But the other way around...that I'm not as good at. I've spent weeks grooming and outlining a short story to perfection and now I'm staring at a blank page thinking, "But what's the first line?"
What kinds of elements do you pull out of a fully formed story idea to create that perfect first line? When your first scene isn't WOW...how do you juice it up so that it hooks as well?
Let's face it. Some of the most interesting stories start with, say, a phone call. (not entirely random...no)
To answer your question, without having the faintest clue what your story is about, I would suggest you start with the moment your protagonist's life gets disrupted, whether he/she realizes that fact in the moment or not.
I always just picture my main character at the point where the story falls apart and that's where I begin. I've never written an outline for a short story though. I can see how that might make it difficult. You have too many preconceived notions, maybe?
[This message has been edited by pixydust (edited August 13, 2005).]
Do you have a good final paragraph? Perhaps you could get clues from it and tie it all together.
I also agree with pixydust. Begin where the conflict begins for your character.
quote:
It was a dark and stormy night.
Snoopy knew what he was doing! He, he.
One of these days I'll write a story and use that as an opening line.
I'm a Snoopy fan, too. Have you ever heard of the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction contest?
In a fit of frustration, I once actually used the "Dark and stormy night" line as a substitute opening for a chapter that wasn't working well -- and it actually got me through my writer's block!
I think, though, that I might want something a *little* less cliche for my work.
Let me throw in a few more specifics:
The story starts where the main character gets involved in the events of the story. It ends when she completes the task she is set at the beginning (which is to find a missing person). The story involves a complex millieu that I intend to harness early on in the story, and in the first draft is the hook. In this draft, though, I have to wait to show you my millieu until after the protagonist gets involved in the plot because...well, because that's where the story starts. But she's a private investigator and it all starts with a simple phone call. One thatgoes something like...got a job for you...need you to find someone...won't discuss details over the phone...come to my office I'll make it worth your while.
Unfortunately, this opening doesn't seem like a draw for me. It begins the action, begins the plot, and even introduces the main conflict, but what it does *not* do is show why this story stands out from the rest. You have to read further to find that out and as we made fun of a bit in the arguing with critiques topic, you don't get to tell the reader, "But it gets really good on page 3."
I thought of having the protagonist jump out of bed with a gun in her hands to demonstrate the dangers ot this far flung future I've created. It gives some clues that something's not right in this time, either that or that she's paranoid or on the run from the law....which is why I'm hesitating there. The gun could mean so many things.
quote:
Even though Hilda was in the shower when the phone rang it did not stop her from reaching for her gun...
or
quote:
It was a normal night. Screams prevented Hilda from sleeping well. And when the phone rang, she sat upright, her gun in her hand.
Lousy attempts, I know. But I hope you get where I was coming from.
In the case you present, Christine, what's hook-y about the story? I imagine it might be about the missing person.
Alice was missing. I'm a PI, so I know: usually when a woman goes amiss, she's got a perfectly good reason, and the reason wears trousers. But usually there isn't a broken window in her bedroom, and a trail of blood leading to the street.
Or you could go with Yanos's ideas. Or both. It just sounds like to me the phone call is too early to start.
This is why, in my first draft, I start with the main character on her way to the job, passing, as she goes, many things that provide clues as to what the world is like. But this did not begin the main conflict. So I backed up to a phone call, where she first gets the assignment and takes the resulting trip to work.
If I fast-forward to Grace meeting with her client, I lose the impact of the meeting. All I can do then is *tell* you why the guy's important, let her think about it a little. I cannot *show* you.
The trip to work also sets up two subplots that end up being important to the final resolution.
But now I find, after I've written all that, that these explanations don't help. It is as difficult for you to judge where the beginning *should* be in a story you know little to nothing about as it is for me to describe why it is where it is. These are things that the story has to say for itself.
This is why I tried to make the topic more general at first. I was hoping it could apply to others, even those who have over-analyzed the MICE solution as I have and are 95% sure they are beginning in the correct place, but that this correct place does not naturally hook.
Truthfully, I've read plenty of stories that began in the perfect spot but nevertheless failed to grab me, often because of the exact details they pulled out in the first couple of paragraphs. It is this that I am talking about.
[This message has been edited by Christine (edited August 15, 2005).]