The Place For My Writers Notes

Original posting 27 February 2010

Let's see. Over here at the Mad Genius Club, writers division, there's some discussion about how to start a story.

http://madgeniusclub.blogspot.com/2010/02/cheat-post-beginnings.html

In medias res -- in the middle of the action, a problem, a question, a conflict? Maybe a name, setting, cognitive dissonance? Establish a goal, create an emotional connection? What about a concrete, immediate desire that is threatened? Go where it hurts?

And over here, http://www.fmwriters.com/Visionback/Issue27/writinghooks.htm we have a warning against crooks -- a hook that lies. When you use conflict, excitement, suspense... but you set up a false expectation of what the story is going to be, that's a crook. And when the reader notices that you're not delivering on that sparkling bait, they'll throw your story against the wall and you probably won't be able to get them to read another one. And there's a discussion of using your people, plot, setting, or style -- the thing that sets your story apart -- to help find a hook.

What about ARCS? This is a model of motivation, that I often find useful. Attention, relevance, confidence, and satisfaction. Give people that, and they're motivated to try new things, to do something you want them to do, etc.

So a hook needs something to get their attention -- that cognitive dissonance, the dead fish on the coffee table, the bullet hole in the windshield, something that stands out and makes you curious. That certainly seems to be a piece of the hook.

Relevance. This is probably where the point of view character comes in, because we want to empathize with them. Make us feel like this is someone we can relate to, who has problems that we can relate to, abilities that maybe we don't have but we wish we had, and so forth. Or maybe sometimes the relevance comes from this is a setting that I know, or this is a problem that I know, or even this is something I wish I knew about? Anyway, in that little beginning, try to show the reader how this story, these characters, their problems are relevant to the reader.

Confidence. I suppose the key here is the genres. I feel pretty confident about reading mysteries, science fiction, and some others because I know how those stories go, I know how to read them and I enjoy them. But if the story starts out telling me that it is going to be a pastoral romance, for example, or a high-tension thriller with gangland killings everywhere... I am likely to set the story aside. There will be those who read it, but it's not my kind of story. Or if I can't tell what kind of a story it is, then I start to get itchy. So again, the hook needs to quickly establish what kind of a story it is. Setting expectations...

Which leads us to satisfaction. The beginning of the story makes a contract with the reader, it promises certain kinds of payoff. Admittedly, the beginning typically doesn't provide much of the satisfaction -- that's more for the climax. But the hook tells us what we might expect. Am I going to see a romantic pairing and a happily ever after, the bad guys punished and good triumphant, a mystery resolved? What do I think I'm going to find out when I read this book? That question or problem or situation needs to be something that will satisfy me, and then I look for the resolution to complete the satisfaction.

Hooks. How do you get the reader involved, right from the beginning? What are the pieces that you have to have there?

It's a puzzle! So how do you develop your hooks?

original posting: Sat, 2 Oct 1993 18:00:04 JST

FAQ: First Lines

The poet frowned, fingers posed as words swirled in his mind, almost but not quite right for this part of the glowing vision. Just then, the doorbell rang...

The factory seemed to come alive in the fitful dance of moonbeams through the cloudy overcast. Dark shadows lurked and stretched, making her glance up again and again to be sure the silent machines weren't moving, weren't reaching metallic fingers out to catch her. Then she glanced back...

Every day, the quotes changed. Read and passed by quickly, a ritual of inattention. Then one day, eyes locked to the short saying. The world seemed focused on the brief lines. It was...

A dark and stormy night folded over the tiny figures, exploding out of their inner storms into startled reality. As one angry mouth opened, lightning cracked. As another mumbled and glared, hard driven rain stuttered across them. Then...

The wheat was a golden carpet, embossed patterns revealed by the occasional light wind, the heavy heads glowing in the sunshine with their promise of food. The smell of hot, rich earth and baking yellow stems was a subtle perfume, pulling the farmers to their daily chores, sinking the land in a celebration of growth and peace. Those were golden days...

The Z-nine fighters spread out ahead of the flotilla, exploring and testing for danger with electronic senses. They swept over and past the small asteroid...

She stopped at a small inn below the castle, surprised by the ancient relic set in the foothills. The innkeeper told her it had no name, and suggested that there were far better places for an American tourist, places with guided tours and giftshops. She thought about it for a moment, remembering the crowds and Marley. Then she looked at the rocky pile lit by the evening sun...

(pssst! want to know how these and other stories end? want to write poems and tales of wonder or glee? Stick around. Writers has a place for you...)

First lines to last, rewriting, markets, poetry - put your own work out on display on Writers. We can make beautiful words together!

original posting: Thu, 31 May 2001 22:22:55 -0400


a simple sort of beginning, and yet the reader is likely to keep reading just to find out what was wrong.  What is the "something"?  Why was the front door open?

What happens next?  Does he find something else?  Does he do something?

Here's one way that it might go:





And so on and on, until the ending.

What kind of a story could you write, starting with that simple sentence and two words?


Go ahead, make my day and write!

original posting: Wed, 24 Jul 2002 00:22:56 -0400

This last weekend, I took a walk with visitors.  Their little child was terribly excited as we walked along, dashing ahead to look, then running back to tell us what was around the next corner.

I was thinking about that childhood enthusiasm for the little mysteries of "what's around the next corner?"

Perhaps that's the wonder of writing -- you get to decide what's there, hiding around that corner.  And you get to tease us (your reader) into peaking around with you.

What do you think?  What corner is your writing about to peak around?  And how are you going to get me (the reader) to peak with you?

Tell us about the street you're walking down, the corners that hide things, and what lurks around those corners...

write!

(I think the shrimp, or maybe those little red eggs. Worms work pretty good, too? Oh, you don't want fishy readers, you want them warm and comfy? Does that mean you won't be using the good lines?)

How do you get the reader to start reading? There are many recommendations to hook the reader, but what does that mean?

Nancy Kress, in a column entitled Your Opening Quest in Writer's Digest, Jan. 2005, pp. 20-22, talks about ways to create compelling openings. Ways to set that hook, to raise questions and suggest change is coming.

First, try out-of-the-ordinary. "The easiest way to raise a question in the reader's mind is by opening with an action that's clearly a change from the normal or expected." Start with action, and make sure:

1. The action suggests that a change has just occurred or is about to happen in the character's life
2. The action makes the reader wonder why it is happening, what the character will do next, or what the consequences will be

Second, hook the reader with provocative details about characters or setting that suggest change is upon us. Make sure the details:

1. Are very specific
2. Promise conflict to come
3. Indicate a change from the norm - something special - for this place and characters
4. Make readers try to figure out what's going on, and then keep reading to find out if they guessed right

Third, try starting with a grand sweeping statement of universal truths or assumptions. This used to be popular, and it still grabs the attention and raises questions about the story to follow. Some suggestions if you want to try this:

1. A bit of humor helps, because modern readers are likely to see such grand statements as a bit pompous
2. Quickly get down to specifics and action.
3. Make sure the opening raises questions that will absorb the reader

"Questions that require answers are what keep readers going -- and the place to start raising those questions is with your very first sentence."

So, take a look at a few stories that you really like, and see how they get started. Then try putting that same hook-and-jerk into the starting lines for one of your own stories. Polishing that beginning - once you get the reader going, they'll come along for the ride, but if you don't snag them at the start, they aren't likely to see the rest?