 | |
| |
Writing Information & News
| |
|
|
|
 Beginnings
Just about everyone is familiar with this beginning: "In the beginning God created the heavens and earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep . . ." (Genesis 1: 1-2 RSV) In a sense we're playing God when we write a story. We create the characters, plot, and setting, turning a blank page-nothingness-into a compelling story. Not only is your first scene the first impression of a story, it is the doorway that invites your reader on a journey. First scenes are what determine whether or not your reader is going to follow your characters to the end. Your beginning must accomplish several things: Introduce your characters Establish the place and time the story occurs Introduce the conflict or point at which change begins. Your opening sets the tone, mood, situation or problem. It actually begins in the middle of things. Looking at the first lines of Genesis from a purely literary standpoint, the first lines introduce God as the protagonist. The time and setting (simply) is the moment of Creation, same as the point of change. Before God created the world there was nothing. For the purpose of this illustration from a literary standpoint, Nothing was what happened before the story begins. It starts in medius res-in the middle of things. Let's look at a few opening lines of other stories. I could tell the minute I got in the door and dropped my bag, I wasn't staying. "Medley" by Toni Cade Bambara This blind man, an old friend of my wife's, he was on his way to spend the night. "Cathedral" by Raymond Carver She told him with a little gesture he had never seen her use before. "Gesturing" by John Updike Something has already happened before the opening line. The first line is actually the middle of the story. Each story has its own history. The plot is affected by something that happened before the first sentence on the first page. In Anne Bernays and Pamela Painter's book, What If? They describe story beginnings: " . . . think of the story as a straight line with sentence one appearing somewhere beyond the start of the line-ideally near the middle. At some point, most stories or novels dip back into the past, to the beginning of the straight line and catch the reader up on the situation-how and why X has gotten himself into such a pickle with character Y." Take out an old story, or one you've been working on. Look at the opening scene. As yourself: Does the story have a past? Is the current conflict grounded in the history of the story? If you answer no, then you don't know your story's past well enough. John Irving said: "Know the story-as much of the story as you can possibly know, if not the whole story-before you commit yourself to the first paragraph. Know the story-the whole story, if possible-before you fall in love with your first sentence, not to mention your first chapter." About The Author Rita Marie Keller has written and published numerous short stories, articles, and essays. Her novel, Living in the City was released September 2002 by Booklocker.com, Inc. She founded the Cacoethes Scribendi Creative Writing Workshop in 1999.
MORE RESOURCES:
Heartless traffic agent Daniel Chu STILL writing off drivers after scuffle ... - New York Daily News
Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Make Your Mark Upon Humanity The greatest gift you have to give to yourself and humanity is the book, the song, the poem the artwork or invention that is locked away within your consciousness.All of us have this gift that needs to come out. Write SMART: How to Create Terrific Writing Goals - And Achieve Them! Open up your favorite calendar and circle today's date.Why? Because no matter what day it is, you've been given a wonderful gift: a bright and shiny year ahead to make your writing dreams come true. Put a Spin on Your Idea! Eight or nine times out of ten, picking up and leafing through a magazine's or book's table of contents, you will find at least one or more articles or chapters that will catch your attention immediately. Never mind that that article or chapter's subject had been written about many times before. What is Screenwriting? Simply put, it is the art of writing scripts for a visual medium. Unlike a play where the action is "talked out," the action within a screenplay is "acted out" visually. Get Published: The Nuts and Bolts of Good English, and How to Impress a Publisher (1) Not all writers write good grammar. That's a fact. Five Minute Miracles FIVE MINUTES .. Dont Get Burned: Evaluating Script Writing Contests Hundreds of writing contests tempt screenwriters with the lure of prize money, instant film industry contacts and personal feedback from film professionals. But contests can be costly, screenwriters should choose intelligently. Top Seven Essential Hot-Selling Points To Implement Before Writing Chapter One Every part of your book can be a sales tool. When you include the below tips, you will have a roadmap to follow to keep your writing organized and compelling, and you'll sell more books than you ever dreamed of! 1. Writing Made Them Rich #3: Richard Bach One day in the mid-1970's a young man stumbled into adiner somewhere in the United Sates.Slung over his shoulder was a kit-bag that containedeverything he owned. How to Have an Effective Reading Group Writing leads to reading. Therefore, it's only fair to supply my readers with sufficient information on creating an effective reading group, since the last article was based on writing groups. The Top Five Mistakes That Companies Make with Regard to Technical Documentation I've seen it time and again. One of the most common weaknesses that I've seen in engineering companies-indeed, an almost universal fault-is the lack of proper technical documentation. 10 Secrets For Writing Killer Complaint Letters Complaint letters aren't always fun, but sometimes they needto be written. In many cases, if people don't complain, the problem agency at fault (i. How I Became a Syndicated Columnist -- And You Can Too! Real Estate has "Location, location, location," and writing has "Clips, clips, clips."When people ask me how I became a syndicated columnist, I usually say, "it just snowballed. Character Motivation - Always Ask WHY For many years, I've been a tutor for students undertaking courses in writing romance, crime or children's stories. In that time, I've marked thousands of assignments. The Iniquitous Slip All the famous writers I heard of could paper the walls of their offices with rejection notices.Rejection slips are the bane of all writers, yet they are inevitable. Could Your Book Idea Be the Next Best Seller? Everyone has a unique story to tell. From explaining business processes to revealing our personal history, we all have a natural desire to share our experiences with the world. How To Avoid Viewpoint Slips Sit back, and imagine what it feels like to be you. Now that shouldn't be too hard - you've lived in your own skin for a long time. Review of A Classic: Finneys Invasion of The Body Snatchers To keep it simple and basic: Jack Finney's Invasion of The Body Snatchers succeeds first and foremost because it's a great story. If there was nothing else to be said about it, just that it's a great story, that should be more than enough to keep it on the bookshelves for the next generation to enjoy as much as the last. How Are You Plotting? Creative Writing Tips -Writing is a creative process and how every writer chooses to create, is individual to them. Likewise, with plotting, every writer plots at a level they are comfortable with. Getting Published Is Different For Everyone: Two Paths Among Many One obvious question that can get overlooked in the process of seeking publication is, Why do you want to publish this book, article, story or poem? Most likely, the answer involves some combination of artistic or spiritual vision, desire for recognition, need to communicate an idea or body of knowledge, feeling a compelling urge to shift consciousness around a particular topic, seeing a knowledge gap in the general society and feeling called to fill it, and of course receiving a little or a lot of financial compensation for one's efforts.As writers, as creative people, it can be difficult to join the artistic and spiritual sides of what drives us with the practical and business concerns.
|
| © Writing Information 2010 |