What's on the page?

Shout out- I'm blogging at Romancing the Book and Seduced by History today. Check them out.

The first page.

The next process in writing my latest book, now that I have my characters graphed and the conflict and plot figured out, is to decide where to start the book. We've all heard the beginning sentence, paragraph and page have to hook the editor, agent, and reader. So finding the starting place is crucial in hooking a reader and keeping them engaged in the story.

The reason I do so much character delving in the beginning is to not fill the first pages with the dreaded backstory. By knowing my characters well to start the story I don't have to write all the backstory to bring myself up to speed with their emotions and life at the start of the book. And you don't have to bring your reader up to speed either. They can plunge into the heart of the story and learn the backstory in nice little snippets you feed them along the way.

My complication with the story I'm working on now is the fact I am using a real historical event as part the main conflict between the hero and heroine. He's a cavalry officer and she's a Nez Perce spirit. His regiment is chasing the Nez Perce on their flight to Canada. This is a romance so the hero and heroine have to have contact.

I had to research the the battles and the path of the Nez Perce to determine where the hero and heroine could meet. The history lover in me wants to tell everything that happened up until the day the Nez Perce took off. But that would be boring backstory and doesn't draw the reader into the story with my main conflict. So I started the book with the first major onslaught by the army. Where they attacked while the Nez perce were sleeping and killed women, children, old people, and warriors. This is a gruesome start but it not only shows the great cavern the hero and heroine must overcome but sets the stage for the conflict throughout the story and drops the reader into the middle of action. Not to mention it is the first time I could get the hero within the the heroine's playing field and bring them together.

Finding the right starting point took several weeks of reading, researching, and deciding how to bring the two together.

And that is how I started my latest project.

Anyone else have a story of how they decided to start a book or story? Any readers out there ever read a book they felt started in the wrong place?

Friday Five - My book process

Hmmm... I had several ideas last night and now this morning- I'm running blank. I thought about my five book series, but you all are probably bored to tears over me talking about my books. So instead I'll talk about the process of writing a book.

1) The first thing I do is either come up with a character or characters or a situation. Then I do what I like to call stew and brew. The characters start moving around in my head, having conversations and the plot(situation) starts forming in my head as well.

2) I do a simple GMC (goal, motivation, conflict) chart outlining those items for each character and I write down all the pertinent information that has been gathering in my head.

3) Then I start the research. If it's a historical I gather books about the time, place, and other things pertinent to the story. If it's a contemporary, I gather the needed information.

4)With all the stewing and brewing, I figure out the best place/way to start the book, and then I begin writing when that scene comes to me.

5) This is the new process for me. I'm going to write a synopsis before the book is finished. It's something I need to practice and have decided now is the time to do it.

That is my process when I begin writing a book. With the latest one I have skipped around. I still need to do more research, but I'm waiting for a person I need to interview to get back in my area. Once he's here, and I can pump him full off questions- I can sit down and start writing this book. That's something I can't wait to do! In the meantime, I'm polishing "Miner in Petticoats" so it will be ready to go to my editor when she asks for it.

So how are your plans shaping up? Are you getting ready for Spring Break, or just looking forward to warmer weather and more time to do things outside? If you are a writer, what is your process to start a book?