Posted on 24/02/2023 in Dorothy Says

Why Mary Poppins Was Wrong

6-minute read

 

Far be it from me to disrespect the iconic supernanny, but she honestly is.

Before I explain why, let me ask: how’s your writing going this week? Have you actually done any writing? Or have you found a hundred trillion other things to do instead of just writing? Have you even started?

If you have been putting off starting your book because you don’t know where to start, then you’re kind of proving my point that the OG supernanny was wrong.

When it comes to book writing, unlike she sang, you don’t need to start at the very beginning. In fact, it’s not a very good place to start, but it is a rather excellent place to get stuckity stuck stuck stuck.

Confession: I don’t think I’ve ever written any of my 18 novels from start to finish in order.

That horrifies many other novelists. But it works for me. It may work for you too.

If I have an idea for a novel, the first scene that plays out in my head is very rarely from the start of the book. That first scene that plays out in my head – be it a snatch of conversation, a piece of description, a few lines of character building – is what I write down first.

And when it hits the page, even though it’s not from the prologue or Chapter One – it is what gives me the thrill of knowing I’ve started the book. It gives me the boost I need to know that I’m going to do this story and I’m going to do it justice.

Remember, you’re writing the book, not reading it, so you don’t need to know the beginning to get the rest of it done.

Don’t get me wrong here, first chapters ARE important.

The first chapters – arguably the first three pages – of your book are the most important because they are the reason people will keep reading your book once they pick it up. So those words need to be as close to perfect as you can get.

Which is what can make you worried and frozen, can keep you rewriting and rewriting the start at the expense of writing anything else.

With writing, you have to go back and edit your work anyway, so free yourself of this burden of worry by starting anywhere in your book.

Honestly, once you’ve written the rest of the book and have got to know your characters, your plot, your ending, your subject (for non fiction), you’ll have a much better sense of where and how your book should start.

Basically: Go back and create the perfect beginning AFTER you’ve written the rest of the book. Don’t feel so bound to the start of the book you don’t get anything else done.

Here are some ideas on what to do instead of staring at the page on your computer or notebook trying to find the right way to start:

• Is there a scene elsewhere in the book that is almost perfectly formed in your mind? Write it down. Don’t argue with me or worry about your process, just write it down. It’ll get you going.

• Is there a part of your book that you haven’t sorted out properly yet? Get a pen and paper or your notes app and make some notes on where you can go with it. No one is going to hold you to it, just note down the different ways it could go and see what it sparks.

• If you’re a plotter who has every chapter down pat but are stuck on earlier chapters, go to the very last chapter and write it. Again, don’t argue, just do it, it will help you unlock what needs to come earlier.

• If you’re working on non-fiction, write down the areas covered in your book, pick one subject area and start to sketch it out. Who will you interview? What will you cover? What will you achieve at the end of that chapter?

• If you’ve written some of your first or early chapters, and are genuinely stuck, try what I do: hit the return key a couple of times and then type [WRITE MORE] then try one of the things above.

This system is by no means perfect.

I’ve come back a few times to a chapter and found [WRITE MORE] and have almost wept because the problem I ran away from is still there needing to be fixed. This happened more than once with My Other Husband – I can’t spoilerise it for you by explaining which bits, but more than once I shook my fist at past me who fled the scene.

When I was writing That Day You Left (previously The Flavours of Love), I wrote the whole ending before I started on the rest of the book . . . only to find the ending didn’t fit with the characters and the journey they’d been on. Much rewriting and self-recrimination went on there, too.

But even when my ‘don’t start at the beginning’ system doesn’t work, I regret nothing.

And I would – and did – do it all again in exactly the same way. Why?

Because my system got the books started and got the books written, which is what this is all about.

I know for some of you, the idea of not doing things in a linear fashion might go against every fibre of your being, but give it a try if you’re stuck and don’t know how to push forward. It really can change everything.

Until next week, lovelies.

Dorothy x

(Please excuse typos – I’m only human.)

PS Don’t forget: you can pre-order a signed copy of My Other Husband here and unsigned copies here and here to make sure it arrives in your life as soon as possible after it’s released.

PPS Did you miss last week’s Setting Writing Goals Worksheet? You can download it here: Setting Writing Goals Worksheet. The purpose of the worksheet is for you to set out your intentions for yourself. Don’t use it as a stick to beat yourself up with – no negative self-talk allowed or necessary. Use it as a jumping off point, the place where you say to yourself, right, this is what I want to do and this is how I’m going to do it. Make that commitment to yourself and get going. You can do it.