Banging on

Eureka! I see the light! I have finally figured out what was bothering me, what was blocking my progress, why I had lost my muse.

That was the good news. The bad news is that it's this: my story doesn't start with enough of a bang. Which means:
1. I have to revisit my plot
2. I'm not sure what the heck I'm going to do with what I've written so far
3. I still don't know what bang to put in!

I kind of need everything I've written. It's super important for my subplots. But it means my main plot isn't the driver of the start of my story, which is a problem. I had added a prologue to add a bit of tension, but I don't think it's quite enough.

So... what to do? What do do?

I'm thinking of books I've read that I really liked and what gripped me. The thing is, I often find book beginnings difficult as a reader. I don't often get hooked until later.

So what hooked me in Harry Potter for example? It was book 4, I should say. And I started reading it from a third in. Ok, bad example. But still, that prologue is soooo creepy, I find it quite powerful. And although it takes a really long time to start, the creepiness, the missing people... you get this sense all along that something isn't quite right.

Am I normal Yet? is another one that got me hooked. I think I just loved Evie's voice and her problem is very obvious as a reader. I suppose it's a bad example for me because it's such a different sort of book. Issues in contemporary YA often feel a lot more mundane (you know, fitting in, dealing with your mental issues), which is not to say they aren't gripping or important, they are, but they don't need to 'bang' so much.

I'm not sure where this leaves me. More thinking needed.