What do you write on the first page of a book that you are gifting to a friend?
I bought a book for my friend as a gift, and I can't think of any thing to write on it's first page. I need something just normal or routine, like a wish or memorial... He is a normal friend...What would you write?
When writing a book, do you need to type it or write it first?
Personally, I prefer to transmit the text via semaphore, if it isn't cloudy in the daytime sometimes I use smoke signals instead, but hey, that's just me. You do you.
What comes first when a writer starts writing his story? Is it the title or the name around which he has to write his story? Or does the content come first and then title?
It depends and differs for every writer. For some it might be a personal experience or just another snippet of information/from a reading which is enough for the mind to churn out a basic plot. About the title of the story or body (content of the story) which decides the course of writing, it is possible that one word might create havoc in your mind :)I would like to share my personal experience here: I had to submit this 500 word short story for a contest with a theme of "Last man on the Earth". I struggled for two weeks to find a suitable theme to write and the deadline was near. On the day prior to submission, I came across an article while browsing the internet in office (favorite timepass) about Cannibalism in Jamestown : Jamestown Colonists Resorted to CannibalismI do not know what happen at that instant, but I wrote the plot in a note on my phone and wrote about 1000+ words that evening. Had to cut down a lot of dramatics to get it down to 500-520 (acceptable). This was one of the processes to write a story, the other do differ for instance the first short story I wrote (a crappy one I admit) was borne out of a strong urge to forget someone ;) The link to the story (if people are interested to read it): http://weekenblog.blogspot.in/20...(Alert: I'm not a pro)
How do you write the first sentence of a novel?
It is agonizing. You have to write just enough to grab people by the head and draw them into the book, and yet not too much to give too much away. It has to tantalize - be memorable. You have to make your readers WANT to know more. Tom Rob Smith's new book Child 44 is an excellent example. " Since Maria had decided to die her cat would have to fend for itself." Doesn't that make you WANT to know more? Or Fahrenheit 451's simple beginning line. "It was a pleasure to burn". Wow. Makes you want to jump right in. Here is a list of the top 100 First Lines of novels. Read them. See how they jump off the page at you and draw you into the story. My personal favorite is Lolita. Those entire first two paragraphs take my breath away every time I read them. They are pure genius. It can take many attempts until you get a first line just right. I once changed a first line about 12 times until I had what I wanted. And when you finally have it, it is the most exciting thing on earth for an author. It means you are on the way to a good book. Pax-C http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2006/...
What comes first in a book report conflict or climax?
Conflict comes first. That's the issue and what the story should be based on. Climax is the hight of the story, or the turning point. Something major happens here, maybe the solution to the problem.
Which book comes first in the Sophocles trilogy...Oedipus the King, Antigone, or Electra?
Electra is not part of the Oedipus (or Theban) trilogy. The third Oedipus play is Oedipus at Colonos. They take place in this order: Oedipus Rex (aka Oedipus the King or Oeidpus Tyrannos), Oedipus at Colonos, and Antigone. However, they were not written as a trilogy, and Antigone was written first. The other two were written in the order in which they take place, but there are quite a few years between them. Sophocles did write a play called Electra (as did Euripides), but it's part of the saga of a different dysfunctional family, that of Agamemnon.