapter done, yes and b) getting everything to look the same! By that I mean making the voice and style of writing that I use consistent throughout the novel. In the beginning, I don’t have a good sense of the narrator’s voice, but as I get deeper into it, the character (narrator) starts to develop and have more of a sense of voice, and because I’m writing in first person, the voice of the character vastly influences my writing style. So by the end, I’m writing with a distinct style, and I have to go to the beginning and try to rewrite it using the same style. It’s so difficult…
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This is so true! You do discover the character’s voice as you write! I’ve found myself trying to rapidly edit entire sections to keep the voice consistent in my head……. Thanks for comment!
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For me is the ending… I need always a lot of time to ending a story. Unitl I haven’t no problem with begin and middle, the end is always problematic: happy ending, open ending… wrong ending?!
So this is really frustrating 😉
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And then you have to consider if you want to write a sequel or not, as this affects how much you want to wrap up the end! Thanks for stopping by!
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First chapters are hell. You put in so much that has to be cut out. It’s like amputating a body part. I am considering writing the last chapter first — or at least the last paragraph and the REAL AND FINAL first chapter last. That way I know what I want the grabber to be.
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