THE BEGINNING
Welcome back! If you have no earthly clue what this is, I suggest that you read How To Write a Book, Part 1: The Very Beginning by clicking Here, or just read on, if you don't mind starting in the very middle; My favorite way to read a book! Sometime, you will catch up, but reading the first part is a pretty good idea.
Now that you have the very beginning down, and a seedling of an idea is starting to sprout, we can continue on to the next part: The beginning. This is different from the very beginning, in that it is carrying an idea, and you are actually starting the storyline. I, personally think that this is easier, because you have a bit of what you are going to write in your mind, and you have already started the character development.
First, you might start a "Meanwhile" paragraph. For instance, if you remember the sample about Eva's brother who was going to America, this might be the "Meanwhile" paragraph:
Evelyn McWheedon sat on her stoop. She was waiting. Not waiting for rain, or to see her father's carriage pull up, or even for the mail. She was waiting for a pigeon. She was sitting in agonizing anticipation for her pigeon, Adéle, to show up. Six weeks ago, Evelyn had sent her to France to carry a note to her friend, Amélie. Evelyin peered into the red and purple sky, thinking of all the terrible things that could have happened, when she saw a white speck in the distance. She craned her neck to see what it was as it flew erratically over her house, and it doubled back and landed, haphazardly, next to Evelyn. It was carrying a package. What in the world?... Evelyn thought as she untied the package. Adéle flew off to her perch in the chestnut tree.
What Evelyn unwrapped was amazing. Terrifying, but amazing none the less. Evelyn reached gingerly in and held up a brass ring, inset with a scarlet gem the size of her knuckle. When Evelyn held it up the light, she saw a flash of green in the gem. She could feel its power surging through her fingers.
She saw another flash of green and a twig snapped behind her. She gasped and turned around.
"I wondered when you would see me," A woman was standing behind her.
"Who--"
"I am... Someone. Names don't matter right now."
"But, how--"
"That ring you're holding? Yes, that is one of the most powerful artifacts on earth, and if you let it out of your sight, you will be guilty of putting existence in danger. Do you understand?" She didn't wait for Evelyn to answer before continuing. "Either you give it to me our you hold the biggest responsibility that has ever existed."
Evelyn stood, and looked at the ring.
"Good," the woman said. "Now hand it to me."
Evelyn put the ring in her pocket and stepped backwards a few steps. "Adéle!" She called, and a white streak shot out of the tree and hovered over her. Evelyn turned and ran. She had no idea why, but she knew that this woman was bad news.
I apologize for droning on and on there, but I was on a roll! Anyway, you see how you mostly forgot about the first story? You were wound up in this one. The ropes of curiosity bound you to your seat, moving your eyes across the page. Or maybe not. Maybe fantasy isn't your style? That's okay, but if you did like it, that is what you want your readers to do: Like it. Be bound to their seats, reading, reading, can't stop, just has to finish one more chapter, only one more chapter. Even if that didn't happen to you on my sample, there will be readers with the same style of reading as you. Maybe it is science-fiction, fantasy, or realistic fiction, but that is what you want to happen.
Above, I demonstrated the three rules of writing: Engagement, Thinking, and Curiosity. Engagement by telling the reader what she was waiting for. I demonstrated a thinking at the end by saying the woman was bad news, whether evil or not, we don't know yet, so you thought about why Evelyn didn't like her. Lastly, I demonstrated curiosity. What is the ring? Why does the woman want it? Who is she?
You might not have done a second story, but, typically, there is a second something going on, and soon they may intertwined. Something to draw the readers attention away to something else.
THE MIDDLE: Part 1
This is where you have your idea almost fully grown, you are reaching the climax, the characters are in some sticky situations (maybe). Here is where you want to prove to your readers that they read the beginning for a reason. You shouldn't have to try too hard to keep their attention, because you will be writing and not caring if the readers are still reading (What I mean is, you are so involved in your writing, you aren't thinking about if your readers will like it. Also, if you like it, that is all that matters).
Maybe the characters are about to fight some evil person or monster. They are suiting up. Here is where it matters what you have written, and what genre you wrote it in. I can't tell you the directions for fantasy if you are doing scifi or realistic fiction. You need to follow your instincts here. What you want to happen, when and how you want it to happen, all that.
Here is a tip I learned: Show a gun in act one, show its tricks by act six. What this means is that, if you introduce something, you need to show the reason you introduced it by the middle or end of the book. Say I introduced a bartender that was blind in the beginning.
Maybe he is a secret agent, and blind is his way to get away with something, or maybe he was really abducted by aliens and they experimented on his eyes. Something that helps with the plot of the book, or revealing a mystery, or something like that. If you will notice, in a lot of books you read, it will show you an object that has special powers or something.
Nothing is introduced for no reason other than to help with the plot, and to put together a book. Anything that takes up a lot of space in the book and is meaningless to the plot should probably, depending on your book, be edited out by the time you are done with your final draft.
Questions? Comments? I am not sure if I explained it well enough, so please tell me in the comments if there is something I left out, forgot, or didn't explain clear enough. Thank you! (It won't hurt my feelings if you tell me. I need you to tell me!)
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