Casting the Bones

The first ten pages of a book or screenplay are absolutely crucial to the success of that work.

That’s a bold statement, sure, but true.  If you do not hook your reader in your first ten pages, it is unlikely that they’ll read the next ten.

If you send your manuscript to an agent who claims to “read all submissions,” (and good luck finding one) be assured that if he or she doesn’t see something promising right up front, not only will he/she not continue reading, but you’ll spend a lot of time waiting for a phone call that will never come.

Some agents won’t even read past the FIRST page if it doesn’t hook them.

So how, exactly, DO you hook them?  I have a few ideas:

Your voice.  Every writer has a unique voice.  A particular way of saying things that makes us know right way who’s writing.  Stephen King is a great example.  Years ago, when he wrote THINNER under the pen name Richard Bachman, I remember picking up the book in the bookstore and thinking, jeez, this guy writes just like Stephen King.  And it was good, of course.  I was hooked from page one.  If you work to develop a voice that is smooth, professional and, most importantly, entertaining, you’ll have gone a long way toward making those first ten pages sing.

Make it a mystery.  I don’t care what kind of story you’re writing.  EVERY story is a mystery story.  And by mystery, I merely mean that you don’t reveal everything up front.  You tease your reader, planting questions in his/her mind, questions that he wants answers to.  But then you take your time answering them.  In a typical cop story, this might be “who killed the waiter and why?”  But it could also be, “Who rejected Allison?  Why is she afraid to ride the bus?  What happened to her that was so traumatic?” Your job is to plant seeds in those first ten pages and use the next 390 to watch them grow.

Start with action. And by action I don’t necessarily mean a chase scene or gun play.  I merely mean to begin IN MOTION.  You might have a couple waiting to hear from a doctor, or a man driving to a place he’s dreading, a woman getting a phone call from an old lover.  Whatever the case, do not start with a stagnant scene — like someone waking in the morning.  Start with the story already in motion.

If you follow these three suggestions, I think you’ll be a long way toward making those first ten pages engaging and rewarding to the reader.

But once you’ve got them hooked, the trick is to keep them hooked until the very last scene.

Okay, I’m going to be blunt and up front with you here.

I don’t believe in writer’s block.

Oh, I believe that you can get stuck sometimes.  Hell, I write without an outline, so I get stuck all the time.  Writing is a lot like running.  You keep going and going and eventually you run out of wind.  So you need to rest for a while, then get back out there and start running again.

And how do you do that?

One foot in front of the other.

One of the easiest ways to get past those stuck moments is to use the AIC method.  And if you don’t know the AIC method, trust me, it’s nothing new.  Writer’s have been practicing it for decades.  Centuries.  There isn’t a writer alive who hasn’t, at one time or another in his/her life, used this method:

Ass.
In.
Chair.

“But, Rob,” you cry, “it isn’t as simple as that.  I put my ass in my chair and all I do is stare at a blank screen and have no idea what to write.  It’s been this way for days.  Weeks.”

My answer to you, then, is maybe you weren’t meant to write.

Professional writers don’t have a choice but to produce words.  Once you get a book or a movie deal, you’re given a deadline.  And you’d damn well better meet that deadline or you won’t work again.  So, please, don’t give me any of that whiny, cry-baby crap about not being able to find your muse.

Your muse is a crutch, and kiddo, if you don’t produce, you have nobody to blame but yourself.

Ass
In
Chair.

And once you sit down, it doesn’t matter WHAT you write.  As long as you’re writing.  Putting words down.  Just close your eyes and start typing nonsense.  Write anything.

Because once you get started, you might just discover that you’re getting into a rhythm, that the words are starting to flow, and the next thing you know you’re starting to make sense and, hey, that line wasn’t too bad, maybe you can come up with another one — and, yeah, there you go, it’s happening now.

And you know what?  Maybe what you write mostly sucks.  Maybe it’s so bad you wouldn’t show it to your best friend in the whole world, or your mother, who always loves everything you do.

But guess what?

You don’t have to.

What you write is for your eyes only, and will only go out into the world when you’re ready to release it.  When you feel confident enough to let it go.

So, you really have no excuse.  And writer’s block is just that.  An excuse.

So knock off the whining and get that ass back in your chair.

You can do it.  You know you can.