Here’s a complete shocker: J is one of my favorite letters 😉 . But I had a really hard time thinking of something for the letter J. I was going to do an acrostic—but I still couldn’t think of anything for J, and then I’d have to think up even more letters? Blech.
So instead, I’m jumping in. This works on two levels in writing. The first is that we need to jump into 
our stories. In medias res is the common phrase: in the middle of things. Don’t spend five or fifteen or fifty pages warming up, giving us your characters’ life stories, waiting for something to happen. Readers don’t like to be kept waiting!
But we have to balance between opening too early and too late. We don’t have to have the central conflict on page one, line one. We need to have some sort of conflict in the first section of the book, but sometimes the biggest conflict of the book takes some time to set up. I’ve been more guilty of starting too late: at a point where the conflict is obvious, but the reader doesn’t know the character well enough to sympathize, or at a point where the conflict itself takes a lot of explanation instead of playing out in front of us.
The other way we need to jump into our writing is to do it now. So many people wish they “had time” to write. But having time to write doesn’t mean you have hours of down time (I certainly don’t, with three kids five and under). It means making time by making choices—and making sacrifices. Time you spend writing is time you can’t spend watching TV, playing piano, painting, knitting, practicing the piano, with your children, sleeping, etc.
On the other hand, sometimes it’s not that we’re not ready and willing to make the sacrifice—we’re scared. Guess what: you don’t need a degree or a certificate to write. Heck, I know people who write without a basic grasp of grammar and punctuation. There are no requirements to be a writer: just pen and paper. (Or a laptop. Oh wait, are those requirements? Crap.)
What do you think? Do you jump in?
Photo credits: plunge—Konrad Mostert
J is my favorite letter too. I like “jumping in” How many times do we (I) keep waiting for the perfect time to say something/start a project/make a change rather than realizing the best time to start is now!
You’ve written an informative article on a topic every writer needs to know and apply to the story. I’ve read several books recently where I wondered not only when the action was going to begin, but also what the story was about. Opening with a “side story” that goes nowhere but is meant to “hook” the reader is also frustrating and delays the “jumping in” as though the writer is testing the water before taking the plunge.
Of course, I’m never guilty of any of this!
When I started my current WIP, I “jumped in” because I was pantsing and I only had an idea for a few scenes, not a complete novel. I started with a simple scene that illustrated the relationship between two of my characters, but I ended that scene with a major conflict that introduced two other characters. The first real “plot point” involving the main character was a result of that first scene, but it doesn’t occur until several scenes later (at the end of Act 1, as I now think of it).
After I finished the first plot point, I realized I had no idea what was going to happen next. That’s when I started getting books on story architecture (Story Engineering by Larry Brooks and Writing Fiction for Dummies by Randy Ingermanson). Now I’m applying the Snowflake Method to my novel, and things are just taking off.
In the end, I’m not sure if my novel will “jump in” quite as early as it does in that first scene or if I will write some introductory material before that point to give the reader a better feel for the main character and story world (this is swords and sorcery fantasy I’m writing).
I don’t consider “jumping in” an imperative not to plot first. I’m a converted plotter myself (almost 3 years on the wagon!). I can’t start writing at the first glimmer of an idea. I need several ideas (one of which needs to be a big twist) before I can find the drive and enthusiasm—not to mention the ideas!—necessary to make it through a first draft. However, if you wait until you know every little thing about a story, you’ll never start, either. It’s a balance, too.
There’s no question in my mind that I will be an inveterate plotter from now on. As for the balance, I’m still working on that one. The Snowflake Method is cool, but I see a high potential for abuse. One could write indefinitely “about” the story, and never get to writing the story itself!
My experience exactly!