Guest Article: Begin With a Bang! by Robyn Opie
Begin with a Bang!
by Robyn Opie
It is a fact of life that publishers will only read one or two pages of your manuscript. They receive far too many submissions to give each one their undivided attention from beginning to end. And, sadly, some of these submissions don’t deserve more than a minute or two of an editor’s time.
As a reader, I have given up on books that haven’t grabbed me in the first chapter. Children, I’m sure, are less patient than I am.
Therefore it is vital for a writer to grab the reader in the first page or two, especially when writing for children. We can even narrow this done to the first sentence or paragraph. Your beginning should intrigue the reader and inspire him/her to read further.
Dialogue and action are a great way to start a novel. Imagine the beginning of your children’s book as dropping your readers into the middle of things, when everything is starting to change or get interesting. Using dialogue or action to plant questions in your readers’ minds will hopefully make them want to read on.
Of course, sometimes it’s necessary to set the scene. Background information about the character, their family, home, friends etc – that is essential to the plot – should be interspersed in such a way that it never slows the story down. Certainly it should never fill the first few pages of your manuscript at the expense of the story.
Let’s look at some examples from my own children’s books:
Beginning with dialogue –
(From my easy reader Chick Catches Dinner)
“I can’t sleep,” said the chick. “I’m not tired.”
In the above example, I’ve introduced the main character and her problem.
A few lines later:
“I wonder if anyone else is awake,” said the chick. She went for a walk.
Thus begins chick’s night-time adventure.
Beginning with action –
(From my junior novel The Mad Mower)
Tony felt nervous, as though his stomach was a food processor mixing a chocolate cake.
In the above example, I want the reader to wonder why Tony is feeling nervous. What is so important to him? And who is Tony anyway?
A few lines later:
Now he was ready to test his computer programme. If it worked it would be unbelievable. It would change his life forever.
The above paragraph is meant to keep the reader turning the pages. What computer programme? Why would it be unbelievable and change his life forever?
Beginning with action and dialogue –
(From my easy reader Down the Well)
The hen heard a splash in the well, so she went to have a look.
“Hello,” yelled the hen.
“Hello,” yelled a voice.
Again, in the above example, I want the reader to keep turning those pages to find out the answers to a few questions. Has someone fallen down the well? Is the voice simply the hen’s echo?
Beginning with setting –
(From my junior novel Martian Milk)
The carpark at Shopper’s Dream was busy. It was Thursday, the day when shoppers from Planet Nub and Planet Teg came to visit, looking for bargains. Paul’s mother, Mrs Taylor, flew the space-car around and around, looking for a place to park.
In the above example, I’m setting the scene of a futuristic Earth. The idea is still to keep the reader turning those pages.
By now, you should be seeing a pattern with beginnings. They are all about hooking the reader and making them want to read more until they have all the answers.
The conflict should be evident as soon as possible, preferably within the first few paragraphs of your children’s book. Your reader needs to know who the story is about (main character) and why there is a story (the main character’s problem/conflict) as early in the novel as possible. You want your readers identifying with the character and their problem before they have a chance to lose interest. This is even more important when writing for children. Children have shorter attention spans and a lot of distractions around them, such as TV, computer games and sport.
Writers often start their story at a point then later, in the rewriting/ editing process, change the beginning. It can take numerous attempts to get the beginning right. Whole opening chapters can sometimes be discarded to improve a story. I’ve done this myself.
It isn’t enough to captivate the publisher or reader with a brilliant beginning. You need to keep the standard. The middle and ending of your children’s book should be equally as satisfying. However, it is the beginning of your novel that will keep the publisher reading or make them move onto the next submission.
© Copyright Robyn Opie. All Rights Reserved.
Hot Writing Link: poetry Writing with Jack Prelutsky
Guest Article: Plotting and Developing a Story – by Robyn Opie
Plotting and Developing a Story: Cyclone Santa
By Robyn Opie
In 2001, my then publisher, Barrie Publishing, produced an Australian fiction series. They were looking for stories with an Australian historical background for a second series. It was at this time I wrote Caught in a Cyclone, set at Christmas 1974 during Cyclone Tracy.
Before I could submit my manuscript, Barrie Publishing decided not to pursue a second series.
Years later, I submitted Caught in a Cyclone to Era Publications. The editors’ reactions surprised me. I thought it was a good story but I wasn’t expecting seasoned editors to become so enthusiastic and emotional over it. Caught in a Cyclone was accepted and published in 2007.
My partner, Rob, and I live in a residential three bedroom home with a large games room out the back. In the games room are a pool table and dart board. We like to play pool every night to relax but also to discuss writing and our various projects. We often use this recreational time to brainstorm, plot and plan. And that’s how my book Caught in a Cyclone became the basis of a feature film, now titled Cyclone Santa.
We knew that the book had to be developed and expanded to become a feature film of approximately 120 minutes. We’d already spoken to Bernadette O’Mahony from the Australian Children’s Television Foundation and she’d given us some valuable advice and ideas. We’d met with a local producer and script editor, who had also given us a couple of suggestions.
Advice, suggestions and ideas were helpful. But we still needed a plot or plots for our screen story. We were rather daunted and overwhelmed with the prospect of coming up with the entire contents of a movie. Where, oh, where to start?
Our location was obvious. We headed straight to our sanctuary – the games room. While we played pool, we discussed what we had. My book. That was it. So we had no choice but to start from there.
After speaking to Bernadette, we’d decided to increase the size of the family that, in the book, is at the centre of the drama. We added a young son, Mikey. Our family now consisted of two parents, a daughter and a son.
In the book, the family are home together when they get caught in Cyclone Tracy and experience the worst night of their lives. We decided that the best way to add drama and expand the story was to separate the family – the adults. The obvious choice was to put the father at work and keep the mother at home with the children. So we did the opposite.
Next, we had to think of reasons why the parents would be separated by distance at the time of a cyclone. It seemed unlikely, unless one of them was forced to work. Therefore the mother was at work and the father was at home. We loved the idea of going against the stereotype of the father being at work and the mother at home. But why would a mother be forced to work on Christmas Eve?
There seemed one obvious answer and that answer suited the drama of a cyclone perfectly. We decided that the mother would be a nurse at the Darwin hospital. For fun, we made the father an electrician who wasn’t able to find work due to the holidays, though the family needed his income. Clearly, work would not be an issue after the cyclone.
Once we’d placed the mother, Toni, at the hospital as a nurse, we were able to develop a second story line. We knew now how the two storylines would meet at the end of the screenplay. Again, it seemed an obvious choice – the Darwin hospital.
Enter Ben, Jam and Violet.
Ben is a contractor for Australian Royal Mail, who flies a tiger moth to outback communities to deliver the post. He is based on a real person.
In Outback Australia, Ben is approached by Jam, an Aboriginal boy in need of help. His grandmother, Violet, is seriously ill and needs urgent medical assistance. The point of this second story line was to force Ben to fly his tiger moth into Darwin during Cyclone Tracy.
During my research on Cyclone Tracy, I read a story about a man who flew a light aircraft into Darwin airport before it was closed as a result of the cyclone. We were amazed that someone could fly through a cyclone and imagined the drama of doing so. We had to include this element in our story.
Jam has a special place in our hearts and minds, mainly because he will always remind us of playing pool together. When one of us hits a lucky shot and the ball, no skill involved, ends up in the pocket, Rob sings out, ‘Jam’. We were discussing possible names for our character. After Rob made a fluky shot, I looked at him and said, ‘What about Jam?’
We have a friend who works in Aboriginal Communities. Every time we saw him, he told us stories about Indigenous people and their beliefs. We were able to draw on some of this information as we plotted Cyclone Santa.
The first thing we did, after brainstorming the two stories, was write a treatment – a 20 page synopsis or outline of the film. Our evening in the games room had given us enough information to complete the treatment.
Initially, we were overwhelmed at how to expand my book Caught in a Cyclone into a 120 minute feature film. But we knew that we had to try. So we just did it.
We started with the characters and the event Cyclone Tracy. Developing the characters helped us come up with two intertwining plots. Once we knew more about them, we knew how our stories were going to unfold. After all, the story is about the characters – it’s their journeys, their stories. In a way, we let the characters define their destinies, with a little help from us.
© Copyright Robyn Opie. All Rights Reserved.
Hot Writing Link
Another hot link to writing advice you should read.
Today’s link is to a wonderful article by Jackie French, one of Australia’s finest writers for children. Her article How to get Your First Novel Published explains brilliantly the need to write and rewrite, target your submission and much more.
You can read this excellent advice here.
Guest Article: Plotting a Children’s Book, by Robyn Opie
Plotting a Children’s Book
by Robyn Opie
In a previous article on writing for children, I explained the ideas behind some of my children’s books. Over time, I’ve trained my brain to be on “alert” for ideas and I discover a lot more ideas than I have time to put pen to paper or fingers to laptop.
Not all ideas are equal.
Some ideas work well and become books. Some ideas fail to develop.
So how do we take an idea and develop it into a plot for a children’s book? How do we work out what to write once we have the initial idea?
Here’s a basic plot outline:
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A main character is introduced.
*
The main character’s problem is revealed.
*
Obstacles stand between the main character and their goal.
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The main character reacts and new obstacles arise.
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The main character reacts again and new obstacles arise. The tension is mounting.
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All seems lost. But wait!
*
All is resolved as the story is brought to a satisfactory conclusion.
It’s important to remember that a plot is supposed to help the writer and reader. Don’t adhere too closely to the above plot outline if it hinders your writing.
Some writers prefer to work with a plot outline. Some writers don’t give plot a thought until they’ve finished the first draft. Do what works for you.
Let’s look at some important elements of plot in regards to writing for children.
The best plots come from characters. It’s a character’s personality, background and experiences that determine how he or she will react to certain situations, events or people.
As a writer, you can come up with an idea. Where your idea goes – the plot – depends on your characters. Every idea can go off in many directions. More on this in a minute.
A plot needs conflict or a problem to be interesting and entertaining. Sure, I can sit here and tell you the “plot” of my day. Ho hum! No one cares, other than me, and possibly my dogs.
However, if I go outside and find a lion in my backyard, you’d probably become interested in my day. My day has a conflict or problem. What am I going to do? How am I doing to solve this problem? Can I solve this problem? Or will I become lion lunch?
Okay, back to the character. Me. Imagine I’ve been abusing my dogs… Huh! They’re asleep on my bed. Anyway, imagine that I’m abusive to animals. You’d probably be rooting for the lion, hoping that I get my just desserts. Or hoping that the lion gets its just desserts. Me!
Now imagine that I’m a little old lady who takes in poor orphaned children and cats. Er small, domestic cats. You’d probably be rooting for me (and my brood), hoping that the nasty lion goes away hungry.
The direction this plot takes depends on the main character – their personality, background and experiences. Animal abuser or little old lady with orphans? The animal abuser might feed her dogs to the lions then try to escape. The little old lady would probably feed herself to the lions to save the orphans – as a last resort.
Every character has motivation – a reason to be in the story. The main character has motivation that the reader cares about i.e. the little old lady saving herself and her poor orphans from being lion lunch.
Sometimes it’s the motivation of other characters that become obstacles to the main character reaching his or her goal i.e. the next-door neighbour wants the old lady and orphans to move out and therefore tries to assist the lion. He probably put the lion there in the first place.
The best plots have tension. It’s the tension that keeps a reader involved in a story, that keeps them turning the pages. Most of us have had the feeling “I need to know what happens next”.
The little old lady is about to be eaten. No, she’s not. Yes, she is. No, she’s not.
The tension is building. The main character has a problem. He/she tries to fix the problem. But the problem gets worse. He/she tries to fix the problem. But the problem gets worse. He/she tries to fix the problem. Yay! They finally solve their problem.
As you can see, every scene in a plotted story follows logically from the previous one. Plot makes the scenes appear connected.
A picture book has simpler plots. The above illustration of a plot may not suit a picture book.
My plot “map” shows you how I started with a basic idea. “Tom is afraid of water” then took that idea off in many directions. The plot of this children’s story comes from the character – Tom.
How Tom will react to being afraid of water depends on Tom’s personality, background and experiences. Other characters can become part of his problem or obstacles to resolving the problem.
I thought about water and related topics. Then I asked myself questions.
I used my plot “map” to follow each of these ideas to see what could happen next. Hopefully, one of these possibilities will appeal to me and I’ll choose that one to work on. I can use the plot “map” structure to outline the plot of my chosen idea.
Remember a plot is about a character with a problem. Make that problem BIG. And if your story begins to snooze, then give your character more problems.
My plot “map” is a visual of where an idea can go. As I mentioned earlier, one idea can go off in many directions. You may prefer to work with a list. This happens. Then this happens. Then this happens. You may prefer to work without a plot. Give your character obstacles, not yourself. Do what works for you.
CLICK HERE to download my plot “map”.
(This is a PDF file – to download, right-click your mouse over the link and select “save target as” – then save the file to your preferred destination before opening!)
© Copyright Robyn Opie. All Rights Reserved.
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