The Story. A valuable lesson I learned years ago came from an essay by Robert Louis Stevenson. To paraphrase the great master, he once offered the advice that the three most important things when writing a book were, "the story, the story, and the story." As simple as this insight might seem it is an element that has sometimes gone astray among many of the indie authors of our time.
"Pedestrian" is the style that we are often presented with that drags us along with the protagonist from one sequence of events to another. We are led to believe that the new wave of storytelling is the result of a tabletop game instead of a good yarn or narrative. The “pedestrian” method fundamentally fails because it does not advance with the most interesting material. Usually, with human stories, the more emotive the saga, the more people can relate and the better it will perform. The reader ultimately needs to take a journey and identify with your characters. Sometimes forward, sometimes backward, but rarely in a straight line.
Grab your reader with the first sentence. “This morning I put ground glass in my wife's eyes.” From Dennis Etchinson's 1979 story "The Dead Line." Gruesome? Yes, but it sure got your attention. Many years ago, while struggling with the creation of my first novel “The Cry of Cthulhu” I was fortunate to receive the same sage advice from Jim Steranko, the graphic artist, comic book writer, comic book artist, publisher and film production illustrator. Consequently, the opening in that novel became, “I am almost out of Valium, only one more pill left." It is like the opening scene of a great movie. You never forget it.
Do you really need an introduction? Most books have an introduction. My novel, "The CRY of CTHULHU" has one. Introductions can be boring. Intros, many times, are what we skip over so we can jump right into the story. As tempting as it may be, don't go out of your way to tell us how you came to write your story. Nobody cares. So as not to be a hypocrite, I endeavored to make my introduction titled, "Warning," to be an integral part of my novel's story. It also grabs the reader’s attention like the warning label on a newly purchased product. To drive this point home even further you can read the opening of, "The Cry of Cthulhu" . . . Here, in my blog titled 'Introduction to "The CRY of CTHULHU"
"Pedestrian" is the style that we are often presented with that drags us along with the protagonist from one sequence of events to another. We are led to believe that the new wave of storytelling is the result of a tabletop game instead of a good yarn or narrative. The “pedestrian” method fundamentally fails because it does not advance with the most interesting material. Usually, with human stories, the more emotive the saga, the more people can relate and the better it will perform. The reader ultimately needs to take a journey and identify with your characters. Sometimes forward, sometimes backward, but rarely in a straight line.
Grab your reader with the first sentence. “This morning I put ground glass in my wife's eyes.” From Dennis Etchinson's 1979 story "The Dead Line." Gruesome? Yes, but it sure got your attention. Many years ago, while struggling with the creation of my first novel “The Cry of Cthulhu” I was fortunate to receive the same sage advice from Jim Steranko, the graphic artist, comic book writer, comic book artist, publisher and film production illustrator. Consequently, the opening in that novel became, “I am almost out of Valium, only one more pill left." It is like the opening scene of a great movie. You never forget it.
Do you really need an introduction? Most books have an introduction. My novel, "The CRY of CTHULHU" has one. Introductions can be boring. Intros, many times, are what we skip over so we can jump right into the story. As tempting as it may be, don't go out of your way to tell us how you came to write your story. Nobody cares. So as not to be a hypocrite, I endeavored to make my introduction titled, "Warning," to be an integral part of my novel's story. It also grabs the reader’s attention like the warning label on a newly purchased product. To drive this point home even further you can read the opening of, "The Cry of Cthulhu" . . . Here, in my blog titled 'Introduction to "The CRY of CTHULHU"
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