McAnally's (The Community Pub) > Author Craft

The shape of a story, particularly the start

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Adam:
I'm at about 70,000 words in a story, and one person who read my first chapter suggested I should begin with conflict.  Personally I prefer setting the scene first, then introducing some conflict or problem.  What are your thoughts on this?  Should a story leap immediately into some conflict to grab the reader's attention?

I was just checking through some of my favourite books, and some books considered classics which I don't much care for, and most seem to set the scene first, give a little picture of the world and the people, before the bad guy breaks down the door and starts shooting/stabbing/whatever.  On the other hand, I'm aware that publishing has a higher turn-over today than when Sense & Sensibility or The Hobbit were printed, and that the pool of customers/readers is larger and includes more people with a shorter attention span.

Paynesgrey:
I suppose it's really a matter of taste.  I prefer the "taste of the world" approach, but sometimes I find that the world was more interesting than the story, and find myself wishing for more of the "everyday life" aspects rather than the Official Main Story.  I'd say a balance is required, a good, vibrant world is a must-have, but the story and characters must be strong enough that they aren't washed out by it.

Franzeska:

--- Quote from: Adam on May 04, 2008, 03:59:46 AM ---On the other hand, I'm aware that publishing has a higher turn-over today than when Sense & Sensibility or The Hobbit were printed, and that the pool of customers/readers is larger and includes more people with a shorter attention span.

--- End quote ---

More than that, the normal writing style in Jane Austen's day isn't remotely like the normal writing style now.  There have been some recent (and bad) changes in the publishing industry that make things a bit different from the 1970's, but of course they're different from 200 years ago.

I like the way Clive Cussler handles the beginnings of his books: he puts in a brief prologue with the historical material and then starts chapter 1 with the hero doing something active (though that doesn't always mean an action scene).  This approach seems to work for a lot of authors.  If you need to infodump though, I think that's better handled after we have some idea who the characters are and why we care.

Suilan:
There's big conflicts and small conflicts. Not just your first but every scene needs some conflict, that is your point-of-view character must have a scene goal, something s/he wants to achieve in this scene, and some other character must have an opposing or conflicting goal (or there must be some other obstacle to overcome for the hero.)

Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice is full of conflict in every scene. Many people only think of physical struggle when they say or hear the word conflict, but it can be subtle. Just put two people with different agendas in one room and you have conflict or tension.

Hope this helps.

Adam:
Would it be acceptable if I posted the first chapter here, for some feedback?

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