posted
I know what works for the beginning of a story. I can write you any number of opening paragraphs to hook you. I may not have a story to go with you, but you'd sure love to read it anyway!
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)
posted
Gee... I've never had this problem, never having successfully written a complete outline before I began writing the story. I usually get a single scene mulling around in my mind, and I keep asking myself "So what's this about?" And the characters begin to reveal the story. It's after I get it going to some degree, THEN I can wrestle it into obedience. Sometimes.
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).]
posted
Hm. I began my most recent project with the last line of a conversation, which leads to the character getting in her car after work, which leads to the resulting mayhem.
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.
posted
I just happened to pick up my copy of A Wrinkle in Time. Doh! I knew Snoopy wasn't the only one to start a story that way.... Posts: 97 | Registered: Aug 2005
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posted
Hello -- (please excuse the newbie intrusion...)
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!
posted
Newbies are always welcome to post their thoughts! No apologies needed. I don't own a copy of "A Wrinkle In Time" and it's been a very LONG time since I read it. I didn't realize it started out with the dark and stormy night. It was, however, the very first science fiction book I ever read and as such holds a special place of honor in my mind. It led me into the genre.
Posts: 2026 | Registered: Mar 2005
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posted
That was the first scifi story I read too...and I didn't remember the first line.
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.
posted
My usual thought is: what's cool about this story? Start there.
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.
posted
The person who is missing is tied in so closely with the millieu that if I go straight to the part about who's missing and why they want to find him, you wouldn't understand the significance. He caused the millieu, actually. (This is a far-future scifi, BTW...and they're looking for the guy that screwed up the world.)
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).]
posted
There's so much potential here! I think the phone call sounds like a great place to start. You could really reveal a lot about your world, and save yourself some later dumping, with a start like that. Just as an example, you have: 1. The phone rings. The protagnist is startled and has a violent reaction (reaching for gun, etc). 2. The protagonist has some thoughts or internal monologue about it just being the phone, during which the nature of the mileu can be hinted at. 3. The protagonist picks up the phone, perhaps thinking about the nature of her work or the likely nature of the call. Another opportunity to discuss milieu and develop character 4. The protagonist answers the phone, and the caller presents enough information for the protagonist (and therefore the audience) to understand the nature of the job for which she is hired 5. More thoughts on the client, or the job, or some preliminary planning, more opportunities to develop character and backstory and discuss milieu.
Posts: 683 | Registered: Oct 2004
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