Getting Past The First Sentence

It’s been a quiet week where the word counts are concerned, mostly because we went away for the weekend on a two night cruise over to Bruges. Despite the weather, it seemed like a lovely city and the view from the top of the Belfry was stunning (the stairs up there… not so good. 366 stairs in total.) The tour guide, Mary was a great character and very funny (inspiration for a fictional character, that’s for sure.) I did take a notebook and managed about 100 words.

Last week, I did also get the opportunity to attend the Red Network ‘How To Write a Beach Read,’ and I found it very inspiring. On the panel was Lisa Jewell (I just love her,) Tasmina Perry and Flic Everett.

 It was very encouraging to hear that these best-selling novelists suffer false starts as this has been my main nemesis. I have word documents – some a couple of pages, some only a paragraph. There is only one thing to it, I am going to have to disable my delete key.
If you’re interested in writing fiction, these Red Events are so helpful, especially if you’re just starting out.

So, how do you get past the first sentence? Well, you just write. It’s easier said than done for me. It’s easy to feel as though you’re the only one having trouble getting going and creating the characters and the story. It was very relieving to know that even published authors have the same issues.
Tasmina’s advice on the night was to not be afraid of the false starts.
I do sometimes worry that maybe I should move onto something else but this story remains in my head. Carrie, my main character won’t go away and so I am inspired to keep going.

I am finding that getting past the first sentence is part of the battle. Once I can keep going without over editing too early, I know I’ll be fine. It goes back to expecting too much from the first draft and that elusive first sentence and deciding the best place to begin the story.

Anyone else have trouble with the first sentence? Are you in the middle of the first draft and sailing though it?

by

Laura

I’m Laura. I started Novel Kicks in 2009. I wanted a place to post my writing as well as give other writers like me the opportunity to do the same. There is also a monthly book club, a writing room which features writing prompts, book reviews, competitions, author interviews and guest posts.

I grew up by the sea (my favourite place in the world) and I currently live in Hampshire. I am married to Chris, have a cat named Buddy and I would love to be a writer. I’m trying to write the novel I’ve talked so much about writing if only I could stop pressing delete. I’ve loved writing since creative writing classes in primary school. I have always wanted to see my teacher Miss Sayers again and thank her for the encouragement. When not trying to write the novel or writing snippets of stories on anything I can get my hands on, I love reading, dancing like a loon and singing to myself very badly. My current obsession is Once Upon a Time and I would be happy to live with magic in the enchanted forest surrounded by all those wonderful stories provided that world also included Harry Potter. I love reading chick lit. contemporary fiction and novels with mystery.