Beginnings

1. Beginnings “First sentences are doors to WORLDS”

2. Unit Essential Question What are the many different ways to begin a short story?

3. Novel Beginnings “It was a dark and stormy night.” – A Wrinkle in Time “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” – A Tale of Two Cities “Tyler gets me a job as a waiter, after that Tyler’s pushing a gun in my mouth and saying, the first step to eternal life is you have to die.” – Fight Club

4. Short Story Beginnings “Besides the neutral expression that she wore when she was alone, Mrs. Freeman had two others, forward and reverse, that she used for all her human dealings.” – Good Country People, O’Connor “Some of the caddies were poor as sin and lived in one-room houses with a neurasthenic cow in the front yard…” – Winter Dreams, Fitzgerald

5. Different Beginnings In Medias Res – In the middle of things The word “beginning” is actually a misleading way to describe how you open your story. Don’t take it literally! Your story, whether it begins with narrative, summary, dialogue, description, or another method, mustbegin in media res- or in the middle of things.

6. Don’t worry about going into complete detail about how your story got to the point it is at. Story plots are affected by something that has happened before your first sentence on your first page, but the history must be skillfully woven into your story so that your readers won’t realize they are reading about the past of the story.

7. Beginning at the End A story lead that starts at the ending and explains how such an ending came about; plays with time and can surprise the reader. To Kill A Mockingbird: “When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow.” In explaining how the injury came about, the novel takes the reader on a journey filled with prejudice, superstition, justice, and loss of innocence. Pan’s Labyrinth – the movie begins at the end

8. Introduce the Narrator This doesn’t mean starting your story with “I am..” or “This is…”- rather, it means beginning with a situation that is character revealing to introduce something important about the character whom the reader will be following closely. Example: “Howard Roard laughed. He stood stark naked at the edge of a cliff.” From The Fountainhead

9. The Misleading Lead It is very important not to give away too much too fast. This is a technique that both sets-up and protects the element of surprise in your piece. It withholds information from the reader and gives only the faintest of foreshadowing for what is to follow. Example: The Lottery

10. Starting your story There are numerous methods you can use to open your story, the predicament is to choose a beginning that sets the stage appropriately for your story.

11. Do I want… • Do I want my story to open with the sound of voices of people discussing something about their lives? • Do I want to bring one important character into the spotlight so the reader can get a good long look at him or her before the action begins? • Do I want to begin with the action- one or more people engaged in doing something significant to the story?

12. Is your story going to involve the attitudes and opinions of people and the importance of how they voice their thoughts? • Will you story be concerned with the traits, ideas, experiences, and emotions of one person who should capture the reader’s attention immediately? • Is your story involved with an event(s) in which the characters will take part- in which case you want to jump right in with actions?

13. The following are some methods to starting a story. Making the best choice for your story is contingent upon being familiar with all the possibilities. Consider how each example answers the questions above and what techniques are used

14. Generalization My mother believed you could be anything you wanted to be in America. – Amy Tan “Two Kinds” When people become characters, they cease to be regarded as human, they are something to be pointed out, like the orange tree that President Kruger planted, the statue in the park, or the filling station that once was the First Church Hall. – Nadine Gordimer “The Last Kiss”

15. Description of a Person He was lifting his knees high and putting his hand up, when I first saw him, as if crossing the road through that stringing rain, he were breaking through the bead curtain of a Pernambuco bar. I knew he was going to stop me. – V.S. Pritchett “The Sailor”

16. With a Narrative Summary An unfortunate circumstance in my life has just recalled to mind a certain Dr. Crombie and the conversation I used to hold with him when I was young. He was the school doctor until the eccentricity of his ideas became generally unknown. – Graham Greene “Doctor Crombie”

17. With Dialogue “Don’t think about a cow,” Matt Brinkley said. – Ann Beattie “In the White Night” I’m afraid Walter Cronkie has had it, says Mom. – Jayne Anne Phillips “Home”

18. With Characters but no dialogue During the lunch hour, the male clerks usually went out, leaving myself and three girls behind. – Frank O’Conner “Music When Soft Voices Die”

19. With Setting and One Character After dinner, with its eight courses and endless conversation, Olga Mikhailovnam whose husband’s birthday was being celebrated, went out into the garden. The obligation to smile and talk continuously, the stupidity of the servants , the clatter of the dishes, the long intervals between courses, and the corset she had put on to conceal her pregnancy from her guests, had wearied her to the point of exhaustion. – Anton Chekhov “The Birthday Party”

20. With a Reminiscent Narrator I was already formally engaged, as we used to say, to the girl I was going to marry. – Peter Taylor “The Old Forest”

21. With a Child Narrator I don’t have much work to do around the house like some girls. – Toni Cade Bambera “Raymond’s Run”

22. Establishing a Point of View • First Person • I’m Push the bully, and what I hate are new kids and sissies, dumb kids and smart, rich kids, poor kids, kids who wear glasses, talk funny, show off, patrol boys and wise guys and kids who pass pencils and water the plants- and cripples. Especially cripples.– Stanley Elkin “Criers and Kibitzers, Kibitzers and Criers” • Third Person • Climbing up with a handful of star decals to paste on the bedroom ceiling, Claire sees a suspect-looking shampoo bottle on the cluttered top shelf. – Francine Prose “Other Lives”

23. Write the Beginning On the wiki, open “Write the Beginning” document. This is the ending to a short story. You must WRITE THE BEGINNING You must remain consistent with the details supplied (You can’t change Andy’s name or the color of his jacket, for instance), all other details are completely up to you. Your beginning should lead smoothly and seamlessly into the ending. The last sentence of your post should be “I don’t want to die, he thought.” Title Your Post: “Beginning” 30 points

24. Worst Possible First Sentence! Post the WORST beginning sentence for a novel that you can come up with under each genre.When every student has posted- VOTE for the worst beginning sentence in each genre. You are voting for the WORST- meaning that there is no way you would continue reading that book after reading the first sentence.

25. There are four genres. You have to write an opening for each genre! Try to branch out from openings you usually use. Try different methods of opening stories for these WORST first sentences!