Writing a Novel: A Rough Guide
II
The Title and The First Line.
Many years ago, when I was a student, I was searching the library shelves for a book on the Industrial Revolution. Not exactly a riveting subject I must admit, but it had to be done. As I scanned the ranks of sombre hardbacks, my attention was arrested by one entitled “The Unbound Prometheus.” Just the sound of it was enough to make me reach out and have a look. Nor was I disappointed - it was one of the best books on the subject I've ever read. Over the years I've always looked out for books with unusual or lyrical titles and have often bought them on that basis. Not all of them have been that great - “Down to a Sunless Sea,” for instance. Others, such as “The Boat of a Million Years, “Consider Phlebas” and “A Distant Mirror,” have proved to be outstanding examples of their genre. The point is that titles are often crucial when it comes to writing a best seller. “Captain Corelli's Mandolin” is a case in point. It begs two questions; who is Captain Corelli and why does he have a mandolin? The problem is how do you come up with a really good title? Poems are a good place to look. “Down to a Sunless Sea” is taken from Coleridge's “Xanadu.” “Consider Phlebas” is from “The Wasteland” by T.S.Eliot. Shakespeare has proven a happy hunting ground for some - “The Dogs of War” is from “Julius Caesar” for instance.
I recently sent a novel to my agent and was particularly pleased with the title - I won't tell you what it is just yet. She liked the book but suggested that I should change the title because it might be confused with a series of books by another writer. I couldn't. I'd spent almost as much time on the title as I had the book and that amounted to 160,000 words. No title appealed to me half as much and it summed up the book to perfection. I held out and she eventually conceded the point.
Having chosen a title the next thing to concentrate on is the first line. That is where you capture the reader's imagination and sell him on the idea of reading some more. Not long ago a poll was held to determine the most memorable first line in fiction. The winner was “The Hobbit.” Why? The first line reads; “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.” As a first line it's inspired since it poses two questions; what is a hobbit and why does it live in a hole? If the poll was held again today a good contender would be from “Captain Corelli's Mandolin,” which reads “Dr. Iannis had enjoyed a satisfactory day in which none of his patients had died or got any worse.” It grabs the attention and demands that the reader persevere in order to find out more about this doctor. In my latest offering my first line reads; “The boy was always looking out for something bigger than a rabbit to kill.” I sweated blood over that first line - looking for an introduction that poses questions and tempts the reader to read on. Who is this boy and why does he look for things to kill? I won't tell you - buy the book.
