Getting the ‘It’ Start!
They say that ‘you never get a second chance to make a first impression,’ and from a writer’s perspective, that statement sends an uncomfortable chill dashing tauntingly up your spine until the hairs on the back of your neck rise to accentuate your vexation. You might be saying to yourself, just who is this anonymous collective known only to us as ‘They’? Then again you could be saying alright you wordy twit, get on with it before your first impression is blown. But you see, that’s just it. For writers, we often do not have more than the first few sentences to land our readers and have them decide to ride it out with us or decide to move on leaving our words in the proverbial dust. One might even argue that the first impression rule is most important for writers, because in other areas people are often given second chances to correct any errs they left in the wake of their first impression. But if someone gives up on a writer after a few lines, then whatever point they were striving to make or goal they had intended with that text is forever lost to that reader.
So it is important for writers to start off strongly. To launch out of the gate swinging for the fences…and apparently mixing metaphors! But in order to keep the reader by your side through to the end, you need to make sure that you hook them. That’s why so many news outlets and magazines try to sensationalize their headlines as much as they do. To grab the readers and pull them in. Writers know to pay special attention to the beginning of their projects no matter what the size because it is there where we are often accepted or dismissed. This point was raised recently in Fuel Your Creativity’s Creative Discussion on beating creative blocks. Maria Carmo commented saying:
I am touched by a sentence ‘having a good first sentence is a must’. Well, may I leave the suggestion to have a post and comment on that topic? What’s a ‘great start’? How do we know when a sentence has that special ‘touch’ that it will ‘nail people to their chairs’ until they read the rest?
Game on, Maria. Let’s examine this further.
The ‘It’ Start
How do we know when we have reached the pinnacle of penned perfection and have achieved the ‘it’ factor? When the beginning we have meticulously crafted will sink its teeth deep into the reader, granting them no other escape than to follow you to the last word? Well, do you remember ‘they’ from the beginning? They would tell you any number of things to ponder over in answer to this query. Things like…
Be Serious!
They will tell you that if you aren’t going to take yourself and the dialog or narrative that you are initiating seriously, then no one else will either. They will try to re-enforce this point usually by saying it with little or no humor…and with an equal amount of personality. And since they tend to be contradictory, they will also tell you things like…
Be Whimsical!
They will tell you to make ’em laugh, you know if it was Cosmo Brown’s dad. (No? Donald O’ Connor’s character from Singin in the Rain? Any fans? Alright, moving on) They will tell you that if you take yourself and the dialog or narrative that you are initiating too seriously, then you will be written off as dull and overbearing, so be playful with your pen. They will also say things such as…
Be Cliche!
They will tell you to find a familiar or relatable feel or even phrasing to fit with your readers. They will say referencing something generally known or understood to be trendy will work to entice people into your text. Pop culture works fantastically for this. And of course, just for measure, they will mention that you should…
Be Original!
They will say that you need to remain unique in your voice if you want to even stand a chance of rising above the swollen sea of scribes out there. They will tell you if you wish to capture your readers full attention, then originality is key. They might even say you need to…
Be Controversial!
They will toss out there this idea that you need to get in people’s faces and challenge them or their ideas to get folks to lend an eye to your words. Tell you that unless you take them out of their relatively relaxed mindsets and kick them from their comfort zones you will lose them. They will impart upon you how important it is to…
Be Benign
They will tell you that it is the mild manner that the masses crave and should you dare to step on their toes, they will turn away. They might go so far as to try and impress that it is the kinder, gentler way that tends to win people over, and that is the way you need to go, especially in the beginning.
But you see, the reason that there is such a varied list of reasonable suggestions is because you are always dealing with a variety of people. There is no one sure fire way to appeal to everyone with your words, so the best thing that you can do is…
Just Be Yourself
There is no Golden Mean or cosmic combo that will win out every time. As long as you be yourself and stay true to your voice, then others will follow. If you like what you have written and are drawn in by it, then chances are others will respond in kind!
Rob is the talented author and graphic designer, celebrated podcaster and poet, who is now the co-editor and imaginative co-contributor of Fuel Your Creativity. With a background working through most areas of the arts, Rob works from a creative wellspring that shows no signs of running dry.
Well, I just felt this question would trigger something interesting!
Thanks, Rob, for taking that up…
I was travelling for work and therefore just saw this now.
Let us say that, if there is any kind pf “writers block” I have the “start” one…
It is as if I always try to have something SO PERFECT, that it permanently feels unattainable!
Characters, histories and all sorts of scenarios, sensations and odours live within me, ready for that magical moment when they may just “be born” out of me…
But my work takes a lot of time… and it has nothing to do with being a writer…
Result: I am ok when I am writing poetry, short stories or articles and essays, because these are small enough for me to muster the time to “give birth” to them…
It is more complex, though, when I dream or really doing something more with the dozens of characters that live in me, sometimes for years…
Well, I will dearly like to be enlightened by many of you who have the blessing of having TIME to write…
To me, a good start is sometimes the only thing that lacks to start pulling this thin thread of inspiration. When it comes, the whole thing blurts out, sometimes in one piece, without need for much editing afterwards.
What cam provoke this “start”?
With me, any number of things.
If those character or stories have been confusely living in me for a long time, sometimes it can be something common, from daily life, that suddenly suggests a start… And, if it sounds good, the rest will follow easily, until, there is a new uncertainty or words become less light, heavier and dragging their feet…
But always a good start will make my day.
I imagine that, if I could just BE A WRITER, I would go for walks (either in the city, among people and streets and cars, letting all this entangled life come in and inspire me, or in the country side, especially if overlooking the sea…).
Characters are especially enticing. They can live inside us for years, until finnaly we can birth their stories… Finally, they’re a bit like old friends or familly.
Well, so sorry for the long post! Happilly, you cannot throw tomatoes at me virtually! Or can you?
All the best,
Maria Carmo
@ Maria – No tomatoes here…I started the wrap-up music, but I think I was the only one that heard it. :p Totally kidding. And trust me, I understand where you are coming from on the time crunch.
Besides working on the web, I have a job outside the home, and various time consuming side projects that require my attention as well. Finding the time to tell stories on a large scale can be tricky, but completely worthwhile. If you had seen any of my poetry, you would know that brevity is not a friend of mine, and I tend to be long winded with my pen. So I have been practicing on pen patience for years now.
Honestly, you must make the time to start your tales, and jot down quick ideas of what’s to come, if you do not have time to get to it right away. Major character or plot points can be quickly captured on the page for later. I, too, once believed that I lacked the time to write on a large scale. That I needed to be able to quit everything else and just focus on being a writer full time to be able to dislodge these stories from out of my head. After years of realizing that was never going to happen as I thought, I decided I could wait no longer. I found the time here and there to sit down and focus in to make some kind of progress on these works, even if it was just fifteen minutes to read-through what I last wrote and see if any sparks fly.
Since deciding that I would make time (even at the sacrifice of sleep…did I mention that I may have given myself insomnia, so maybe I could’ve used a better approach at times…), I have completed two screenplays, one novel, six one hour episodes of an original television series, three one hour episodes of a second original television series, and I have outlines for over 30 other scripts and five other novels that I will eventually work my way towards as well. I learned that would be no perfect time, and I needed to stop waiting for one to come along. I wrote when the words came, even if it was to simply scribble down the idea behind them, but in doing so, I had already started taking steps towards crafting that start and moving on from there…in short bursts and stages when necessary, but always moving forward.