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Dynamic Beginnings:
Getting Your Story
Off to a Great Start
By Will Greenway
The opening of
your novel or short story is crucial. It must be well written,
catchy, and evocative. Sometimes, no matter how hard you try,
your opening doesn't move the story forward in the proper manner.
This may not be a shortcoming in your writing ability, but a reflection
of an improperly framed narrative.
Many people think
of their stories as written in stone. In their minds, the narrative
doesn't exist outside of the bounds they've chosen for the beginning
and end. This can blind the writer to structural possibilities
that might be helpful during a rewrite. Sometimes the story is
simply lacking context that might be provided by a scene that
comes before the writer's current story beginning.
Writers are not
drones. We invest ego in what we create. However, if you want
to write for a living, you must disassociate yourself from the
material. Treat it like a house you are painting. Sometimes you
miss a spot, or need another coat of paint, or -- heaven forbid
-- you find the color is not what you really wanted.
You must be prepared
to roll up your sleeves and do what's necessary to get the job
done. They're only words in a word processor. Don't be afraid
of trying again for fear of it getting worse. A beautiful thing
about writing is it cannot get worse -- only better. (Be certain
to make backup copies before revising, that way the original is
not at risk.)
Once you are
ready to start anew, these are suggestions for getting your material
off to a good start.
Meet
Your Reader
All right, we're
ready to begin the story. First, look around and find your reader.
Do you see that reader in your mind? No? Take a moment and do
that. Who are your readers? Men? Women? Both? What age category
are they in? Are their interests in a narrow spectrum or broad?
Okay -- got it? From now on, those readers will be looking over
your shoulder while you write. What you create should appeal to
their tastes. In fact, you are entering into an iron-clad contract
with them. They will help you write the story, and you will entertain
them.
The concept of
the reader helping you write the story is important for all of
us who have problems with info dumps and other authorial intrusion
problems. Readers often see themselves
as a character in your story, usually the protagonist. Give them
elbow room to bring their imagination into play. Let the reader
contribute some of the finer details. For every two or three details
you put in, make allowances for the reader's collaboration.
With the reader
on your left shoulder, and your muse on the right, it's time to
pick a place in the narrative to begin. The following are criteria
you should use for when and where in your universe you should
start the story.
Show
the protagonist in focus
The protagonist
is on screen and in focus. Scenery is nice but dull. Don't get
bent out of shape... We know you can write beautiful, eloquent
descriptions of your lovely world. Do yourself a favor -- show
us later. At the beginning, simple is good... simple is God. Your
focus should be on the character's emotional and physical details
and getting us into that person's head. If you stop the story
to give the reader a guided tour, you may lose them.
Establish
the protagonist in context
The focus is
on the protagonist. Now, provide opportunities to establish the
characters in their primary social context. Are they outsiders?
Insiders? Outcasts?
Are they at odds with the world or in sync with it? This
ties closely to the scene conflict (rule 3 below). It also
bears on item 6 (the rules of the world). Context is just like
that sentence: It shows how things relate and mesh with one another.
Simply put, show whether your protagonist is a round, square,
or hexagonal peg -- and the hole into which life is trying to
fit him or her.
Offer
a scene that reflects the overall book or story conflict
The scene should
mirror the overall conflict of the novel in some way. For instance,
if the book is about the protagonist getting back a kidnapped
child, then a good way to start might be with the character seeing
a child being taken from their parents, or two parents battling
over custody of the child. There is even the blunt and obvious
approach: the scene where the child gets kidnapped. Your first
scene sets the tone for the rest of the book.
Portray
an evocative situation
Show the protagonist
in a vivid uncluttered scene, preferably doing something that
is signature to that character. If he or she is awesome with a
sword, but hates swordplay for some reason, that 'tag' is important
to reveal.
Establish
that the protagonist has something significant at stake
Conflict must
be present in your start. It doesn't matter if it's a combative
card game, or a family spat over what's for dinner. Make sure
something that the protagonist feels an attachment to and cares
for is on the line. Blood does not have to fly. People do not
have to die. Heads don't need to roll. In fact, in trying to start
with a bang, some people get lost in elaborate action scenes that
fail miserably! Why? The characters are unfamiliar. We don't care
about them yet. Action does nothing for the reader with no
time invested in your protagonists.
How the main
characters are motivated to deal with the conflict and the establishment
of a personal stake is essential to driving your story forward.
These details will provide important characterization. If the
character is a nature type, and the theme is man against nature,
then make the conflict deal with that issue in some way. If the
protagonist has a screaming peeve about the animal abuse -- work
it in. It needn't be as obvious as the character witnessing the
abuse. Use indirection such as depicting an incident where the
character hears about it, throws back his or her chair, demands
to know where the atrocity is taking place, then storms off to
confront the evildoers.
In choosing a
scene of conflict, we single out that person's passion and show
them grappling with it. Our demons reveal telling contrasts in
our values and character. When gripped by powerful emotions, we
sublimate our learned social behavior and act as our basic nature
dictates. During these moments, potential is uncovered, hidden
beauty can be revealed, or ugliness unmasked. Unveiling these
aspects of the protagonist exposes flaws that make them more believable
people, it also provides depth and shows that person's potential
for change.
Show
the rules of the world at work
Simply because
your novel will be sitting on the fantasy rack doesn't mean you
can break rules on a whim. Yes, fantasy readers will suspend disbelief
to an extent. However, a wise writer will start with the most
plausible fantastic elements first.
Your best tools
for getting a reader to buy into your fantasy are symmetries:
something sacrificed for something gained, action versus reaction,
cause and effect. If fantastic elements play a key role in the
plot, whether derived from magic, fanciful creatures, or simply
some skewed aspect of the world, then some hint or demonstration
of the governing rules should play a role in the opening.
If the protagonist
is in some way more confined by or less bound to those rules (or
even an extension of them), you need to show or give evidence
of this special relationship to the reader. Take special note
of the word show. Do not explain. Later, we can find out what
it meant. If the reader wonders what it was all about, that's
fine as long as you hinted at the answer.
Introduce
of the story question (needs and desires)
Every protagonist
worth his or her salt will have a question. This question may
have nothing to do with the plot, but it does reflect their personal
needs and motivations. Example questions: "Why me?",
"Will I ever be happy?", "Why am I alone?",
"Why did she have to die?", "Why go on living?",
etc., etc. The story creator should know this question, and by
the end of the story, answer it. Make sure this is on your list
of things to accomplish by the story's denouement.
In every plot,
there is a need line and a desire line. Characters follow their
aspirations, but cannot be at peace until they've fulfilled their
crucial life's necessity. Sometimes these two lines coincide --
sometimes not. Your opening question should be an introduction
to the desire thread. As they struggle to get what they want,
it should cross, or be at odds with, the thread of their need.
Good story structure
dictates that the protagonist will at some point stand at the
juncture between their needs and their desires. That decision
is often a turning point in the story. A classic example is when
the reluctant hero who has wanted to 'just be a farmer' his whole
life decides to accept his fate as savior of the world (thus embracing
what he really needs).
Establish
tone and pace
Your opening
scene sets the overall mood of your material, be it dark and gloomy,
humorous, violent or whatever. This is where you play fair with
the reader. If your piece on a whole is bloody and violent, then
initial scene should resonate with that feeling. This is key.
Imagine how you would feel if you bought a music CD whose cover
advertised one kind of music, but after a few tracks inexplicably
changed to some other variety. Not only would it jar you, but
you'd probably be upset for being played the bait-and-switch trick.
Rules broken for creative purposes can be effective, but this
particular constant is touchy ground.
Eight
rules -- are they too much?
If the construction
is well handled, every one of these points can be touched upon
in a single scene. When you have integrated these points into
the start of the story, you can feel safe that you have a solid
beginning.
If getting all
those details into the initial scene seems a challenge, realize
that a tightly scripted first paragraph can touch on all of these
points and be still be accomplished
in ten lines or less. It simply requires a close synthesis of
selective detail, word choice, indirection, simile, and metaphor.
The real task
is to find a way to make those eight separate ideas fit together.
Use images, physical registers, and emotionally charged phrases
to establish a focus on the character within an environmental
context, drawing attention to "what's at stake". Integrate
one of your world's rules into stakes or into the environmental
context. If something important to the protagonist is threatened,
you have your conflict. What remains is to ask a story question,
and to depict the character displaying their signature characteristic.
Your story's tone and pace will take care of itself simply by
loading the opening paragraph with this writing approach.
Give it a try;
you should be pleased with the results. Eschew details for simplicity.
Concentrate on character and give the reader protagonists in an
evocative situation where they can discover a new world.
This Article was found at: http://www.articleblast.com/
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