Wanted to get a few comments from people on something thats bothering me...
I have been told, rightly so, I believe, that an story opening should have tension/action. In my mind, tension would be an unresolved question regarding the attitude of a character, and action would be (usually) a conflict in the process of being played out. The way I have read peoples comments on various posts, if both of these elements are missing, there is nothing of interest to keep a reader going.
With this in mind, I have changed where I started a story, and also changed the POV, to bring in elements of both the above (very basic) definitions.
My question is this: If you feel that you were starting a story in the right place anyway, for reasons of the story's logic, or any number of other reasons, but the nature of the starting point is such that there would not be much action, what can you do to surmount this problem?
I realise that I am probably asking something for which there is no easy answer, and I am most likely going to be told, well, you can get away with it, if you are good enough.
I went through an enormous amount of books in my collection last night, reading chapter openings, and came to the conclusion that a lot of authors *do* break these 'rules' and get away with it.
Anyway, just thought I would ask. Feel free to adjust my ignorance :-)
Thanks in advance.
Posted by Phanto (Member # 1619) on :
Lack of action does not mean lack of tension.
Personally, as long as the start of a story is interesting I will keep reading.
Sure, the tension, suspense and drama are needed. But you don't need gun-shooting horse-riding action to achieve those effects.
Posted by ccwbass (Member # 1850) on :
Actually, I've been wondering about this myself. I've even thought of - somehow - surveying first novels to see how often the 13-Line rule, as we seem to do it here, is actually kept.
Still - best opening line EVER: "Taran wanted to make a sword; but Coll, charged with the practical side of his education, decided on horseshoes."
Now, there's some good ol YA tension.
Posted by Lord Darkstorm (Member # 1610) on :
I think that there is a misconceptio about settng a hook for the reader. I watch the F&F group and see it regularly. The stories try and start in the middle of all the action, but at that point I don't know why they are there, what created the situation, and quite honestly don't care.
So how do you get someone interested without being dropped in the middle of high excitement? Good question, but the answer I don't think is set in stone. You need something interesting, you need to give the reader a reason to continue reading. Take a few of your favorite books, the ones you enjoyed the most, and look at the first couple paragarphs. What words were used that got your interest. What questions did the author get in your mind that you wanted to have answered? See just how many of them follow the overly abused concept I see here. Action, Action...paragraphs of explination.
When determining where to start your story, you must determine what is the best place for it to begin. If that starting point don't work, find a better place to start.
I just realized that one of my short stories does start in the wrong spot. I'm going to have to back it up a couple hours. Well, if I didn't answer your question, I helped myself with one of mine...
Posted by EricJamesStone (Member # 1681) on :
quote:My question is this: If you feel that you were starting a story in the right place anyway, for reasons of the story's logic, or any number of other reasons, but the nature of the starting point is such that there would not be much action, what can you do to surmount this problem?
If your story has a setting that is unusual in some way, you can grab the reader's attention giving interesting details about the time and/or place.
Or you could give some brief details from the character's past that make the character more interesting.
If you can do it well (which is a very important caveat), a bit of humor in the opening can catch the reader's interest.
Posted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (Member # 59) on :
OSC talks about where stories should start in his HOW TO WRITE SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY.
Damon Knight used to always say that you start the story when things start happening, not after they've started happening (in the middle of the action) and not before they start happening (too much set-up), but when they start happening.
For my part, I keep reading a story because I care about the characters. <shrug>
Posted by Gwalchmai (Member # 1807) on :
OSC also has something to say about beginnings here. I found this quite interesting. Although his examples don't contain much in the way of 'action' they are good examples of how to write an opening from a character's point of view that tells us something about their world rather than by simply using masses of dull description.
[This message has been edited by Gwalchmai (edited January 25, 2004).]
Posted by sadbadger (Member # 1898) on :
Thanks for comments. They have given me quite a bit to think about. Maybe I am *too* patient when reading, as I always seem to be able to get several pages into a book before getting annoyed by anything! It probably comes from reading a lot of authors who like to start things off from an omniscient point of view. (In fact, I blame Jordan :-)
I had better dust off my OSC writing books and give them a read.
Thanks for the link, by the way, I will take a look at that now.
Posted by JBShearer (Member # 9434) on :
I love Robert Jordan . . .
But you're right, he could probably write a nonsensical dictionary about his WOT world and it would sell a million copies. I think that when you get THAT big, or even as big as King, Grisham, Crichton . . . you can get whatever you want published.
Posted by TruHero (Member # 1766) on :
Think of it as an Oyster that picks up a grain or two of sand. They start rubbing together and sooner or later you have a pearl. It doesn't take much, you don't have to slaughter everyone, or go to some extreme. It could be a question gets raised, or someone gets a distressing letter or a son kills his father after years of bossing him around. Well, that smacks of the slaughtering thing, but you get my point I hope? I too love Robert Jordan. But I must admit that the honeymoon was over on about book six. But, like an abused child, I still come back for more, hoping it will end or get better. Maybe that was a bad analogy, but that is how I feel, "Literally" beat up. LOL, That was punny to me. I crack myself up sometimes.
Posted by Gwalchmai (Member # 1807) on :
Don't get me started on Jordan. Not only could he publish what he wants but he is. I got to the end of the tenth book the other day to find an advert telling me to look out for 'New Springs' or something, the first of three magnificent prequels. Prequels! And three of them! Can't he finish the proper series first? If he steps out of his house and gets knocked down by a bus after just finishing the penultimate book of the series and he's wasted his time writing three prequels, I'm not going to be very impressed. Sorry, it's something that's been gnawing away at me ever since I read it.
Posted by srhowen (Member # 462) on :
I'm halfway through a book right now that has been all set up very little going on and the tension is just not there--I keep reading hoping it will get better. The book is written by one of my fav authors and it just keeps rambling along getting no wear that I care about.
Tension doesn't have to be a big boom, it can be set up if you do it in a way that makes the reader care foreshadows a large dramatic event.
But you have to get it right--an entire first chapter of set up will turn a new reader off. By new reader I mean someone that has not read your work. If you have a loyal base of readers then they will read through set up because they know a pay off is coming (or at least they think it will) But starting out--you need to start where the story starts, where this event starts, not with a info dump trying to mimic story.
Shawn
Posted by Jules (Member # 1658) on :
quote:If he steps out of his house and gets knocked down by a bus after just finishing the penultimate book of the series and he's wasted his time writing three prequels, I'm not going to be very impressed.
This is why I always try to avoid reading a series until its finished.
Also the fact that I have no patience, and tend to go straight from one to the next whenever possible... I read all 10(?) Honor Harrington novels in less than a month, and some of the later ones are quite hefty volumes...
Posted by Kolona (Member # 1438) on :
Went through five writing books last night and none had "tension" listed in the index. They pretty much had the concept, if not the word, in the textual portions of "beginnings" and "openings," but I was surprised "tension" wasn't considered a bona fide concept.
Posted by JK (Member # 654) on :
I think that tension is not really the right word to use for what you want in the beginning of a story. What you really want is curiosity. Something in that first paragraph that makes the reader think "what's this?" A little thing to make him or her want to read on until the answer is provided. And, hopefully, the rest of the story is just so god-damn good that he or she is hooked
As an example, I'm going to nick the beginning ccwbass provided:
quote:Taran wanted to make a sword; but Coll, charged with the practical side of his education, decided on horseshoes.
Why does Taran want to make a sword? A really, really simple question. It's not anything like "will Taran defeat the Dark Lord of Basingstoke?" or "is the Dark Lord of Basingstoke really Taran's father?" That kind of stuff can come in later. "Why does Taran want to make a sword" is enough to make the reader go "huh" and read on, as opposed to going "zzz" and being asked to leave the bookshop for dribbling on the carpets.
JK
Posted by ccwbass (Member # 1850) on :
I can help you out there. This comes from the first book of what became a five-volume series for Young Adult readers. Two of the books were award winners.
For the audience that is targeted, Taran wanting to build a sword while being obliged to make something more practical is just rife with the best kind of conflict. It's immediately understandable by any boy who ever enjoyed a swords 'n sorcery type entertainment.
Posted by punahougirl84 (Member # 1731) on :
Oh thank you for bringing up Lloyd Alexander, because I love (not lovED) those books! Took my YA mother's helper to the library and found a book of short stories that tell about Taran's comrades before Taran was around. I inhaled it. And that is a great example of a starting sentence - even as a girl I wanted to know why he wanted to make a sword, and sympathized with the youthful desire being overruled by the adult authority. Masterful writing. We know Taran is young, Coll is in charge of him (education), he is probably in a rural setting (horseshoes), maybe medieval of some sort (sword) - astounding what one carefully written sentence can do.
If the start does make you mind wonder, or feel something for the mc, then it is working.
Posted by loggrad98 (Member # 1724) on :
The way I see it, the beginning has no further purpose than to lead your reader to the middle. It needs to be engaging, entertaining, involving, interesting, etc. enough to keep the reader turning the page. Dean Koontz is a good overall example of leading readers to the middle. I posted 13 lines recently where I wanted to see if I accomplished just that, kept the reader wanting to read. My first 13 lines did not have a lot of tension, or really even a lot of action (the main character moves a picture on his desk...that is the bulk of the action) but the responses have been pretty good so far.
I think the litmus test is do you want to read it after reading the first page. If not, the beginning probably needs to be rewritten.
Posted by Jules (Member # 1658) on :
Something in the concept of there being a "Dark Lord of Basingstoke" somehow manages to explain a lot...
Posted by Lord Darkstorm (Member # 1610) on :
quote:The way I see it, the beginning has no further purpose than to lead your reader to the middle.
Actually , the begining is where you let your reader in on what kind of story they are about to read. Beginings are important to show the reader what you have in mind for them, and what they can expect in your story.
Posted by Survivor (Member # 213) on :
That's part of what makes the opening line of The Book of Three so masterful (hope I got the right book there). The series is all about a boy that starts out longing for swords, who ends up learning that horseshoes are no less honorable (nor more honorable--both are needful, and that is enough).
It is a story about growing up, and a boy who becomes a man by doing what needs doing, whether it be done with swords, horseshoes, or fair words in a foul situation.
