Where Am I?

If you're asking about Book 2, I have absolutely no idea. It all depends on if Book 1 gets representation and if it doesn't, Book 2 will look very different.

I've got back into reading again, now I've found another author I really enjoy reading. I've just finished Red Sister by Mark Lawrence. While I obviously enjoyed the book, I was also looking at how it was written. I found it really difficult to put Red Sister down, and when the book finished I was absolutely gutted there wasn't more to read!

This is the type of book I want to write! Red Sister and Earth Rising (working title) are very different, one set now about aliens, one set on a different planet with 1600's style technology and magic but both are about young girls on a journey of discovery.

Reading Red Sister really made me step back and have another look at my own writing. Now, every time I start to write Book 2, I stop and hate everything.

I'm not saying I want to write in the style of another author. I'm saying I want to have the same effect as another author, the same impact on the reader. When Nona, the main character in Red Sister, was in danger, the world around me melted away and I was there with her. I was drawn in.

When I look at my own writing, I don't feel as if the reader is drawn in. I don't feel as if there is enough at stake. I'm finding it so difficult to start Book 2, I have 5 open documents each with a different opening. Three actually have the same opening but written from different perspectives.

In the end, I gave up writing the opening and instead went to write the antagonists story. She's called Eris, a young adult from a dying planet. In order to win favour with the ruling Gorgons and hopefully secure aid for her planet, she agrees to do untold awful things to help the evil Gorgons achieve their goals.

Her planet had a history of legends. Fierce warriors who fought in the Great Alliance War. It hurts Eris deeper than she can express to see her people on their knees, begging for help from those who once feared her species.

It is that rage she takes with her as she leaves her planet and begins the mission the Gorgons set out for her. She doesn't question the why's or the reasons behind her instructions, all she knows is that on completion of her mission, millions of her people will be saved.

That led to me writing some notes for the outline for Book 2. However, that doesn't help me open the story. I was going to write it with Tim waking up from a nightmare, but I read advice which said not to do that.

The tips I found for writing an opening were from Jericho Writers. The author of the article, was harsh and picky, but that's exactly what I need for my writing. Kindness won't make me any better, it won't make me think. I couldn't find an author, but (s)he says

• it has to make sense
• it has to launch questions about the following story
• it must be confident

I also found these tips from How to Write a Captivating First Sentence by Lana Adler.

1. Mystify your reader. Make the first sentence intriguing or somewhat open-ended. Think of it as your mini masterpiece complete in itself, a tantalizing first taste of your literary treat.
2. Don't use deception to "lure" your reader. Like false advertisement, a false premise is disappointing and maddening. The first sentence should hint on what your story's going to be about without giving it all away.
3. Be bold. Get to the point. Avoid any "fluff" in your opening line. Make sure it includes some essential information that establishes the parameters of your story.
4. Be creative. Surprise. Rattle. Catch off guard. As Graham Greene had said, a story's beginning or ending is arbitrary. It can begin anywhere because it's just "that moment of experience from which to look back or from which to look ahead."
5. Use humor. There's nothing better than humor to break the ice, whether it's an opening line of a speech or the first sentence of a book.

But with all these tips in my head, my opening line isn't doing any of that and each time I write it, it's not

good enough. 

This basically means that Book 2 is going nowhere! I thought maybe I could skip the opening and just write the strong ideas for scenes that I have in my head. That way I'm still writing, I'll have plenty of time for reading and I can put the story together in a chronological order when I've got more of the pieces. 

It's like a puzzle. I'd normally start with the edges and maybe a bit of sky, but with Book 2 and the way I'm feeling at the moment, I think it'll have to be connecting the bits together that I find first and just seeing if the edges fit. 

That is where I am at the moment, with Book 2. Book 1, working title, Earth Rising is out with agents as I am querying. I sent out to agents back in April and I've now sent out again today. I've had two rejections so far as I wasn't right for the list. But the aim is to never give up. 

I think it's really easy to think about giving up when you receive a rejection. But one day, you will be someone's favourite author. If you give up, that will never happen. If you keep trying, then it will.