We’ve read stories about artists who suffer greatly, trying to represent on canvas or paper the picture they have in their minds. Many of them try and try again before they let the picture be seen by the public. Writers suffer the same way. Sometimes, the exact words just don’t seem to be available. Anywhere.
By the Fright of the Silvery Moon was a cozy mystery that almost didn’t happen. I wrote, deleted, wrote again, and at last brought my cozy to my critique group. I read the opening scene.
“Sounds good,” someone said.
“Yes, I like it,” another added.
“You usually open with something exciting happening,” said a Cozy Critter, with a puzzled look on her face.
Did I detect a note of disappointment? Was their tone encouraging, hopeful, sort of a don’t give up, you can do it atmosphere? Deadly to a writer. No! Forsooth! My book lacked the punch, the chills racing up and down the spine, the pounding heart and flushed cheeks. That was the response I was looking for.
After the critiquers left, I deleted the whole thing and started again. I read it. No! Too blah. Too ordinary. It would never grab the reader’s interest.
Then, that old enemy Doubt crept in. Maybe I wasn’t really cut out to be a writer. Maybe having five cozy mysteries on Amazon and other online sites was to be enough. Sad, sad. I had reached my zenith and nose-dived. As a writer, I was finished. Fizzled. Ka-put.
I wrote three more openings that I didn’t like.
Then, I had an inspiration. One of the Cozy Critters has the most interesting dreams. Some are nightmares, some are not, but they are not boring. Not like the opening of By the Fright of the Silvery Moon. That was it! The opening scene would be Ned McNeil waking from a terrifying nightmare. A very real, clutching at your throat kind of nightmare. So, that’s the way I began the book.
I read the opening scene to my critique group. They liked it! They sat on the edge of their chairs. When I finished, they were suitably scared and asking for more.
Of course, that opening scene was not the only hair-raising happening. In each chapter, tension builds and leads into the next. That’s the way I like to write. When my story scares my critique group, then I know I’ve found success.
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