TECH: True Beginnings? (A moldy oldie)

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Original Posting Jan. 11, 2017

Writer's Digest, January 1996, pages 35 to 37, have a short article by Darrell Schweitzer with the title "Finding Your Short Story's… True Beginning." The focus here is on finding the right place to start your story. Darrell starts out with the proverbial Western writer's advice, "Shoot the sheriff on the first page." He adds "The science-fiction version may involve denting the sheriff's carapace, but it's pretty much the same." However, a common problem for stories is starting in the wrong place. So how do you tell where the beginning of the story is?

Well, Darrell suggests starting with Krazy Kat! Ignatz Mouse, in that old comic strip, kept throwing bricks at Krazy Kat to get her attention. So... you got it! "The story starts when your character gets hit in the head with a brick."

Not a long description of who the character is, a history of the world, or even what daily life is like. Short stories start "when the protagonist's life is disrupted. When the routine changes. When something extraordinary manifests itself."

Often, this is just a very obvious change. However, some stories do start with a description of routine, showing what life is like before the interruption. Why? It depends on the theme. But even there, it's kept tight. Basically, the archetype is:

"Routinely, Harold Hero went through the motions of his life, doing what he always did. And then, one day…"

Conflict. Get to it quickly. "So, to begin a story, think of the hurled brick: the intrusion, the disruption, the sudden explosion of conflict that yanks your character out of his daily routine, the extraordinary happenstance that gives him a story worth telling."

Now, a short story means everything needs to do multiple tasks. In fact, along with that brick, we need to introduce the tone, the emotional flavor. We need to present a point of view, how are we seeing the brick. And don't forget the setting! Along with some characters. So we're looking at:

1. Introduction. Who is the narrator, what's the point of view?
2. The hook, something unusual to get our attention.
3. Premise. A hint about what's coming.
4. Tone. What kind of a story is this? What emotional strings are going to be played?
5. Conflict. Internal, external, what's wrong?

So, if your beginning doesn't seem to have what you need, where should you look? Well, Darrell suggests looking at your ending. "All too often, the amateur story stops where the professional one starts." That's right, that climax might be the best place to start!

Darrell has an exercise to check this. Write a sequel! Suppose all the characters know and take for granted what happened in the original story. But now they are going on. Write that story. Don't build up to an idea, use that as the beginning.

And don't forget to throw a few bricks.

All right? WRITE!
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