Roger Angle's Blog - Posts Tagged "how-to-write-fiction"
ONE WAY TO BEGIN A NOVEL
I taught writing for years, and students often ask, How do I begin?
When telling a story, you have to hook the reader and hold their attention all the way through. One way to do that is through a character we admire.
The other day, I read a beginning that I loved, in Ridley Pearson's novel "In Harm's Way."
A woman is driving along a country highway in the rain. She crosses a bridge. The river below is a raging torrent, full of trees and debris.
She sees a child, half underwater, trapped in the branches of a tree floating along in the river.
She slams on the brakes, runs across the highway. Cars swerve and slide to a stop. A man in a pickup truck stops and gets out.
The woman slides down the bank and dives into the water. She swims in the frigid water and struggles to find the child, finally finds her and holds her up out of the water, struggles to free the child and herself from the branches of the tree. She almost loses her grip on the child and almost drowns.
The driver of the pickup truck is suddenly there, reaching for her hand. He pulls her to safety. Other drivers are there, helping them out of the water.
She saves the kid's life.
Wow! What a beginning!
It works for several reasons. One, it is suspenseful and full of action.
Two, it reveals something about the woman's character. What kind of person is she? Is she brave? Yes. Is she heroic? Yes. Do we admire her? Yes, yes, and yes.
She risks her own life, without thought, to save a child, a total stranger.
Do we like this person? Yes. This is the first question we ask, I believe, when we read a story. We like her a lot. Is this a good beginning? Yes.
At the end of the scene there is a twist. You have to read the book to see what it is.
My point here is there is more than one reason to write this scene. Not just the action. That is not enough. You need to reveal character, too.
(NOTE: I finished reading this novel and it was not as much fun all the way through. See my review under My Books.)
RA
When telling a story, you have to hook the reader and hold their attention all the way through. One way to do that is through a character we admire.
The other day, I read a beginning that I loved, in Ridley Pearson's novel "In Harm's Way."
A woman is driving along a country highway in the rain. She crosses a bridge. The river below is a raging torrent, full of trees and debris.
She sees a child, half underwater, trapped in the branches of a tree floating along in the river.
She slams on the brakes, runs across the highway. Cars swerve and slide to a stop. A man in a pickup truck stops and gets out.
The woman slides down the bank and dives into the water. She swims in the frigid water and struggles to find the child, finally finds her and holds her up out of the water, struggles to free the child and herself from the branches of the tree. She almost loses her grip on the child and almost drowns.
The driver of the pickup truck is suddenly there, reaching for her hand. He pulls her to safety. Other drivers are there, helping them out of the water.
She saves the kid's life.
Wow! What a beginning!
It works for several reasons. One, it is suspenseful and full of action.
Two, it reveals something about the woman's character. What kind of person is she? Is she brave? Yes. Is she heroic? Yes. Do we admire her? Yes, yes, and yes.
She risks her own life, without thought, to save a child, a total stranger.
Do we like this person? Yes. This is the first question we ask, I believe, when we read a story. We like her a lot. Is this a good beginning? Yes.
At the end of the scene there is a twist. You have to read the book to see what it is.
My point here is there is more than one reason to write this scene. Not just the action. That is not enough. You need to reveal character, too.
(NOTE: I finished reading this novel and it was not as much fun all the way through. See my review under My Books.)
RA
