Ice's writing tips

How to start and book (and make it good)

So guys, I am going to do this new thing for this book. So any of you that leave a comment for something for me to give tips about, I will put your question in here and answer as well as dedicate the chapter to you so, your welcome! I scrolled through my comments from like forever ago and gathered a couple. This was the first one I saw so here we go!

"Can you do how to start a book like the first scene or sentence?"

This is a very excellent question. In all honesty, if it were to answer this a couple of months ago, I would have had no clue. But after talking with my lovely editor of mine, I can share some of her tips and mine to better help you and others out there!

Before I give tips on how to start the book, think of it this way. My editor had told me months ago that the first paragraph, the first sentence is what will make or break the book. Your first paragraph is where you introduce the reader to your awesome character and the situation at hand.

One thing I would heavily avoid when starting a story is clichés. Clichés? They aren't just over used plot points, they can be setting things as well.

One of the most hair pulling, computer bashing cliché I HATE is "Sally heard her alarm go off. She groaned looking at the time and yada-yada-yada."

My editor agreed with me, never, ever EVER start out a story with the character waking up in the morning and heading off to school. It's heavily over used and just gets eye rolls.

So back to starting your story. One of my first tips I would say would be to become your character in that moment. (This tip excludes those whose story starts off with a prologue rather than chapter 1) What do you feel that your character would be doing? Get us readers to show them something about them right away. Are they sitting in the middle of a field trying to clear their head from an argument from their siblings? Did they just get banished from hell and are wandering the streets of Vegas to meet up with an angel to redeem themselves? Or are they a hand maid that is scrubbing the floors of the dirty palace.

As a reader, we almost immediately need to connect with your character right away. If they do something simple and average, it gets boring.

"But Ice, my character is average and boring!" says some people.

Well to those of you who state so, is your character a piece of cardboard? I don't mean to be rude but even simple characters have their weird quirks, their awkward moments, their hobbies, ect. Nobody is average and if they are, they are a cliché.

Think of this as an essay (Don't roll your eyes at me!) in English, we are always taught to start an essay with a hook. As authors, its the same principle. If there is no hook, there is no drive to read the story. I would suggest to get place the hook in the first paragraph or best yet, the first damn sentence (sorry for my language).

Anyway, I hope this helped for you sista. Once you establish defining your character, you can set the tone for your story and keep us interested.

So, this ends this chapter. Please like I said before comment below on tips you would like to hear and I will try to answer them as quick as possible!

~Ice