Using Law & Order to Write

So I don't think it's a secret that I watch a lot of TV. I enjoy Law & Order quite a lot. The original or SVU are my faves.

And I sat down to write a new WiP a couple of weeks ago, I just sat there. See, I can't write in order. I don't know where to start. So I just wrote the scene in my head. The next day, I wrote the next one--and no, it didn't immediately follow or precede the one I'd already written. It was just another scene I'm going to have to surgically insert into the book. Somewhere.

After I have a whole bunch of scenes written, then I can usually write the beginning. This happened yesterday. And you know how you've read in various places about the importance of the first sentence? The first paragraph? The first page?

The first chapter?

Yeah, me too. I think that's why beginnings are so hard (for me) to write. So I've got my document open, at the beginning, ready to write. Law & Order had just started. (Yes, I write to the TV, pandora, whatever.)

And it hit me. My opening chapter needs to be just like the first five minutes of a Law & Order episode. (Click to hear the sound. You really want to live inside this brainwave, I know you do.)

So in the first five minutes of Law & Order, we're introduced to the murder/crime. We're hooked. The rest of the episode is spent solving the crime/murder. And often, it's the mundane that introduces the conflict. People taking the trash out. Someone going into their office. The housekeeper opening the garage. That kind of stuff. And then bam! The dead body.

That's what I need to do in my first chapter. I need to introduce the reader to the world, to my character, and to the "dead body." I need to have them hooked by the end of the five minutes it takes them to read my first chapter.

Easy, yes? Um, sure. But it really helped me get the words down that will probably be my first chapter. (Since I write it after I've written a bunch of other stuff, my first chapter generally stays fairly close to what I write the first time.) Thank you, Law & Order and TNT for playing copious episodes of L&O.

So you tell me: How do you write your first chapter? What needs to happen? What's been your inspiration for writing your first chapter?

Oh! And I'm helping out the Florida Writers Foundation by offering at 50-page critique. Go bid if you can!

Work In Progress Wednesday - the Stewage Pot

Well, I finished my first notebook. And I'm about 10 pages into the second. This one is just as cute and just as fun to write in.

As far as my WiP, I've finally figured out who the real bad guy is. Can I get a "Woot! Woot!"?

While we're on this note of stewing on bad guys, I want to talk about all the behind-the-scenes stuff it takes for me to actually write. I'm not one of those people that just knows what's going to happen. I don't like to outline or plan too far ahead. I want the characters I'm envisioning to come alive, tell me what their problems are, what they're struggling with, and then help me figure out a way out of their problems.

To do this, I'm constantly tossing ingredients into the Stewage Pot. What if this girl likes that guy? (potatoes) What if he is a ghost too? (carrots) What if the rift isn't working? (onions) Why wouldn't it be working? (okay, get those onions outta there. They're stinking everything up.) What if his teacher knows more than he's let on? (shallots) What if the teacher is a ghost too? (yes, the shallots are nice in this Pot. Very nice.)

I could go on, but you get the idea.

Writing requires a lot of stewage. Brain time. So this past week, I've really been trying to pin down who the villain is. Every spare moment I had, from emptying the dishwasher to waiting at a red light, I've been thinking about it. And I've created a couple of characters that are not on Santa's Nice List, so it could have been either one. For me, it came down to their motivations.

One of my potential bad guys was my protag's dad. And he just didn't have the motive. And you wanna know how I finally came to the conclusion that motive matters? Watching Law & Order. Yup. Once again, an aspiring novelists questions can be answered with TV. In Law & Order, the cops work hard to establish motive for a crime. Villains need motive too. And my protag's dad had no motive to hurt his own son. So he got the ax on my List of Potential Bad Guys.

And then there was one.

Now pinning down his motive will be a bit tricksy, but I know I can do it. There are a plethora of red lights I have to stop at everyday. Lots of dishes. Laundry. And TV. Ah, yes. It may take major brain cells, but I'll figure it out. After all, I like Plot Stewage a lot more than Character Stewage. It's a different spice, you see.

How's your WiP going this week? How many ingredients have you added to the Stewage Pot?