In order to write a good novel, it has to be something you are really interested in, and would love to read yourself, or you won’t likely succeed. This is especially true for your first novel. When I decided to write my first novel, I asked myself, “what would I want it to be about, and where would it take place?” I actually thought about this as I was driving back from a trip to Florida. I thought about who I would be if I could be anyone I wished to be—if I were the main character. What would I be doing, and where would I be? That’s how I got the idea, “I love meteors, so I’d be a scientist exploring a meteor crater.” Also, someday I’d love to see Meteor Crater in Arizona, so I decided that’s there it would start out—my character getting ready to lecture at a conference in Flagstaff. I also love fantasy, so I decided he would find something special in that crater—something that would transport him to another dimension somehow. I also figured there would be some conflict with a force of evil.
That is really about all I had for an idea. I didn’t know where it was going to lead, or anything like that. I literally just started writing the book. I imagined it to be like a movie in my head, so what would the first scene be? I pictured my protagonist standing in the desert with his jeep and a pair of binoculars, looking for a meteor. (Note, if you read my latest version of the book, I added a prolog later, because I didn’t feel like it started out strong enough. So I added a little evening party in the desert the night before so eye-witnesses could describe how the meteor got there).
I came up with my first sentence:
Dr. Jason ‘Jace’ Larkin, former professor of planetary geology at the University of Colorado, leaned his head back to take another drink from the canteen while the hot Arizona desert sun glared down on his upturned face.
Ok, I had set my stage with the main character as I envisioned the opening scene in my mind. I think it’s a great way to start. Sure, during later editing you CAN add material before that if you decide it makes sense. But this strong visual in your mind gets the story going.
After that, here is the Big Secret of how I write all my stories—I asked myself, ‘ok, what logically should happen next with this character?’
That’s it. I didn’t know where ANY of my stories were going to go, initially. I usually had a one to three sentence description of what the book would be about, and I write it from there. The benefit of doing this is that you enjoy writing the story as much as if you are reading it. It brings just as much pleasure to you, because you don’t know where it will go.
I will add more in my next blog about how I got my other inspirations, and what other elements you need to be concerned about, when writing your first novel. Feel free to comment on my blog.