The upside is that I’ve already gotten a good couple thousand words in on Meet the Lidwells! Most of the text is coming straight from the very rough draft I wrote a few years back, of course, but it’s going in the right direction.
The downside is that I can already see where I’m going wrong. Thankfully I know exactly what it is that’s wrong, and how to fix it.
I’ll be honest — the beginnings of my novels are always a mess. I spend the first couple of chapters knowing what I want to write, but I haven’t quite grasped how I want it to play out. The prose is all over the place as I try out all kinds of different styles on the fly. I’ll plant the seeds of one or two minor plot points that may or may not survive the end result. I may even get a few of the details mixed up.
But hey, that’s what revision and editing is for, right? Once I do figure it all out (which is usually around two or three chapters in), then I have a solid platform for the rest of the novel, and I can clean everything up in those two or three sketchy first scenes. A Division of Souls had at least three wildly different openings before I put all the pieces together and figured out which one works the best. I had a hell of a time trying to figure out how to start The Balance of Light the way I wanted it. Lidwells is no different; once I get into the groove, I’ll be able to build a more solid opening.
Do I wish I could write a perfect opening? Nah. Doing it the way I do is actually part of the fun! It helps me connect with the story on an emotional level; once I’ve done that, then I can reshape the opening to fit that mood. I don’t see it as wasting time and words; I see it as part of the whole exercise. As long as I’m going in the right direction…that’s all that really matters.
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