Going Beyond Those First 50 Pages
by Sarah "Sally" Hamer
For most of my writing career, I have been called the "Fifty-page Wonder" by my critique group because I could come up with a story idea, flesh out the main two or three characters, and pull fifty pages out of my hat with relative ease. I won dozens of writing contests back when the romance genre had lots of contests, and even was nominated twice for in the Golden Heart contests. But, all too often, I lost steam and the fifty pages went under the bed, gathering dust bunnies.
Why? I just didn't know what was going to happen next or after that or after that. My characters just laughed at me when I asked what they wanted or needed or were willing to work for, and I struggled to make those stories come together into a cohesive, believable, and likable tale.
I finally had to learn to edit books to figure it out.
What did editing teach me about writing?
Many many things, but here are the three that made the most difference.
#1 Everyone gets a GMC.
I create a goal, motivation, and conflict for my characters, whether they like it or not. Each "important" character needs one of each to really come alive. All too often, if you don't know what they want, you can't create a place to go. So, as part of that, you also have to…(see next line)
#2 - Know how the book is going to end.
Since your protagonist has a goal, a realistic ending where the original goal (or the new and improved one discovered along the way) comes true. Do you know where the characters will end up? If so, it's mostly about putting plausible obstacles in the way.
#3 - Set up a structure.
We know stories have certain things that happen in certain places throughout the story. The Hero's Journey is, of course, the industry standard but isn't set in concrete. Many writers, especially if they're also strong readers, follow the hero’s journey automatically.
We know there must be an Ordinary World that needs an Inciting Incident to start the story. Then, we need our characters to jump from the Ordinary World into the Extraordinary World to learn the lessons. The largest and most important lesson, of course, is midway through: the Reversal – although it goes by many names. The second half of the book is the unraveling and putting back together of the character's character as the new understanding helps them find the real goal,
Last, but certainly not least, is the buildup to the end. It has many aspects: the hero/ine finding a path to reach the goal, a black moment where it seems unobtainable, a sacrifice when a choice MUST be made, conflict over that choice, finding the answer from within, and, finally, the execution of the plan.
It all sounds simple when I write it. And, ultimately, it is, once we know how to do it. Some writers do this in the first draft, and some do it later.
Final Thought
Give yourself a break. I've pulled more than one of those stories out from under the bed and finished it years later. It's like I needed to let them percolate under there with those dust bunnies until they were finally ready to be finished. And, until I knew exactly how to make that happen.
Do you have "under the bed stories?" Do you finish them? What tools do you use to help you get from idea to finished story? Please share them with use in the comments!
* * * * * *
About Sally
Sarah (Sally) Hamer, B.S., MLA, is a lover of books, a teacher of writers, and a believer in a good story. Most of all, she is eternally fascinated by people and how they 'tick'. She’s passionate about helping people tell their own stories and has won awards at both local and national levels, including two Golden Heart finals.
A teacher of memoir, beginning and advanced creative fiction writing, and screenwriting at Louisiana State University in Shreveport for over twenty years, she also teaches online for Margie Lawson at http://www.margielawson.com and the No Stress Writing Academy, teaching "The Triangle of Structure" and other classes. Sally is a freelance editor and book coach, with many of her students and clients becoming successful, award-winning authors.
You can find her at info@mindpotential.org.
Top photo from Depositphotos.
Leave a Reply
21 comments on “Going Beyond Those First 50 Pages”
Subscribe to WITS
Recent Posts
- What's Your Character's "WHY"?
- How Substack is Revolutionizing Writing Careers
- Capture Readers with the Magic of Interactive Fiction
- The problem with “fantasy races” (and what to use instead!)
- How Small Setting Elements Can Pack Big Emotional Hits
This is very helpful, and, yes, I have under the bed stories, too. I like to think of them as seeds of future projects and good idea generators, instead of non-start projects. I have recently taken one out and decided to really dig into the main characters and create much more in-depth character profiles. This has helped me buld steam and energy for telling the story and given me plot ideas. Looking for a more in-depth tool to help with this, too. Thank you, Sally!
You're very welcome, Ellen! I am glad it helped you reconsider your under-the-bed projects.
And, if you'll allow me a little self-promotion, I'm teaching a class on the No Stress Writing Academy on "The Triangle of Structure" which goes into a great amount of detail on the three main points of structure. Maybe that would help?
Thanks for the comment!
I had an awesome instructor who taught me all about GMC and structure and helped me finish my first book. Oh wait - that was you! 🙂 Great article - as always.
LOL! And your book is GREAT!
Thanks, Susan. You're the best!
I love this comment so much, Susan! You can see and feel all that gratitude and joy. 🙂
Yup. I have more than one "under the bed" story. Like you, I would get about fifty pages in and lose the thread of the story. Once I discovered and learned to apply story structure I am able to complete my stories. Some will always stay under the bed because they no longer interest me or I haven't figured out the GMC for the main characters. Once I do that, I can finish the story. Then during the editing phase, it gets polished to a shine.
Yes, and your stories do shine, Lynette! There's nothing wrong with having story ideas that don't go any farther than that 50 pages. We creative people have SO many amazing ideas, there are bound to be a few that never come to fruition.
Already checking it out! Thanks, Sally.
Ellen
Great! Thanks!
I know I always tell you this, Sally, but I love your magic...in the second draft. If I did this in the first draft while I was learning who these people are, I would freeze. But this is truly some solid magic for that second pass. I appreciate this post!
Jenny, you're SO right! First draft is creating, second (et.al.) is for the fine tuning.
Great point!
I use the Three-Act structure to help me keep on track.
Denise, in writing, there is no better guide than the Hero's Journey. And, it's pretty good for life itself!
The 3-Act Structure is what saves my bacon every time. I can do that pretty early. I just can't get to the other fine-tuney things too early.
At this point in time, the fact that I'm really old (wisdom of the elders old) of course! Time is running out and it's vital for me to have my Autobiography published and out there in the next 3 months (a miracle could help here). WITS has been my go-to for not giving up: despite me living in Australia, so I would have to give Collen and wonderful WITS contributors a mention. Now I have completed (I'm pretty sure.) my book but it's messy and I'm testing the waters of all the editor/publishing arena seriously and nervously. I seem to always be editing, and the rubber has to hit the road now, says she whilst catching her breath in trepidation!
Sandra, no matter how old we are, our autobiography is very, very important to write. Congrats on getting it put together enough to realize it's a mess! Editing is good. Really good. And, you may realize it's not as much of a mess as you thought. 🙂
Best wishes on it!
Yes, I have stories gathering dust bunnies. But for one, at least, I know the beginning and ending, have written both, but can't join then up!
V.M., I have a couple like that too. I pretty much always know how it's going to end, since the beginning is the set up for that. (At least most of the time!) The Hero's Journey always helps me to work through the worst of it.
My suggestion is to work with the GMC and structure. We almost always need a big "ah-ha!" moment right in the middle. That helps me keep on track.
You'll get it to work!
I have SO MANY stories that I want to finish one of these days. My favorite tool is World Anvil, but I also love diving into any of the teachings of Margie Lawson to make editing magic.
Right? Yes to all this!!
And, it is magic when we get it perfect, at least in our heads! I love the "poetry" of a well-written phrase. I think we all do. LOL!
Thanks, Lisa.