Crysi
Cold and Fragile
Epic Novelist
Gender: 
Age: 19
Joined: 16 Nov 2004
Posts: 4359
Reviews: 572
Country: California Crew, yo.
300 Points
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 Posted: Fri Dec 08, 2006 6:45 am Post subject: In the Beginning... |
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Okay. So there you are, hanging out in the Literary forums, and you feel like checking out, say, a fantasy story. So you browse through, until you see one that either has an interesting title or is written by a member you respect. You click on it, and begin reading.
Except, halfway through the first paragraph, your eyes start to droop and you start to fall asleep. Not from exhaustion, but from boredom.
This is every writer's nightmare. Writers want to captivate their readers. They want to pull them into the world they've created, get them into the action, make them weep and laugh and proclaim the novel as the best story ever written.
Well, of course we all dream of that happening... But we can really make it happen! Part of it, anyway.
See, a novel is like a piece of music. Chances are, you're going to remember the beginning and the ending, but you might forget a few details in the middle. Here's another example: people tend to judge other people. People tend to judge items, as well. First impressions are extremely important, as people tend to base their idea of you and your work off the impression they got when they met you or started reading.
And that, my fellow writers, is the whole point: we need to strive to give a good first impression. We want our readers to get past the first page, the first chapter. And how do we do that? There are a few different ways. You'll have to judge which way would best fit YOUR novel, as different things work for different stories.
1. Use action!
Action is the easiest and, in my opinion, most effective way to pull a reader into your book. It gets them right into the middle of the scene, and they don't have to pick apart messy background information. Plus, if you keep it simple and mysterious enough, you might give one character's name away, but not the others. That gives the reader an immediate focus, which is what we want. The reader also might start to wonder how the character came to be in this situation, which is another thing we want. See, we want our reader to forget that they've just opened a book and they're just reading a few hundred words at the beginning. We want them to start thinking of the character as a person. It's human nature to be curious about what's going on in someone else's life, especially if they're in a dangerous situation. The fact that the reader picked up the book in the first place gives us an advantage, because it means the reader is willing to meet us halfway for a bit and enter into our world.
2. Humor
Humor is another good tool to get the reader interested. If I pick up a book and start reading it, and there are some really funny lines on the first page, chances are I'm going to continue it. Why? Because I think it's going to be a fun book. I don't necessarily expect it to be funny throughout, but as long as there are periods of entertainment, it shouldn't be too painful. We want to convince the reader that our story is worth his or her time.
3. Address the reader
I once learned a very true fact: people like to talk about themselves. A lot. It's human nature. Once you recognize that fact, it's really interesting to hear how many times people say "I" instead of "you." Next time someone asks you how you are, pay attention to your response. I bet you'll feel pleased that someone asked about YOU, and you'll be glad to respond. How can we use this in our novel? Have the character address the reader. This really only works with first person, but it can make the reader feel like he or she is really entering into a conversation with the character. This address to the reader flatters the reader and makes him or her feel a little more important - it feeds the ego.
Now, obviously there are more ways to pull a reader in. Combining these three and adding your own techniques can be quite effective. Next time you pick up a book, figure out why you continue reading past the first page, and apply it to your own writing.
I know this is long, but stick with me, because critiquing intros is just as important.
See, when you click on someone's work and decide that it's incredibly boring after only reading a paragraph, you're really not giving the writer a chance. Many times, writers just aren't good yet at pulling readers in, and so they just sort of start their story without really giving thought to how best to attract the readers' attention. I'd like to encourage you to keep reading all the way through. Force yourself. If you really can't say anything good about the piece, let it sit for a while, then find the good parts and write a constructive review about how it could be improved.
This is about intros, though, not about entire critiques. So what can really be helpful when critiquing intros is to read through the entire story, and then go back and read the beginning again. Use your knowledge of the story to suggest ways the writer could attract the interest of the readers. Pick out certain story threads and suggest that the writer hint at them in the beginning. Explain exactly where you started nodding off, and try to think of a way the writer could use one of the three suggestions above (or even one of your own) to really pull readers in.
The most important thing to remember when writing or critiquing introductions is to never give up. With writing, you'll eventually learn what works and what doesn't. You don't even have to read an entire book to get that idea! Just read the first chapter of any book, and you'll find something. With critiquing, have patience with the writer. After all, if you don't help them improve, they may never know how. So be kind, but be honest. And always give a story a chance. It will benefit everyone in the end.
Good luck, and happy writing! |
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[Prokaryote] 8:00 pm: awwwww we love you too Crysis. but we hate your satanic WoW rituals |
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