Two Tips for Beginning Your Character-driven Novel

Sometimes you will find yourself needing to establish the fact that your protagonist is different from the normal Joe.  So how do you do this effectively, without going into a long exposition of why this character doesn’t fit the norm?  One way is to use another character in the first scene along with the protagonist who fits what we would describe as normal.  Sir Arthur Conan Doyle did this with Doctor Watson in the Sherlock Holmes series. 

 

To illustrate, here is a passage from the first scene in “A Scandal in Bohemia” from Adventures of Sherlock Holmes:

I had seen little of Homes lately.  My marriage had drifted us away from each other.  My own complete happiness, and the home-centered interests which rise up around the man who first finds himself master of his own establishment, were sufficient to absorb all my attention; while Holmes, who loathed every form of society with his whole Bohemian soul, remained in our lodgings in Baker-street, buried among his old books, alternating from week to week between cocaine and ambition, the drowsiness of the drug, and the fierce energy of his own keen nature.  He was still, as ever, deeply attracted by the study of crime, and occupied his immense faculties and extraordinary powers of observation in following out those clues, and clearing up those mysteries, which had been abandoned as hopeless by the official police.

Here Doyle shows us Sherlock Holmes by contrasting him with Dr. Watson.  He lets the reader know upfront that Sherlock Holmes does not conform to the cultural norms of the day, as Dr. Watson apparently does.  Holmes has no desire for wife and family, but possesses an incredible passion for solving crime.

Another way you can establish that your lead character is different from the rest is by placing him or her in a situation and have that person react in an unusual way. Charles Dickens did it with Scrooge in his novel A Christmas Carol.  Dickens places him in the counting house on Christmas Eve where he gives his kind visiting nephew a bah humbug and two men collecting money for the poor a lecture on why the poor are not getting any of his money.  The following passage gives us even more insight into his rather unlikable personality.  Here we see how he reacts to a Christmas caroler and his clerk who wants Christmas day off:  

Foggier yet, and colder! Piercing, searching, biting cold. If the good Saint Dunstan had but nipped the Evil Spirit's nose with a touch of such weather as that, instead of using his familiar weapons, then indeed he would have roared to lusty purpose. The owner of one scant young nose, gnawed and mumbled by the hungry cold as bones are gnawed by dogs, stooped down at Scrooge's keyhole to regale him with a Christmas carol: but at the first sound of God bless you, merry gentleman! May nothing you dismay! Scrooge seized the ruler with such energy of action that the singer fled in terror, leaving the keyhole to the fog and even more congenial frost.

At length the hour of shutting up the counting-house arrived. With an ill-will Scrooge dismounted from his stool, and tacitly admitted the fact to the expectant clerk in the Tank, who instantly snuffed his candle out, and put on his hat.

``You'll want all day tomorrow, I suppose?'' said Scrooge.

``If quite convenient, Sir.''

``It's not convenient,'' said Scrooge, ``and it's not fair. If I was to stop half-a-crown for it, you'd think yourself ill-used, I 'll be bound?''

The clerk smiled faintly.

``And yet,'' said Scrooge, ``you don't think me ill-used, when I pay a day's wages for no work.''

The clerk observed that it was only once a year.

``A poor excuse for picking a man's pocket every twenty-fifth of December!'' said Scrooge, buttoning his great-coat to the chin. ``But I suppose you must have the whole day. Be here all the earlier next morning!''

Dickens shows us what kind of character Scrooge is by having him react to the people around him.  Through his reactions and comments we get an excellent idea of who he is.  Dickens leaves no question in the reader’s mind that Scrooge is, well, a scrooge.
  
Character-driven plots are often driven by characters that are different in some way.  So if you find yourself needing to establish this difference, either create a normal character you can contrast your protagonist with or place your character in a situation that allows his or her idiosyncrasies to shine through.

Starting Without a Bang: How You Can Successfully Use Something Other Than Action to Begin Your Story

I have written thus far about the importance of beginning your story with some form of action.  I discussed that showing your characters in action is the surest way to grab your reader’s attention. However, it is possible to successfully start your story with something other than action, such as a dream, philosophical exposition, or description.

One example of a novel beginning with a philosophical overview is Charles Dickens’ Tale of Two Cities which opens as follows: 

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way--in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

Even though no one is doing anything in this opening paragraph, Dickens is still able to get our attention and hold it.  We want to know more. Dickens leaves no question in the reader’s mind that these were days of confusion and tumult. This is an example where opening with a philosophical essay worked. 

As I have mentioned before, beginning with description can also be hazardous.  However, John Steinbeck pulls it off in his novel Grapes of Wrath.  He opens the story with a description of one of the largest dust storms in America’s history.  Here is a part of it:

The dawn came, but no day. In the gray sky a red sun appeared a dim red circle that gave a little light, like dusk; and as that day advanced, the dust slipped back toward darkness, and the wind cried and whimpered over the fallen corn.

Men and women huddled in their houses, and they tied handkerchiefs over their noses when they went out, and wore goggles to protect their eyes.

When night came again it was black night, for the stars could not pierce the dust to get down, and the window lights could not even spread beyond their own yards. Now the dust was evenly mixed with the air an emulsion of dust and air. Houses were shut tight, and cloth wedged around doors and windows, but the dust came in so thinly that it could not be seen in the air, and it settled like pollen on the chairs and tables, on the dishes.  The people brushed it from their shoulders.  Little lines of dust lay at the door sills.

Steinbeck does a remarkable job describing the situation.  He doesn’t just tell us how bad the dust storm was, he shows us in a way that helps us experience it.  And most importantly, he gets the our attention.

Purely philosophical beginnings can be wonderfully effective or they can fall horribly flat. Beginning with dreams and flashbacks pose the same potential problem.  So unless you are a tremendously skilled writer, it is better to begin with your character or characters doing something. 

Although beginning effectively with a dream, description, or philosophical essay can be a challenge, it can be done as I have just illustrated. Just remember that in creative writing hooking the reader is what counts.

Grand Openings Part 2: More Advice for Beginning Your Novel

In my last blog, I wrote about hooking the reader with action in the first scene of your novel. I also said that beginning your novel with action didn’t mean you had to begin with explosions or flying bullets.  It just meant you had to show your characters doing something that made the reader want to be a part of it. 

 

However there is nothing wrong with starting out with a bang as long as the rest of the story delivers the kind of action you present in the first scene.  If your novel as a whole is not driven by adrenaline, it shouldn’t begin with it.

Conversely, you can have an adrenaline-laced story that does not begin with a bang but is engaging nonetheless. Charles Dickens did, as did John Steinbeck. 

Big bang aside, your story should not begin with long exposition laced with unnecessary description either.  Description is wonderful as long as it doesn’t bog the reader down. 

   

For instance, some writers think they have to give every detail about the appearance of their characters.  How you describe your character’s appearance should not interfere with the flow of your story or crash your beginning.  You run the risk of disengaging your reader if you are giving every physical characteristic of each character, especially if it has no significance to the story itself. 

To illustrate, think back to your favorite novel.  Do you remember the hair or eye color of all the characters?   Or everything they wore?  Probably not. Why? More than likely the author didn’t want to drag the reader down by leaving nothing to the imagination, or didn’t feel the descriptions were essential enough to the story to mention.  

And, I bet you didn’t miss those details either.  Mark Twain didn’t describe every detail of Huckleberry Finn’s appearance, yet the reader had no problem creating a mental image of him.  However, had something about Huck’s appearance been significant to the plot, Twain would have shared it.  

Sometimes physical features can help to set the feel of the scene and advance the story. Here is the opening of Cathy Marie Hake’s novel That Certain Spark:

“Miracles are going to start happening, Karl Van der Vort.  I can feel it in my bones.” The labyrinth of wrinkles on Mrs. Whitsley’s face added to the almost mystical quality of her comment. Blue eyes lively as could be, she winked. “Miracles.”

Thump. Karl shut the door on her now-full coal bin. Humoring the sweet old woman, he asked, “Like What?”

Notice how Hake’s description of the old woman is significant to the prophetic and mystical tone of the scene.  Here, the physical description, especially of the wrinkles, helps the flow of the opening scene rather than hinders it. And too, notice she didn’t have to give us the woman’s hair color or attire for us to create a mental picture of this woman. 

      

Regardless of whether you begin your novel with scene or dialogue, make sure your characters are doing or saying something that makes the reader curious enough to keep reading. Furthermore, avoid heavy-laden descriptions that unnecessarily burden the reader and slow the story’s flow.

To get published, you must hook the editor on the first cast and keep reeling.  Otherwise you will end up getting skunked.