just some friendly advice needed

magic15

Hi I am trying to write both my first chapter and prologue and I am not having much luck so I was wondering if you could help me?

Phil.

Carol

What is the difficulty?
Have you written any of the rest of it in the meantime?

ceka

Do you have a 'map' of the whole of the work - start where the action is loudest! Plunge straight in and just write, you can always edit later, but you need something TO edit!

dorothyd

Phil, I notice you ask a lot of questions but aren't getting on with the writing. How about picking a scene fairly near the beginning and just writing it? That will get you going. You can always go back and write the prologue and opening lines of the chapter later.

Phots Moll

I agree with the others - just get writing. Doesn't matter what section or even if it's not great. Once you start you can add to what you've got and improve it.

Don't worry about a prologue, these are rarely needed.

Viv

Some writers spend so long trying to get page 1 perfect that they never get to page 2. All the top writers advise that you just get writing, then go back much later (when you really know where your story is going), and write the beginning then. Nobody says a book has to be written in order. Get into the bits that excite you first.

flyingtart

Here is a good article about this.

http://www.karenmiller.net/index.cfm?page=20

As everyone says, don't worry about getting it right, just get it writ.

Nena

Your first chapter is about introducing your main character (and not too many others) and launching the reader into the story. So if you've got some action planned, try to start with that. The better the pace and the more well-drawn the characters, the better.

I have to concur with Viv though. Don't feel confined to writing chapter 1 first. If there are bits of the story you have running around your head, get them down first. You might just find that once you get to know your characters better through those bits, the easier Ch 1 will be.

Neph

I tend to write the bits that come to me and eventually find I have enough to string them together in some sort of order and the first chapter then tends to write itself once I know where I'm going. Usually find I write the last paragraph early on and everything starts to fall into place.

Pete G

Didn't J.K Rowling have the last chapter of the Harry Potter series written very early on? Start from what you want at the end.