How do you begin a story?
The basic ideaof a story is quite simple: Character A wants something and the story describeshis or her journey to get that something. But it's never a straight line, isit? That would be boring, wouldn't it?
Instead, the story is filled withobstacles and secondary characters whose sole purpose is to thwart Character A'sprogress. Now this is all pretty basic stuff but it's essentially the gist ofevery story. And it's the reason why the reader keeps reading—if, of course,the story is told well and Character A is sympathetic and his or her plightis worthy enough to hold the reader's interest.
Okay, now that we understand thebarebones of a story, where do we begin? For me, Character A is the mostimportant ingredient to our story. If our character is likeable and his or hergoal is worthy and the path to that goal appears fraught with interestingdiversions that keep the reader guessing at Character A's success, then you might have captured the reader'sinterest for the duration of your story.
I say might because what happens along the way can determine whether thereader stays interested or lays the book down and grabs the remote. How do youkeep the reader interested, you ask? Simple. Always have several unansweredquestions lingering in the air until the very end of the story. And as you tellyour story you answer those questions, one by one, while throwing newerquestions out there for the reader to ponder.
Example: The Hunger Games. SuzanneCollins is a genius. The main question in the first book is: Will Katniss Everdeendie in the Hunger Games? And since Katniss's character is so well liked fromthe get go, we're on tenterhooks the entire time. The next question: WillKatniss choose Gale or Peeta? And this question remains throughout all threebooks. Also note that Stephenie Meyer famously used the love triangle techniquein the Twilight saga. Team Edward or team Jacob, right?
The point is clear: Build astrong, likeable, sympathetic character. Then give your character a goal thatis interesting. Katniss's goal was to survive the Hunger Games. And her goalraised the question for the reader: Will she survive? And the reader justcouldn't put the book down until that question was answered.
So build that character. Come up with your mainquestion to hold the reader's interest. And then think of all the ways you canmake your character stumble along the way, while raising other interestingquestions to hold the reader's interest.
Till next time, keep reading andwriting.
Instead, the story is filled withobstacles and secondary characters whose sole purpose is to thwart Character A'sprogress. Now this is all pretty basic stuff but it's essentially the gist ofevery story. And it's the reason why the reader keeps reading—if, of course,the story is told well and Character A is sympathetic and his or her plightis worthy enough to hold the reader's interest.
Okay, now that we understand thebarebones of a story, where do we begin? For me, Character A is the mostimportant ingredient to our story. If our character is likeable and his or hergoal is worthy and the path to that goal appears fraught with interestingdiversions that keep the reader guessing at Character A's success, then you might have captured the reader'sinterest for the duration of your story.
I say might because what happens along the way can determine whether thereader stays interested or lays the book down and grabs the remote. How do youkeep the reader interested, you ask? Simple. Always have several unansweredquestions lingering in the air until the very end of the story. And as you tellyour story you answer those questions, one by one, while throwing newerquestions out there for the reader to ponder.
Example: The Hunger Games. SuzanneCollins is a genius. The main question in the first book is: Will Katniss Everdeendie in the Hunger Games? And since Katniss's character is so well liked fromthe get go, we're on tenterhooks the entire time. The next question: WillKatniss choose Gale or Peeta? And this question remains throughout all threebooks. Also note that Stephenie Meyer famously used the love triangle techniquein the Twilight saga. Team Edward or team Jacob, right?
The point is clear: Build astrong, likeable, sympathetic character. Then give your character a goal thatis interesting. Katniss's goal was to survive the Hunger Games. And her goalraised the question for the reader: Will she survive? And the reader justcouldn't put the book down until that question was answered.
So build that character. Come up with your mainquestion to hold the reader's interest. And then think of all the ways you canmake your character stumble along the way, while raising other interestingquestions to hold the reader's interest.
Till next time, keep reading andwriting.
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