[Watch the video interview on YouTube here]
Film Courage: Why is the first sentence of a novel so difficult to write?
Tony DuShane, Writer/Podcaster/Teacher: Because it has to set the tone.
It blows my mind how much I struggle, and how much I struggle on the first sentence, through an entire process of writing draft after draft.
I go, “Oh, this first sentence is great. This is going to stay.” And it never stays.
It’s usually after those final drafts and those final tweaks when I finally understand the entire beast that I’ve been trying to tame.
Now, how do I bring a reader into this story with that first sentence and with that first paragraph where they know the ride that they’re going to be on, where there’s I kind of call it a handshake.
I’m giving a handshake to the reader that’s going to be like, I got you. Here we go.
People who probably don’t like the first paragraph of a book, but hopefully that is good because that’s showing the whole tone of what’s going to happen anyway.
That’s how I work.
I tend to also write when it comes to novels. It might be because of the screenwriting I’ve done.
They’re not large at all. This one’s clocking in at 234 pages but that took me four years to write.
I’m just trying to get the meat in there.
I’m giving a handshake to the reader that’s going to be like, I got you. Here we go.
I wish I can write a 900-page book and it would be fascinating and interesting, but I don’t think I have it in me to do that.
I just finished reading Les Misérables by Victor Hugo and I adored it.
I even loved all the backstory of…(Watch the video interview on YouTube here).
Confessions of a Teenage Jesus Jerk by Tony DuShane –
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BIO:
Tony DuShane is the author of the semi-autobiographical novel Confessions of a Teenage Jesus Jerk. He adapted the screenplay for director Eric Stoltz, and the film is now available on Amazon Prime. His journalism and essays have appeared in The Los Angeles Times, Mother Jones, Penthouse, The Believer, and other media outlets. DuShane has hosted the author interview show Drinks with Tony since 2002.
He teaches novel and screenwriting at UCLA Extension.
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