McAnally's (The Community Pub) > Author Craft
Conflict question and maybe something about scenes and sequels....
OZ:
I should have said someone or something that tries to prevent the protagonist(s) from reaching his/her goal.
OZ:
It depends on what you mean by start. It doesn't have to be the first thing that appears but if there's not some conflict pretty early, you're probably going to lose your readers' interest. Again conflict doesn't always mean a fight.
Zuriel:
Most of the time my first paragraph is a setup, and then by the second paragraph I'm into the conflict.
As a rule of thumb most stories start out with conflict, because you want to catch the reader’s attention by introducing your MC and what is happening as quickly as possible. Then go back and fill in the details.
Every story is essentially about a problem/conflict/challenge and how the MC deals with it – either physically or internally - and then it needs to make the reader care, become emotionally involved. And the sooner all this happens, the better.
One exception I've seen is where you're building a completely new and alien world and may want to describe it first...and this is ok, too. Just depends on your story, really.
OZ:
Yes. Some writers like to take some time to set the atomosphere before the story starts. For some reason I keep thinking about the Belgariad that spends the first few chapters talking about the farm and introducing characters. If the story is a quest, for instance, some time might be spent making the reader understand where the quest starts in order to provide greater contrast with where it ends up. It is easy to give too much information or not enough. Although you'll never make everyone happy, a good author develops a deft touch in providing enough to get the idea across without so much that the reader gets bored because nothing is going on. Even then it is often best to introduce some minor conflict just to keep things interesting.
the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh:
--- Quote from: arianne on July 06, 2012, 03:51:00 PM ---Just curious...does everyone else start stories with conflict?
--- End quote ---
Not at all. I find conflict tends to happen, but I usually start a story with either a key scene or a set of plot-central events, and work out from there. (Characters usually come to me on a "what sort of person will make decision X in situation Y?" basis. I do not quite get how anyone can get a plot out of following a character around and seeing what they do, but lots of people get good novels that way.)
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