3 Ways To Open A Story - Jonathan Blum
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- Опубліковано 11 вер 2024
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Jonathan Blum grew up in Miami and graduated from UCLA and the Iowa Writers' Workshop. He is the author of two books of fiction: The Usual Uncertainties (Rescue Press, 2019), a story collection, and Last Word (Rescue Press, 2013), a novella. Both were named one of the best books of the year by Iowa Public Radio, and The Usual Uncertainties was named one of the 15 Best Short Story Collections of 2019 by Electric Literature. Blum has twice appeared on KCRW's Bookworm. His short stories have been published in Gulf Coast, Kenyon Review, Northwest Review, Playboy, and Shanxi Literature, among others. His short story, "The White Spot," which was published in Electric Literature with an introduction by Deborah Eisenberg, appears in the award-winning anthology The Best Peace Fiction (University of New Mexico Press, 2021). He has taught fiction writing at The University of Iowa, Drew University, and the Iowa Summer Writing Festival, and is the recipient of a Michener-Copernicus Society of America Award, a Hawthornden Fellowship in Scotland, and a grant from the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation. He has also been a guest writer at the Tianjin Binhai New Area International Writing Program in China. He lives in Los Angeles.
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Which of the three openings do you like the most?
None really have that Wow factor tbh.
The openings of Michel Fabers UNDER THE SKIN or Orwell’s 1984 feel more impressive. But a- this is short stories, so maybe it’s different, and b- different ways of opening stories rather than killer first lines.
Thanks for the vid
Thanks for sharing!
I was taught to start with dialogue to "get right into it," but I really like the internal portrait approach. It immediately gives the reader a problem that is personal and important to the character. The reader can then anticipate the action rather than having to catch up on context from the very first page.
@Lloser02 It's funny cause I was taught to never start with dialogue. Cause the reader has no frame of reference for who is talking and it takes them out of it for a moment.
They're all good, but I like "The Killers" opening of the three. It gets into it and gives you so much of the characters without them saying a single thing or doing much of anything.
This probably gets said a lot, but it can’t be said enough:
I love that each person interviewed is allowed to talk and open up their thoughts and minds for the world to see. 😊
Cheers Angelica!
Facts
“In the beginning the Universe was created. This had made many people very angry and has been widely regarded as a bad move.” - The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, by Douglas Adams.
Every story should be "It was a dark and stormy night".
"The night was sultry."
"He was a dark and stormy Knight"
"And then the killings began."
Right? Snoopy is a genius writer!
"A shot rang out. The maid screamed."
Always brilliant people, brilliant questions, and brilliant insights. Well done and thank you for sharing.
We love this one! Thanks for watching!
Some of my favorite openings (by some of my favorite authors):
"The Quincense launched off the peak of a swell like she dreamed of taking flight."
- Dark Shores by Danielle L. Jensen
"Kaye took another drag on her cigarette and dropped it into her mother's beer bottle. She figured that would be a good test for how drunk Ellen was-see if she would swallow a butt whole."
- Tithe by Holly Black
"The old gods may be great, but they are neither kind nor merciful. They are fickle, unsteady as moonlight on water, or shadows in a storm. If you insist on calling them, take heed: be careful what you ask for, be willing to pay the price. And no matter how desperate or dire, never pray to the gods that answer after dark."
- The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab
"On a drowsy Sunday afternoon, a man in a long dark coat hesitated in front of a house on a tree-lined street. He hadn’t parked a car, nor had he come by taxi. No neighbor had seen him strolling along the sidewalk. He simply appeared, as if stepping between one shadow and the next."
- The Cruel Prince by Holly Black
"They put me in a cage."
- Fortuna Sworn by K. J. Sutton (if you ignore the preface)
"Kell wore a very peculiar coat. It had neither one side, which would be conventional, nor two, which would be unexpected, but several, which was, of course, impossible."
- A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab
"There is a pirate in the basement."
- The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern
"The night Kate Harker decided to burn down the school chapel, she wasn’t angry or drunk. She was desperate.
Burning down the church was really a last resort; she’d already broken a girl’s nose, smoked in the dormitories, cheated on her first exam, and verbally harassed three of the nuns. But no matter what she did, St. Agnes Academy kept forgiving her.
That was the problem with Catholic schools. They saw her as someone to be saved."
- This Savage Song by V. E. Schwab
(Can you tell I love V. E. Schwab? 😂)
Great post! Thank you for sharing!
"The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed."
I remember people told "everybody reads first 10 pages", then it was "3 pages", then "the first page is your seller". now it's "2 sentences" hah
In this case Jonathan is not talking about screenwriting or screenplays. He is a fiction writer and teacher. He's just highlighting the opening sentences in works of fiction.
#1 for me. It’s immersive, and I have a tendency towards writing that lets us see the character’s interior.
All three are amazing! Really! But if I’d have to choose one, I’d go with the second one, by Hemingway. His precision with language is almost unmatched!
Thanks for sharing!
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Thank you for this. I’ve been wondering for a while if I could open my story with dialogue.
the most unforgettable for me was written by Mark Lawrence.
"It is important, when killing a nun, to ensure that you bring an army of sufficient size."
Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this son of York.
Great stuff. Thank you.
Cheers Greg!
I liked the first one best, because it starts out stating definite actions.
Love these interviews
This is a good one!
Thanks for the video @film courage! I think I like the 3rd opening more!
Cheers Sanimar!
Excellent content here. Very useful insights 👍🏼
The opening that surprises YOU (its writer) the most
Punching up vs punching down is an interesting aspect.
Often the protagonist of a book or movie is a very skilled fighter, a secret agent or something the like. Early on, he has to fight some random goons who are no match for him. Technically, he is punching down.
I think, to avoid him becoming unlikeable, it's important to make them unlikeable first. If we seem them punching down, for example by harrassing some poor, defenseless people, it's perfectly fine for the hero to destroy them and have fun in the process.
But if we see them just dooing some guard duty or following orders that aren't really evil, it may make the hero unlikeable instead. For example, when I see the Three Musketeers kill some of the cardinal's guards who just came to enforce the no duel law, it's not making me root for these protagonists at all.
The beginning has to set the tone.
The second example seems like convenient exposition
Literature has nothing to do with film. Film is about visuals, not words.
The Hemingway opener is trash🙄
Yeah, so is fudge and toffee. That stuff is gross.
To anyone reading this, I suggest you should ignore this person's soulless opinon. If you try to please everyone, you'll end up pleasing nobody. In that case, it is best you at least please yourself.
This is an empty, hollow comment on a video that delivers much mental exercise. Unlike the video, nobody can do anything with this comment. Why was it posted? For what purpose does it exist but to destroy?
This is such complete bullshit. Yes, I have not published a novel, so feel free to ignore me. The Hemingway example. Completely blown out of proportion for its importance and lucidity. I hate it when I see 'writing coaches' or others claiming they know how to write (even if you have a great and long CV on that) telling everyone how to start a book. Probably depends on the book, right? Do not put pressure on aspiring writers to focus all that attention on just the first page, that seems unreasonably cruel.
I'm going to disagree about it being b*s*t but you've got a good point about an audience's context for getting pieces of information. This advice is best left for later editing stages and that caveat wasn't included in the video. Don't watch/read/listen to any 'opening hook' advice on a blank page.
great illustration of "how to misconstrue someone with writing expertise providing 3 contrasting examples for opening a story [Inner thoughts. Dramatic action. Dialogue.] as a personal attack"...👍