how the city-girl changed into a country-girl...

This morning I stood so close to someone on the train, I can tell you that he did not brush his teeth, and he had Italian food for dinner the previous night. On the rest of my commute above ground, I visualized what these city blocks looked like as a swamp.

What is right in front of you?

There is a cross-eyed man reading his blackberry six-inches from his face.

What crossed your path today that bothered you?

There was a homeless woman sitting on Michigan Ave wrapped in layers of clothing, well prepared for the elements with a sign that said, "Wallet taken on the Amtrak..." The sign was inkjet printed and mounted to cardboard, this most have cost money and planning. I am not sure I believe her story.

Where is your character going? Why? How will he or she get there? With whom? And who will he or she have become when the journey is over?

Reference

"8 Ways to Write a 5-Star Chapter One"
By Elizabeth Sims
January 2011 Writer’s Digest

"#8 Be Bold"
I bodly tell you details you thought were not important.


Reference

"8 Ways to Write a 5-Star Chapter One"
By Elizabeth Sims
January 2011 Writer’s Digest

"#7 Give It a Mini Plot"

Make something happen. Can too much happen in one week? My main character is linked to a car accident, murder, bus accident and a war.

Reference
"8 Ways to Write a 5-Star Chapter One"
By Elizabeth Sims
January 2011 Writer’s Digest

"#6 Use Carefully Chosen Detail to Create Intimacy."

I firmly believe visual simplicity portrays intimacy, such as in the movie "Lost in Translation." How do you write clear details to create what a photographer can do with good light?

Reference
"8 Ways to Write a 5-Star Chapter One"
By Elizabeth Sims
January 2011 Writer’s Digest

“#5 Be Sparing of Setting”


“Another way to introduce a setting is to show how a character feels about it. In Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment, Raskolnikov seethes with resentment at the opulence around him in St. Petersburg, and this immediately puts us on alert about him. The setting serves the character; it does not stand on its own.”


I love the red color in the soil; it reminds me of my favorite crayon color. I used burnt sienna in almost all of my childhood drawings. I begged for new boxes of standard Crayola crayon colors, my mother pointed out that the crayon’s looks brand new. I pleaded; I needed a new burnt sienna.



Reference
"8 Ways to Write a 5-Star Chapter One"
By Elizabeth Sims
January 2011 Writer’s Digest

“#4 Present a Strong Character Right Away.”


What does strong mean to you? I slightly disagree, a little mystery and the reader desires to learn more dragging the reader into the next chapter. I relate this to first impressions, make a good one and someone will listen. No need to tell a stranger all your secrets but a firm handshake says a lot.



Reference
"8 Ways to Write a 5-Star Chapter One"
By Elizabeth Sims
January 2011 Writer’s Digest

“#3 Choose a Natural Starting Point."

The present seemed like a natural place to start then the character remembers each detail of the previous week in past tense.


Reference
"8 Ways to Write a 5-Star Chapter One"
By Elizabeth Sims
January 2011 Writer’s Digest

“#2 Decide on Tense”
First person past tense is what I prefer. How do the characters form in your mind? I reworked my novel in third person when I was feeling too close to the subject matter, but now with a clear separation form the material, “I” flows much smoother with the storyline. It is to read as a glimpse of a week, only the self-centered would remember each detail of one week of their life.


Reference
"8 Ways to Write a 5-Star Chapter One"
By Elizabeth Sims
January 2011 Writer’s Digest

"#1 Resist Terror"

I have put down countless books because they bore me. I am not sure I am in terror over my chapter one but I have rewritten that chapter the most; I fear the rest of the novel will let the reader down. I’ve hooked the reader in with a heart-wrenching death, but will the main character transform?

Reference
"8 Ways to Write A 5-Star Chapter One"
By Elizabeth Sims
January 2011 Writer’s Digest

Sit in a public place and write about the people around you. Don’t censor yourself, just write what you see.


While I had that nasty flu, I watched too many episodes of Criminal Minds. Now, I am convinced the short Asian man with a juvenile goatee that is punching his thigh with a closed fist is going to go postal and kill the half of dozen strangers in the room. His inability to sit still without pacing every five minutes is beginning to make me restless. He overshadows the man with the shoulder-raising twitch and repetitive cough that persists with each bite of his stir-fry.

Happy New Year!
I hope the new year brings with it a habit of writing everyday.