Flying Solo

[Empyrean]

I'll try to cut to the chase without any of my usual blather. :)

I'm working on the first post of a solo with a different character of mine, and at some parts I get the feeling I'm going about it all wrong. I'm sure I'm blowing the importance of it out of proportion a little, but it's my first solo, and I'm always looking to improve my writing. And you guys are the best ones to ask for advice.

My question to you is, what are you looking for in a good story? What kind of thread is going to draw you in and keep you hooked? Are the requirements different for you if there's one author as opposed to two or three? How would you go about writing a solo?

I'm already driving myself nuts trying to write the first post, because it involves a looooot of research, considering it's set in ancient India.

So fire away, lovely people. :) Thanks in advance.

[AdventWings]

As so many have said before me, here and elsewhere, the first part of a story is the Hook. It has to be interesting and it has to move the story.

Or something like that. :p

Anyways, I guess how you could make the first post interesting is the way you want your story to progress. If it's horror-ish, start the post off very low-key and peaceful, then add in that ominous terror feeling around the end of the post that makes the readers wondering what's wrong. If it's more action/adventure, you could have the story start off In Media Res, or smack-dab in the middle of an action scene while the next post kinda flashes back to how the characters got up to that point.

But the most important question that you need to ask yourself is: What is your story about? We can then work things out from there. :)

[Atzar]

The "what the hell" factor.

Simply put, there's a good kind of "what the hell" and a bad kind of "what the hell". The bad kind is somewhat self-explanatory.

The good kind is when something unexpected happens. Something that makes you say "What the hell?", lean forward a little in your chair, and read on avidly. A thread can be great in almost every aspect but still not be memorable if there's nothing out-of-ordinary about it. Every thread needs that hook, that unexpected event, that "What the hell?", to bring it to the next level and make it lodge itself in one's memory.

[Empyrean]

Raven - Yeah, the way you put it sounds like it might work better.

The way I have my first post so far is that I jump right into the horror and let people know what the horrible thing is that has happened. And then it just drifts back into what will probably be taken as a boring history of a character. :) Guess I should work on that.

And the story is about how this particular character comes to be in Althanas, which doesn't happen until the end of the solo.

Atzar - Hah, I like that. The what the hell factor. Fortunately, from what you've described, I think I have that going for me. :)

[Letho]

I generally find solos rather boring. In a place that has so many good writers, I don't often feel the need to write on my own. However, when I do, it's always because there is a story I want to tell by myself, my way, so I'm not very concerned about getting the reader "hooked". If the story is good and it flows well, the reader will get hooked anyways. If it's not, then it's not, but it's still a story that I have to tell about my character. Bottom line is, solos are a good way of doing or trying whatever the hell you want, so my advice to you is that you just write the story as it comes to you and don't subdue it to the wishes of somebody else. Not that you actually need much advice on writing. :)

[Empyrean]

Aw, thanks dear. :) Normally I have the same attitude about writing here - that it's for me telling my own stories - but I figured I should get some advice this time. Because the part of a story I seem to have the most trouble with is the beginning, which is a problem, considering I'm trying to write a book or two.

So I need the practice, and I need to practice it good. Of course, I'm only doing this solo to explain why my newer character is in Althanas, so hopefully it'll be the only solo I write.

And GAH the research.