A New Beginning

Posted on August 6, 2007
Filed Under Writing |

I’ve been fighting with the opening for Book 2: Heir of Fire, for quite a while now. I know what is supposed to happen throughout the book in broad strokes. I have the ending and I love it. But I’ve tried 3 different versions of the opening and it’s always fallen flat. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve loved each of them in their own way, but they each had their problem. There’s a lot of information that I have to setup, and it’s been a struggle doing it in an entertaining and entrancing way.

I think I’ve solved the problem, though, and in a very unique way. I hope it works as good as I think it will….

I know for a fact that it would play well in a movie or a TV show. I am a little worried though about how it will work on the page.

When I wrote Daughter of the Sun, I wanted to write a fantasy with a thriller aspect to it. I wanted to up the pacing of the standard fantasy fare, and utilize some of the suspense of a great thriller to pull the writer along. According to most of the feedback I’ve gotten, it worked. But it’s still not as taught and action packed as a standard thriller. I think this one may end up a bit more that way, from the way the opening is taking shape.

Let’s go on a little experiment for a moment. I’m going to tell you a little bit about the opening and the shape it’s taking, and I want to hear what you think. Do you think it will work on the page? Do you think it might throw you off too much, or help pull you along?

—–WARNING! IF YOU HAVEN’T READ BOOK 1, YOU MIGHT WANT TO SKIP THE REMAINDER OF THIS POST.—–

The book starts with Joss trapped in a room, dressed in nothing but a silk robe. She’s terrified of the ceremony that will make her an official part of the Duke’s new family. But she’s not sure why. She tries to escape, but can’t. And then the door opens and the Duke is standing there, holding an old bed sheet covered in blood in his hands.

The story will cut back and forth on this ceremony. It has some very dark overtones, and hints at sexual elements that never come to fruition, but will be much like the healing scene when Joss first arrived at the Duke’s camp. Each chapter starts with the next portion of the story that leads us through the ceremony, always ending on a small cliff-hanger.

The rest of the chapters are 1 or 2 scenes that take us through past events right up to the moment the Rebels attempt to overthrow the ceremony. We see tense moments in the Overlord’s past that explain things that happen later in the book, and sets up things that will be important in the ending. We also get to see Rickward and Johan’s fight as Johan is hell bent on saving his daughter - to the point that he can’t pay attention to his new child in front of him. We get to learn more about Raven and the Nekodah and what terrible things their choice to leave the care of the Temple of the Sun has had on them.

So let me know your thoughts, please!

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Comments

One Response to “A New Beginning”

  1. Daniel M. Perez (The Gamer Traveler Podcast) on August 9th, 2007 9:17 am

    I like that scene structure, actually. The only thing to watch out for is that, once the ceremony sequence is complete, it ties seamlessly into the rest of the novel. Also, the snippets at the start of each chapter should, ideally (in theory), tie into the events of the chapter somehow, so that they don’t feel like they’re just there only because of a stylistic decision, but because they are an organic part of the tale being told in chapters. But yeah, sure, go for it.

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