posted
I have barely started writing the beginning to what I think would make a good short story. The problem is I am not sure how to begin. I wrote the first paragraph to the story and then another would come to me. I now have three beginnings to follow.
Should I post all three separately in "Fragments" as Version 1, 2, and 3? Post together and ask people to choose one? Or could I post them here and ask for opinions of the best one so that I can continue developing the story. I really don't think I could sustain the energy to write all three versions, and while they have the same basic premise (and first sentence), they go in slightly different directions. Suggestions?
posted
You should probably try to see which of the story starts takes you to an end first. It's tempting to rely on F&F to help fine tune our work (I do!) but there are times when we just haven't enough work done yet to get meaningful feedback. I speak from experience. I posted a fragment a while back on an experimental piece I was having trouble with - I couldn't figure out where to go. I got great feedback on the overall idea (too experimental, LOL) and the exact wording choices I made (plenty of good input there) but the result was - I still didn't know where to go and the piece still languishes.
When I get the most useful feedback is when I'm done or almost done with a piece.
Alternatively, you could post here in open discussions on writing, and do a brief (1-2 sentences) description of each of the three openings. I think the key would be that we can all discuss the concept behind the opening treatments without having to have an intimate knowledge of the story itself. We have had many discussions in the past on where to start stories (there's an excellent OSC post on the other portion of this site that addresses how he handled this challenge in the Bean story - Ender's Shadow.)
posted
Oops. I fumbled on my meaning. I do not want a precise, word-by-word break down of the beginning. I just want to know which opening feels more right to others. You know, "I pick the first" or "the second" and that would be the extent of that.
I know it is still possible to start wrong, even with feedback, but I think it would be less likely with feedback that gets me thinking about the story in a different light. Maybe someone will ask a question or be confused about something that, when I think about it again, would lead me to believe that one story or the other is implausible or uninteresting or confusing.
I don't want to follow the wrong opening to a dead end because I would get frustrated and probably move on (have done this many times and I suspect that I started off on the wrong foot, or idea, each time).
posted
I have had trouble with beginnings as well (as highlighted extremely well during Bootcamp this year).
Some things OSC taught that helped me: 1. Go through and do with 1000 ideas in an hour thing, where you come up with lots of possibilities for characters and motivations. 2. Pick the ones that are the best - they'll just "feel" right. 3. The beginning makes a contract with the reader about what the story will be about. So, the beginning and ending should match (this is the whole MICE quotient stuff). For example, a Character story must start by showing what is wrong with the character's role in life and then end with a new role (or accepting the old one). 4. Don't do in medias res. Just don't. The cost is very high. Story is the ordered presentation of causally-related events, so it is best to start at the beginning and work through to the end chronologically (of course, all rules are meant to be broken, but every rule breakage has a cost you must understand and pay). 5. On a 3x5 card, write a synopsis of what happens in the story - how it begins and ends. This is in present tense, and must NOT take up more space than the 3x5 card (you can write on the back if you need to).
posted
I guess you could ask us which opening is better, but... I'm not certain we'd be able to give you the best advice. We don't know what the rest of the story will be, how it will develop. And if the openings are so different that one might lead you to a finished story and one might not, aren't they separate ideas then? Three separate openings that all lead to three separate stories? My suggestion would be to do the best you can to choose the best opening for the best story. Then write it. Then come in here and ask opinions. Too many people get too hung up on crafting the perfect beginning, when finishing is every bit as important as starting.
We're not going to be able to tell you which opening will lead to a dead end and which will not. Only you as the author can determine that. It's quite as simple as that, in my opinion.
posted
IMHO, it would be a mistake to use F&F in this manner. I do not believe you will get the result you are hoping for. Critiquers (including the members who regularly post to F&F) can do a lot to help you perfect technique and to find problem spots in your story, but they cannot write it for you. They can't make choices for you. In a sense, that's what you would be asking them to do by choosing their favorite opening.
Only you know the story and only you can write it. Truthfully, the opening that has the most WOW for readers may be the exact wrong opening for the story in your heart. As much as we focus on openings, they don't exist in a vacuum. They begin something....your story.
It can be tough, but if it were me, I'd pick one and just start writing.
*****The beginning of the story is tied inextricably to the end of the story********
I can't stress this enough. The beginning sets up an implicit promise and often, when a person is having trouble starting a story, it's because they don't have a clear enough sense of where the story is going. If you write it -- finish it -- you can then go back and you will know which opening is correct. You're the only one who can know that.
posted
Ok. Thanks anyway. Maybe I'll get a friend to read them through for me. Well, I guess I had better get writing!
Posts: 8 | Registered: Aug 2007
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posted
I feel its best to post just one opening in F&F. Choose one. Part of being a writer is developing the instinct for what works and what doesn't work. If this doesn't work, you'll be a bit sharper next time it happens. (No need to feel like you've got to be the sharpest tool in the shed right now. You've got your whole life to be a writer.)
Then, write the story. If it works, great. If not, maybe wait a while and then rewrite it. But do rewrite it. It'll help you develop a feel for what works.
posted
Some advice I was given was that everything you do is just practice for the next job. There isn't one word that is wasted, because each word you write is one more word of experience under your belt. So if you write it out and it's the wrong one then you know more about the story, (Even if it is what shouldn't be in the story.) Writing is a solitary endeavor, even when your collaborating you can't both be at the keyboard at the same time. (Although I did see two people doing that once.) It is not democratic.
Posts: 1895 | Registered: Mar 2004
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posted
Ahh. . .multiple beginings. Although it may not be a short story I currently have tweleve different starting points for one of my novels I started in 6th grade. I am working on a story that had ten different beginings, with entirely different outcomes. I would personally say that having multiple beginings are only difficult to sort out if you don't have a well developed plot, because after I finished writing out my plot the true begining became obvious. Short stories would be a little more difficult, but I suppose the same theory would apply to them.
Posts: 99 | Registered: Jan 2007
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