McAnally's (The Community Pub) > Author Craft

The shape of a story, particularly the start

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Noey:
I think it depends on how you want to set the tone for the rest of the novel. If you're going for overall something dark and dreary, then I'd start slow and build the tension. If you want an action packed story, then drop the reader right into some action to get the blood pumping. If you're going for romance, throw out the purple prose and get romantical. If your story's supposed to be funny, then get on with the goofy first thing. This is the first taste of your novel, and you want to make it a good one that the rest of your novel follows well.

Adam:
I intend to avoid romance, as every girl I've ever known had informed me in no uncertain terms that I'm a complete idiot about anything even vaguely related to emotions.

No, it's mostly mystery, action, fun things like that.

I've been reading through Jim's blog entries about story construction, setting out the plot points, the big swampy middle, et cetera, and I'm actually finding it very helpful.  Simply establishing the major points like that has indeed done half the work for me.  Thanks muchly.

meg_evonne:

--- Quote from: Adam on May 05, 2008, 12:26:03 PM ---I intend to avoid romance, as every girl I've ever known had informed me in no uncertain terms that I'm a complete idiot about anything even vaguely related to emotions.


--- End quote ---
  What better way to explore your emotions, however?  :-)

azjayp:
i don't think you need to scap the whole part of the story for action at the beginning, but i feel that a little action at the beginning is always a good thing.  even if it is mundane action that has NOTHING to do with the main antagonist, showing that your character has guts and/or is a troublemaker and/or is crazy... helps the reader get into the book quickly, and shows a lot about your main character.

personaly i am far more interested at the beginning of a book about the main character than i am about the world (s)he lives in. that comes later.

i also suggest that you stop worrying about how many words are in the book and focus on a good story.

after putting in some little character entry action for the first chapter, you can then move on to everything else that you have already writen.

hope that helps.

blgarver:

--- Quote from: Adam on May 05, 2008, 12:26:03 PM ---I intend to avoid romance, as every girl I've ever known had informed me in no uncertain terms that I'm a complete idiot about anything even vaguely related to emotions.

--- End quote ---

I'm in the same boat Adam.  However, I've begun a series of romantic comedies inspired by my own experiences with women.  So far i'm happy with it.

I think there needs to be conflict at the outset of any story.  But that doesn't have to be an action scene.  The first sentence of my romcom is the main character waking up half an hour late for work.  This creates conflict, as well as paints a pretty immediate picture of the type of character this guy is.  Then I throw in some integral details of the scene as he throws himself together and flies out the door - messy room, cluttered car with a broken back window, etc...

I think that you can set the scene and the tone, while showing the most important aspects of the character (ie, he's always late for work, he's a slob, yadda yadda) and use an immediate conflict as a vehicle for those things.  Mix it all together.  Give us a sampling of every aspect that the book has in store for us.

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