Introduction to Plotting the Novel's Beginning
Plotting the novel is a long and not entirely straightforward business. Out of all the tasks that you have to perform during the planning stage of the Novel Writing Process, plotting your novel is by far the largest.
So long as you tackle it step by step, though, and don't try to rush, you will be fine.
To make life easier, I have split the entire process of plotting a novel into three broad stages. No prizes for guessing what they are...
- Plotting the Beginning - in which the novel's principal character makes a decision to act.
- Plotting the Middle - which shows the action itself.
- Plotting the Ending - which deals with the consequences of the action.
And to make life easier still, I have sub-divided beginnings into three steps. I will be looking at these in detail in just a moment, but first I want to talk more generally about plotting the novel's beginning.
Plotting the Novel's Beginning - An Overview
The most important job that the opening of a story has to perform is to hook the reader.
There are two ways to do this...
- Introduce the readers to a compelling character.
- Promise them a gripping story ahead.
What makes a character compelling?
The answer to that lies in the section on Creating Characters, not this one on How to Plot a Novel. Broadly speaking, though, you simply have to make the reader care about the character.
Achieve that and the readers will be happy to stick by the character's side for the long journey ahead.
But having a great leading character isn't enough by itself to hook the audience. Something needs to happen, or be about to happen soon, if you want to ensure they keep turning the pages. Oh, and not just any old thing, but something of consequence - something, in short, that will disrupt the character's status quo and force them to act.
I will talk about precisely how to achieve these things in just a moment, but if you remember that plotting the novel's beginning is essentially about introducing the readers to a compelling character who has a concrete goal to achieve, you won't go far wrong.
Before moving on, a few more general points about plotting the novel's opening...
- Keep the opening simple, especially the first few pages. Don't introduce too many named characters (ideally, keep it to one or two), and don't launch into a lot of unnecessary explanation.
- It is best to begin with a self-explanatory situation, one which is able to speak for itself and doesn't require a lot of explaining to make it clear what is going on.
- Even if it isn't immediately clear what is going on, don't worry about it. Planting questions in the readers' minds and not immediately answering them is a good thing. There will be plenty of time later on to explain who this character is, or what their relationship with that character is, and so on.
- Talk and action is preferable to wordy description and explanation in the opening pages.
- Make the beginning of the novel true to what is to come. If you are writing a gentle drama, don't begin with an explosion in a fireworks' factory.
- Don't begin with a situation that isn't central to the novel's main plot. If the plot revolves around an extra-marital affair, for example, begin with the cheating couple interacting in some way, not with the man saving his best friend's son on a hunting trip (or something equally non-central).
- This last one is more to do with writing the novel than plotting the novel, but it is still worth mentioning here: devote more care and attention to the opening chapter/page/paragraph/sentence than to anything else. For the book-buying public, and for editors in publishing houses, these opening words will make or break your novel.
"Don't be alarmed if the beginning seems particularly difficult to write. You are getting to know your characters by hearing them speak and seeing them in action. It is bound to take time. Once you are launched and have reached a better understanding of your characters, you will find you can work more quickly and easily."
- Dianne Doubtfire
Enough talk. It is time to talk about plotting the novel's beginning in detail.
Here are the three steps...
- Start with the status quo
- And then something happens.
- The character makes a decision to act.
Collectively, these opening steps of a plot can be thought of as the rising action phase.
In other words, a novel's beginning starts with a static situation in which nothing interesting is happening but rapidly escalates to a point where the action is about to kick in big time.
Keep reading for a detailed look at Steps 1-3: Rising Action...
