Young Writers Society

So I'm currently working on a project which I've called Eight Reasons Why I Kissed Hayden Beaufort. It is split into eight parts, with each part being one of the 'reasons'.

However, in one of the opening paragraphs, I have this:

Eight reasons. Eight reasons why I kissed Hayden Beaufort, eight reasons why I bailed on you, eight reasons why I sent that text, and eight reasons why I came home wearing Naomi's clothes.

My question is, would it be cheating /breaking the rules of continuity if I were to introduce these other events my charater mentions in that paragraph prior to all the 'eight reasons' being fulfilled? Or would I be better off restructuring the opeing paragraph so that the events (aside from the kissing one) aren't lumped in as part of the eight reasons? I ask because I feel that they woud be better if they were interspersed through the story, rather than chucked in at the end
all at once, but at the same time, I don't wany readers to be all "BUT SHE SAID EIGHT REASONS AND WE ARE ONLY UP TO FIVE!"

So yeah. Thoughts?

I don't really understand what you are trying to say. I don't see any form of 'cheating' its your work. Its up to you.

Eight reasons. Eight reasons why I kissed Hayden Beaufort, eight reasons why I bailed on you, eight reasons why I sent that text, and eight reasons why I came home wearing Naomi's clothes.

I'm assuming you will elaborate on these within the designated 'eight parts', right?

If that's the case, then I don't really see a problem with how you're introducing your story. It's like a foretaste of what you're about to present. I guess you could be worried that it would appear spoilerish to the rest of your story.

However, this doesn't sound like a story where you would rely on surprising or shocking your readers. The title itself kind of gives away what kind of story this is going to be. It's rather a story where you'd draw the reader in with good drama and emotional responses. So go do that.

I see no problems with your opening paragraph, just go for it.

Maybe I'll rephrase... What I was trying to ask was more along the lines of my character says there are eight reasons why she came home in Naomi's clothes (for example) in the paragraph I mentioned. But in actuality, this happens in, say, Part Five, so there's realy only five reasons why that happened. I guess my main point was that would it be cheating to say there were eight reasons why x happened when there are only five and I'm not even up to the eighth 'reason'/chapter?
Sorry if the way I phrased my question was confusing. It all made sense in my head. :-/

Hmm, in that case, I think I would have reworked the opening paragraph.

It reads good, sure. But is it really necessary for your story? Especially if it creates this sort of issues.

Before I answer, I'm just going to try and figure out what you're asking.

Basically, you want to know if it's cheating to call your title 8 reasons why, when the "reveal" reason is at number 5?

This is what I gather based on the opening paragraph:

A. 8 reasons why I kissed HB
1.
2.
3.
[4, 5, 6, 7, etc)
8.
B. 8 reasons why I bailed
1.
[2, 3, 4, etc.]
8.
C. 8 reasons why I sent that text,
1. 2, 3, 4, etc. 8

and then for each of the events (are there five events total?), I assume the same kind of structure. I'm not sure if that's your intention or not, this is just what I got from the opening sentence. Although if I were just going by my own experience when reading these kinds of stories (like 13 reasons why... etc.) each "event" sort of ties all together to combine into the 13 reasons why, so when I see a title like 8 reasons why, I'd also like to assume the novel would also be broken up into 8 parts. I don't know if this helps in answering your question?

@Birkhoff Thanks! Yeah, I'm starting to think that's what I'm going to end up doing. I think I'll just work out how I alter it when I edit.

@Rosey%20Unicorn (have I done the code right?) Pretty much, yes, but not so much for the title, but for the things I mention in the paragraph. When I say 'eight reasons' in the title, it will be for that. I've kind of written the story as it comes to me, so I wrote the paragraph as a tie to the title, before I actually thought about the logistics of it. Starting to think the easiest thing'll be to either rewrite the paragraph sans the whole 'eight reasons why I did this, this and this' or ditch it completely.

@Audy You're pretty much spot onto the structure, cos it is eight parts leading up to my MC kissing HB, but I think I was originally aiming for the same reasons/parts culminated in all the stuff in the paragraph, rather than their own separate 'eight reasons'. Your response was helpful, because it did help me gauge the kind of assumptions that would be made from my paragraph.

Thank you all for responding. 'Tis much appreciated.