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Sponson Light
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 Posted: Sun Dec 18, 2005 5:04 am Post subject: Non-Cliched Beginnings |
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How does one start off a story without a cliched beginning?
No "omg alarm clock" or "hi Im..." yeah...
Does one start off with a setting?
A narrative?
Or in the middle of a sequence and then back flashes?
Its for a little something on my bored times.
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The Silent Aviator
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| Posted: Sun Dec 18, 2005 5:09 am Post subject: |
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Personally, I prefer to immerse the reader in an action sequence or a flashback from the onset of the story.
Its how I usually write;just my opinion . |
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Sponson Light
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| Posted: Sun Dec 18, 2005 5:12 am Post subject: |
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Onset? Could you define that please. Im not that great in writing to know the definitions.
Do you think 3 frames are enough in a horizontal strip? |
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The Silent Aviator
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| Posted: Sun Dec 18, 2005 5:14 am Post subject: |
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Sorry.
Onset=beginning. |
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Snoink
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| Posted: Sun Dec 18, 2005 6:47 am Post subject: |
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Well...
Don't worry about being "clichéd or not. It's important to think about in the editing process, yes, but to totally disregard an idea just because, from the beginning, it sounds a little clichéd, is too dramatic. Write first what goes in your head. If you write it well enough, even though the idea might be clichéd, the work will sound original.
So don't worry about it. Most of the stories you read are just the same plots with different ways of telling it. |
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Elelel
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| Posted: Sun Dec 18, 2005 6:48 am Post subject: |
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I like to be ... interesting right at the beginning. I like to hook a little interest. Often I start with dialogue, sometimes full on action, once a suspenseful bit (which I quite enjoyed). The beginnings I hate the most are the beginnings for all the "Tomorrow When the War Began" books. I quite like the stories themselves, but the beginnings! Whenever I read one of them I have to skim read, or not even read, the first five pages of blah. It's usually not even relevent to the story. It's just rambling.
I could think of a few ways the "Hi! I'm ..." would be interesting. Probably not successful, but interesting.
Eg.
"Hi! I'm clutching a bloodied butcher's knife, and am standing right behind you!" |
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Snoink
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| Posted: Sun Dec 18, 2005 6:52 am Post subject: |
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My grandfather liked short beginnings. This was one of his suggestions:
"I like knives."
I still want to start a story like that... |
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Elelel
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| Posted: Sun Jan 08, 2006 9:06 am Post subject: |
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| That does sound fun! |
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Ani May Queen
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| Posted: Sun Jan 08, 2006 10:43 pm Post subject: |
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Oh...I could do sooo many things with that "I like knifes" thing. Sadly though, they'd all would have one of my friends saying that. What does that tell you about my friends?
Anyways, try thinking of youir characters first. Once you've got them try putting them in the wierdest situation you can think of. For example:
 In the middle of the highway, a chicken lands on your window
Getting sucked into a pokemon cartoon/video game
walking into school and everyone is wearing the same clothes and/or speaking a different language
You go downstairs and your mom is cooking breakfast in a suit of armor
walking into a ice cream palor and seeing a dentist chair in the middle of the room
Then just see where is goes from there! |
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Joeducktape
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| Posted: Sat Jan 28, 2006 1:31 am Post subject: |
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| I usually start in an action scene or a sitting and pondering type position. I like to let my dialog speak more than my narrative at times, because if you explain everything with narrative, it sort of throws you off of the stories course and destracts you. |
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