Welcome To The End...Of Chapter One

I recently had to say farewell to something I have clung to for a while, a year anyway,...I turned an age older and had to say farewell to one age and welcome in another.  Okay, welcome may be a bit strong of a word and don't worry I am not really that overly dramatic that getting a year old was that upsetting.  Why do I all of a sudden hear the laughter of my family in the background on that statement?

Anyway, I have always said that beginnings are usually exciting, scary and exhilarating.  Endings are almost always sad but it is the middle that makes up the story.  That probably describes most of your relationships, friendships, stories and life adventures if you think about it.  I know that it does for me.  Endings can mean moving on to better or even a chance to learn and grow, which as nice as that sounds often involves a few tears.  The tears though come from remembering the story in the middle.  The good times that were shared and the bad times that are remembered, the scary times, the laughing uncontrollably times, the sad times when you just need a hug from a friend.  Stories are what a writer thrives on.  Yet, even a writer must have their beginnings...and their endings.  In fact, writers have many endings.  I realized this when I was writing chapter one for sure.  The trick with writing as in life is to have a good ending that makes it easy to step into the next chapter of the book or life.

I was so excited when I finished the prologue with all the teaser characters and the quick glimpses I got to give into the story I was watching unfold in my mind.  I knew the story I wanted to tell and as I finished my prologue I would go to sleep and dream about it, I would think about it during the day and make little notes and I would envision it during those quiet moments on the commuter train when I did not want to talk or get to know the person that sat down next to me for the long ride home.  The problem was that I had to go from the prologue where I gave little glimpses into the action and idea of the story and where it originated and then jump forward in time by over a hundred years to the modern time and cross over an ocean and come back to America as well.  It was the fastest ocean crossing I have ever been on.  I realized that though I was starting chapter one I was already in the middle of my story since I thought about it so often in my head.  I could look down at my trusty notebook and see the jotted notes I wrote to remind me where I wanted to start it all and how I wanted to being the real story. 

So I dug into the beginning of chapter one and introduced one of my main characters and in a manner gave her breath.  I showed you into her life and introduced you to the thoughts in her head.  Chapter one is often used to step into your story and as a way to introduce yourself and your writing style, as well as the characters the reader will be following throughout.  Chapter one is like the job interview.  I hate job interviews.  You have to sell yourself, describe yourself, allow the potential employer into your thinking and work methods.  Then, if you make it past all the job interviews and descriptions you may have landed that dream job.  The problem though is that you want to leave your new potential employer with a lasting impression so that they will always remember you and bring up your name and ultimately decide you are "the one."  So at the end of the interview you say goodbye and hope for the best...you hope to be remembered so that they continue into your life and story by hiring you.

I plotted out my chapter, I introduced some of the main characters, I gave them actions and feelings and appearances.  So then how do I end my first chapter so that you want to keep reading.  My sister always says that you should read at least until chapter five and then if you still don't like the book then it may not be the best fit for you.  Well, for a writer the trick is to get them to continue to chapter five, then ten, then twelve, all the way to the end of the book and The End.  The problem was that I knew how I wanted to end the book but not how I wanted to end the first chapter.  YIKES!

So I took a breath and just started writing chapter one and didn't even think of how to end it.  When I looked back up from my writing I realized that I had just finished chapter three.  Endings can be sad but the best kind of ending are the ones you don't notice and let you just continue on with your life with ease, amusement and maybe a desire to keep reading the story....

Now as I sit here, I realize that I am a year older, having said goodbye to many things in my life, and yet I am also starting a new chapter as well.  I am starting my own chapter two in a sense after discovering who I was for a number of years (no, I am not putting the age down, nice try!) and now I am starting to move into the passion of my life and taking action and control of it, I am writing my first novel.  So as I say goodbye to another year I also look down at chapter one and say the end.  Onto chapter two.