tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post5519139729920549512..comments2024-03-17T07:55:51.361+00:00Comments on Help! I Need a Publisher!: IT WAS A DARK AND STORMY NIGHTNicola Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12189894289540344094noreply@blogger.comBlogger29125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-6511623876020504262010-01-18T01:46:55.454+00:002010-01-18T01:46:55.454+00:00One of my favorite board books for babies starts, ...One of my favorite board books for babies starts, It was a dark and stormy night on Plum Street... It's called Kiss Good Night by Amy Hest. Worth checking out!Linda McInnis, B.S.O.T., MEdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15691700567097600653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-47264283753051800102010-01-15T12:10:27.098+00:002010-01-15T12:10:27.098+00:00I think I have an instinct causing my bowels to ch...I think I have an instinct causing my bowels to churn, when I start with the weather, although I think that I will have to start with the weather for one particular project, which basically has a character, who is from a breed of people that are in tune with the sky and the weather.Harry Markovhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09140305922494369576noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-2669145687739031912010-01-15T00:42:09.204+00:002010-01-15T00:42:09.204+00:00I started a chapter in my first novel talking abou...I started a chapter in my first novel talking about the weather but that was chapter 7...phew! I guess that's OK! <br /><br />Talking about clichés: I think I've gleaned that you're not a great fan of novel writing software, Nicola (although I could be wrong of course!) – StoryMill for instance, which I use – but there is one good aspect of it which I'm sure you would consider David John Griffinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01524610087056533062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-28040131439803547842010-01-14T17:44:51.025+00:002010-01-14T17:44:51.025+00:00I agree - I think it has been a great opening at t...I agree - I think it has been a great opening at times but it just feels overdone. By the way hope you had a great Christmas and new Year.<br /><br />Kate xxKatehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05940810066436848209noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-19613698686905292832010-01-14T16:06:02.422+00:002010-01-14T16:06:02.422+00:00Vanessa - as with all "rules", once you ...Vanessa - as with all "rules", once you know and understand them, you can break them to good effect. You know and understand them!Nicola Morganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12189894289540344094noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-65410558589729716722010-01-14T16:05:13.545+00:002010-01-14T16:05:13.545+00:00Good to meet you Nicola - this blog was recommende...Good to meet you Nicola - this blog was recommended by another writer friend, and an interesting post to start me off. I always think pathetic fallacy sounds somewhat phallic...Flowerpothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14102679179201725732noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-85178117111644418672010-01-14T11:59:21.748+00:002010-01-14T11:59:21.748+00:00What if an aspect of the weather is an underpinnin...What if an aspect of the weather is an underpinning metaphor - so the weather (or that aspect thereof) takes on the role of character? Does the reader not need to be seduced into that scenario as early as poss?Vanessa Gebbiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00833187671441310234noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-52580794919811707842010-01-14T09:25:57.255+00:002010-01-14T09:25:57.255+00:00PS. Snoopy began all his novels up there on top of...PS. Snoopy began all his novels up there on top of the doghouse with his typewriter: 'It was a dark and stormy night.'<br /><br />(One of my favourite books on writing is: 'Snoopy's Guide to the Creative Life.' It's almost as funny as this blog.)Sally Zigmondhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07520579251842006765noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-53911631036832520382010-01-14T09:20:46.970+00:002010-01-14T09:20:46.970+00:00I always cringe when a novel or story starts with ...I always cringe when a novel or story starts with the mc waking up and starting the day. (Especially when it takes a whole chapter to get one toe out from under the duvet.<br /><br />Guess what? My soon to be published 'Hope against Hope' begins with the mc waking up and starting her day...<br /><br />The thing is, that was about the zillionth opening I wrote and none of the others seemedSally Zigmondhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07520579251842006765noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-69332798591281128462010-01-14T08:29:41.647+00:002010-01-14T08:29:41.647+00:00Arabella - ah, but you've learnt: that's t...Arabella - ah, but you've learnt: that's the main thing!<br /><br />SF - yes, isn't it annoying when people don't get our irony? I think this goes to a point I made in the main post about story starts: that the reader knows nothing of our intentions or anything at all, so we have to establish the tone before we can get away with irony. I DO agree that we CAN use the weather and Nicola Morganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12189894289540344094noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-17302585189775769212010-01-14T04:00:32.332+00:002010-01-14T04:00:32.332+00:00Yes, I started a short story once with 'It was...Yes, I started a short story once with 'It was a bright, sunny day', and the point was that the characters where actually struggling in the middle of a drought, and I was trying to subvert the positive idea of a sunny day. <br /><br />Unfortunately everyone who read it screamed 'cliche!' before they even got past the first sentence to discover that it was all about subversion of SFhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15847565982538951065noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-13595111292388633222010-01-14T02:41:26.095+00:002010-01-14T02:41:26.095+00:00I'm shuddering. I started with the weather on...I'm shuddering. I started with the weather once, and it wasn't any good. And I've done the waking up cliche. Oh, it's too embarrassing. Why am I admitting it?Jillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05536293384635588296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-90678390566196309022010-01-14T01:02:13.861+00:002010-01-14T01:02:13.861+00:00I don't use the weather much - it always seems...I don't use the weather much - it always seems like a cliche no matter how it's written :) I just drop mentions of it here and there!Jemi Fraserhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02214408467456320167noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-88712573029145898512010-01-14T00:55:02.271+00:002010-01-14T00:55:02.271+00:00Thanks Sarah, I knew they were books about the wit...Thanks Sarah, I knew they were books about the witches.<br /><br />Dave<br /><a href="http://davewrotethis.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow">Dave Wrote This</a>Davehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08131223022620329561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-20314898054672266242010-01-14T00:46:19.478+00:002010-01-14T00:46:19.478+00:00At an SCBWI conference I attended, they have this ...At an SCBWI conference I attended, they have this great panel where you can submit your first page to be read aloud and critiqued by editors/agents. Yikes! One of my stories then began with the character waking up. I thought it worked, since this character isn’t human and the scene conveyed his tail, claws, snout as he stretched awake.<br /><br />It fell totally flat. While the editor got that I D.J. Morelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03115435002861605356noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-24854769660855862122010-01-14T00:12:20.528+00:002010-01-14T00:12:20.528+00:00Metaphor weather! Yick! Even Leon Russell knew bet...Metaphor weather! Yick! Even Leon Russell knew better: <br /><br />"For all the sunny skies, it's raining in my heart..."Lorelei Armstronghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07639663436142251951noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-73176628657953365492010-01-13T22:00:11.965+00:002010-01-13T22:00:11.965+00:00Stephen Baxter's big old flood novel starts wi...Stephen Baxter's big old flood novel starts with a kidnapping, and if <i>that</i> sort of plot doesn't get to start with the weather, probably no other sort does either. <br /><br />I realise this is inviting x number of posts about kidnap novels that started with a flood, though....Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-89682923680643148492010-01-13T21:46:47.947+00:002010-01-13T21:46:47.947+00:00Dave, it was Wyrd Sisters and Maskerade.
And sin...Dave, it was Wyrd Sisters and Maskerade. <br /><br />And since I'm still being geeky, here's Bulwer-Lytton's entire first sentence. It makes me laugh every time. I can just imagine it being read for a book on tape, and the poor narrator drawing a huge breath somewhere around 'streets':<br /><br />"It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents, except at Sarahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06909176210194176373noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-49709865259997986322010-01-13T21:41:41.969+00:002010-01-13T21:41:41.969+00:00I think the thing about opening with the weather i...I think the thing about opening with the weather is it has to be relevant to the story. If you say 'It was a dark and stormy night' and follow it up with a paragraph about the main character driving home and a tree being blown onto their car, leaving them stranded in the dark and with no choice but to walk towards the spooky lights in the wood, that's one thing. But if you say 'ItLeilahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02890097085059764567noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-60064201999005771562010-01-13T21:18:28.284+00:002010-01-13T21:18:28.284+00:00I recommend Pocket Coffee for moments when you'...I recommend Pocket Coffee for moments when you're so tired you can't even go to bed because of the effort involved.<br />We usually get ours from an Italian who works in our department. There doesn't seem to be any way to buy it in the UK so I will be glad if someone knows of a source!sheilamcperryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02444979085877277654noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-77814620171026624572010-01-13T20:57:09.700+00:002010-01-13T20:57:09.700+00:00Thing is about others having done it and got away ...Thing is about others having done it and got away with it - it's the same with all cliches: once, they were original!<br /><br />Oh, dreams - so useful and so forbidden<br /><br />And alarm clocks...<br /><br />Re Terry Pratchett - ah yes, and how well he masters the ironically gothic...<br /><br />Cat - actually, and iconoclastically, I rather like weather openings, but I'd have to smileNicola Morganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12189894289540344094noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-36746805923858566282010-01-13T20:41:51.875+00:002010-01-13T20:41:51.875+00:00This is really a comment on the previous post abou...This is really a comment on the previous post about Openings,(teriffic!) but I'm pretty hopeless at getting my own comments to stay where they're meant to be. They have a habit of get lost at the touch of a wrong key, and when I’ve composed an erudite and thoughtful response to a post I’ve enjoyed, just before my eyelids are threatening shut-down, only to have it all wiped out before Christine Colemanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04503103383031049898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-44373784709494987162010-01-13T20:28:29.357+00:002010-01-13T20:28:29.357+00:00Oh heck Nicola - when you do eventually see the no...Oh heck Nicola - when you do eventually see the non-magnum opus from me you will (gulp) won't read past the first sentence! Waah!catdownunderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06959328192182156574noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-69507971292342064492010-01-13T20:14:17.727+00:002010-01-13T20:14:17.727+00:00I forget which (Witch?), but two of Terry Pratchet...I forget which (Witch?), but <b>two</b> of Terry Pratchett's books start with:<br /><br />The wind howled.<br /><br />Dave<br /><a href="http://davewrotethis.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow">Dave Wrote This</a>Davehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08131223022620329561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2488887316391780144.post-39766045634477299072010-01-13T18:39:11.973+00:002010-01-13T18:39:11.973+00:00Marisa, you beat me to mentioning the dreaded '...Marisa, you beat me to mentioning the dreaded 'waking up' cliche. Guess how I began my first attempt at a novel? With my MC's alarm clock ringing. Then her mind wandered back to a past memory for a couple of paragraphs. What a snoozefest! <br /><br />The great thing about your blog and others who offer great advice is that I've learned so much about craft during the past year. Suzie F.noreply@blogger.com