The beginning of the year starts at different times for different people. For many people January 1st heralds the start of the year. However Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year) is usually in September and, for the Chinese, New Year doesn’t start until the end of January or February. For those of us working in the children’s book world I would say that our year begins in September/October with the start of the autumn term. So, as this is a site devoted to writing for children, it seems like an appropriate time to be starting my new blog.
But what about other beginnings? What about, for example, the beginnings of stories and books? What are we, as editors, looking for when we pick up a manuscript and turn to that all important first page?
Last week I attended the Children’s Bookseller Annual Conference where I learned a number of interesting facts – not least of which is that the children’s book market is showing huge resilience in these difficult times and has grown by 30% in the last five years. And the answer to the question ‘what are editors looking for?’ could well lie with points made by a couple of the speakers.
John Webb, Tesco’s Buying Manager, pointed out that consumers need to know what a book is all about just by looking at it. If they have to get to the last page before they can work it out, it’s too late. Danielle Davis, editor of Spinebreakers.com (Puffin’s teen reading website), underlined this point. A visit to the Spinebreaker’s home page tells you exactly what the site is all about by defining the word ‘spinebreaker’ as ‘any story-surfing, web-exploring, word-loving, day-dreaming reader/writer/artist/thinker age 13 – 18’.
On the other hand some guy speaking at the end of the conference illustrated what editors are not looking for when he tried to explain how his computer gaming system tied in with children’s publishing. None of us could work out what he was on about!
So what’s the answer? What are we, as editors of children’s books, looking for in a ‘beginning’? I think the answer is ‘clarity’. It has to be clear, very quickly, what we are reading about and why. If you get that right then the rest of the story should follow as naturally as…well as naturally as New Year’s Day follows New Year’s Eve!
Share your thoughts on what you think makes a great beginning to a story…
Your blog really rang a chord with me. I find beginnings of stories very hard. Sometimes I feel that if I can’t get the first few words right then I may as well not bother. What do you think?
I know the feeling – you should see how long it took me to finally get my first post online! For this reason it is important not to spend too much time on the exact wording of your opening until you have finished the whole manuscript. It’s then that you can go back and make all revisions necessary.
I’m confused about how quickly to launch into action in a first chapter, as the advice I’ve read seems to differ from what I have actually seen published. Most writing advice books tell you to start in the middle of the action to grab the reader, and then to back-fill any relevant detail gradually, however, I’ve noticed most popular published children’s books don’t actually start in the middle of the action but begin more slowly with background and getting to know your characters, and move into the action over the coming chapters (Inkheart, Airman, and Harry Potter are examples).
I have two different beginnings to my 9-12’s novel and can’t decide which one to submit to agents: 1) starts right in the middle of the action, but which I feel may prove confusing to the younger end of the age range as it’s set in the future and they may not be able to picture the background sufficiently 2) gives a short day in the life of the character’s futuristic world, with foreshadowing of what is to come before the action really kicks off at the start of chapter 2. Personally I prefer slower version 2 and believe this is more suitable for children, but am concerned that it may be dismissed as irrelevant as it’s not in-your-face action straight away. My question is, will an agent still spend the time reading a slightly slower chapter and get to action-packed chapter 2 without binning it (ie reading from a child’s point of view), or is it better to hook them (as an adult) with action straight off? I’m guessing it’s personal preference depending on who you’ve submitted it to, but any thoughts you may have on this would be appreciated!
Given a choice I would always play it safe and start in the middle of the action. It is possible to start more slowly but you have to be incredibly talented as a writer to pull this off successfully. The first lines still have to be compelling in some way – as proven by the titles you mention.
My advice would be to grab the attention of an editor or agent in any way that you can – well, not quite ‘any way’ but you know what I mean! If they feel that the opening needs slowing down then this is something that can be worked on at a later date once your manuscript has been accepted.
I would imagine that it matters to most editors who seem to be busy people is for them to understand the subject of the story and to be able to root out the characters as quickly as possible. A good opening must be essential to save these people time they don’t have.
I agree completely. A good opening is vital but, if we don’t care about the characters, then writing the story at all becomes a waste of time.
Hi Louise & everyone else
Last week was the first time I have written on a blog if that’s the right word. Is this similar to the twitter thing?
Am I supposed to keep to the subject that we were talking about regarding the best opening and the characters of can we just talk about any kind of writing?
Anyway I would just like to introduce myself. I am Jackie I am 58, that’s why I don’t know much about computers. I have been writing short stories for a long time but haven’t had any of them published but I keep trying.
I decided I would like to try writing children’s stories and have started a course with Louise and it’s really brilliant. I am enjoying it and am excited about it.
I have just finished my story book and sent it off to Louise. It was hard work and I don’t know if I am even on the right track with it but I enjoyed it a lot. My dream is to be a children’s published writer and for children to love my books the way I loved Enid Blyton and the joy she gave my life with her books. What more could anyone want?
I do hope it is okay to write all this. If not then I apologise.
I would so much like to talk to anyone else that is writing children’s story on Louise Jordan’s home study course.
Jacqueline A Taylor (Jackie).
What I would like is for blog visitors to respond to discussion points raised in my posts and to feel free to raise any other related queries. I can then develop discussions in further posts. And I particularly want home study students to get involved in blog discussion. I will be alerting everyone to our new blog section when I send out the first newsletter…soon I promise! And, Jackie, thank you for your first module coursework. Am enjoying reading it and looking forward to giving feedback.
I think that it’s important for a beginning of a story to feel the promise of something exciting to come from the book.
Not to give too much away about the story at the beginning but just enough to make you want to read on.
To get a child’s imagination going so that he or she can’t wait to read it or have it read to them. I also love colour in children’s books and I like to be attracted to the cover of the book.
I do like dialogue in a story and I know right from the first few lines whether It is my kind of book. I also prefer 3rd person narrative.
Having said all of that I haven’t written any children’s books before. Do you think it’s a lot different with a child’s book?
Jackie.
Hi everyone
On my last comment on the last line I asked a question is it a lot different from writing a children’s book? I meant is writing for children different than writing for grown-ups?
This blog thing is great. I feel as though I am in touch with like minded people. It’s all new stuff to me. This is so different from doing any other Home Study Course where you don’t get to know anyone.
I am a bit nervous though.
I’m excited and apprehensive as well about receiving feedback from Louise. I know it will be honest and interesting and will learn a lot from it about writing for children. I just hope I haven’t got it completely wrong.
Jackie.
Writing is writing but, obviously, targeting is all important so market research is vital whatever market you may be writing for.