Just before you begin to write your first sentence in your story, why don't you take a look at Derek Murphy's Method? Derek Murphy is a fine artist who became a book cover designer and then started writing young adult sci-fi and fantasy. He spent almost 20 years living abroad, has a Ph.D. in comparative literature (revolutionary politics in Paradise Lost), and has been featured on CNN for renting castles to use as writing retreats. He has built a ton of resources to help indie authors write, design, and publish bestselling books.
The Murphy tool that I like to use was created by him to de-mystify what you should write in a typical novel, chapter by chapter. His first page is called "Plan Your Book."
Notice the Headings on the left are divided into ACT I-III with titles hinting about what is typically in a novel at that stage. On this screenshot, I had the top heading highlighted called PLAN, which shows in the main area. He suggests that you don't edit this file, but instead make a copy for your Google Docs Account. Then revise, and change anything you want. The overall picture:
You can look on YouTube to find his video on How to Easily Outline your Novel.
When you load up his outline in WORD or Google Docs, you will find under each chapter heading a line or up to a paragraph about what is typically in the chapter. I find it really helps.
In his video, Derek also shows an overall plot, which you may find helpful:
With a little study and research, you will be ready to write that first sentence. I hope Derek's lesson will help you take that next step to Christian Writing for a hungry world that needs great stories with a Christ-centered worldview. We'll talk next time about writing the first line of your book.
"As iron sharpens iron, so one sharpens another,"
Proverbs 25:17
