Wednesday, April 17, 2013

once upon a time

once upon a time---awwww wasn't that how some of our favorite stories started----

once upon a time this beautiful princess--once upon a time there was a sparkly kingdom-----

so many wonderful writers have begun their masterpieces with these four little words

as most of you can tell, i don't really follow your conventional ways of writing nor do i pretend to have knowledge of the many books about how to write, etc.

now i am not knocking those books, it's just i haven't gone this path----but there is one thing i learned long ago in my senior year of high school that has stuck with me all the years-

we were given movie cameras and told to go make a movie-----we learned sorta like a crash course in movie making---

the most important thing that we were to remember, was not to start our movie with some monumental or tragic beginning

we were told that if you did something too disturbing in the first few minutes of your movie, that you would lose you audience---they would be too preoccupied with the horror or terror they had seen and then not be engaged in the further action or story of the film-

like i said, that one thing, i took away from that course---has intriqed me ever since

i am guessing this would hold true for books as well

so as we try to grab the reader from the get go---we must not overwhelm them-----

i don't know if i am any good at the beginnings of stories, but i have to say, that is probably my most favorite part of the process-----

what do you say--

44 comments:

  1. Once upon a time -- my favorite four words -- a perfect prompt. When I write a story, I can usually think of the end and the beginning at first.

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    1. i most of the time have little idea of the ending haha :)

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  2. I think my fav is, "It was a dark and stormy night ..." Once (upon a time), I was given this beginning in a test for ESL (English as second language). I think I wrote of an adventure of getting lost in a rain forest, at night. No prince or princess but lots of creepy crawlies ;)

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    1. yeah me too---i love the dark sounding beginnings :)

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  3. I think Once upon a time sets up the story ONLY because we're all thinking aww. Good beginnings draw us in for sure.

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    1. yeah it's like it's time to cuddle up and be transported :)

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  4. The first line in the book is so important. If it draws me in instantly, I know I'm going to enjoy the whole book!

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    1. me to michelle--i will decide very quickly too :)

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  5. I am into mysteries so Once Upon A Time Is Usually NOT in the first line.

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  6. I end up changing my first line numerous times in my ms's lol

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  7. Once upon a time...perfect for O!
    We had to make a video in Senior year also. I was the girl that disappeared...special effects!

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    1. haha cool, i wish so much that i could find the movies i made--it was so fun, wasn't it donna!

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    2. That's exactly what I was thinking when I read your post...wow! Wonder whatever happened to that video? I'd love to have it now!

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    3. oh you don't have yours either donna--yeah i have even called the school and tried asking alumni on our facebook page---a couple of my friends have theirs----i would just love to see it!

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  8. That's a great point. It's a fine line.

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  9. I am a creature out of time.

    WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

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  10. You're absolutely right. There is a point when writers can throw too much at readers in the beginning of a story and overwhelm them.

    I still like Once Upon a Time. :)

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  11. I think that this is true. It may be able to extend into other things too - like relationships.

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  12. Once upon a time is a great way to start a story!

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  13. I agree somewhat. The best stories for me are because of the character development, not the climatic story lines.

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    1. oh i know what ya mean--my husband and i can watch a movie and he will think it wasn't very good, because it was slow and i may love it, if the characters are well developed--to me it is all about the feeling and connections :)

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  14. It's definitely a fine balance as to how to hook a reader or an audience. I struggle with writing the beginnings a lot.

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    1. it is a hard thing to do---but when that writer accomplishes it, it's a work of art--thanks lee :)

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    2. Beginnings are the hardest part of the story!

      morgankatz505.blogspot.com

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    3. they may be and the most important :)

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  15. I agree - Once upon a time is a great way to introduce the story! HOpe your having a lovely week :)

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    1. my week hasn't been bad, i really can't complain--hope you are having a nice week too :)

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  16. I love once upon a time, but I also like most other starts. I love most fiction except romance. I don't want the fluff or too much descriptive in my books, there has to be action!

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    1. i don't want too much description either--just enough to make me get a certain feeling---i can do without the action ;)

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  17. I find it difficult making it grabby enough.

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  18. I think most people fall into either the "Once upon a time" or the "It was a dark and stormy night" category.

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  19. Beginnings are so important--you want to have enough action to draw someone in, but I can also see how going too far in the other direction could be bad. I like sort of mysterious beginnings that make me wonder and want to keep going.

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  20. oh yeah i agree, it's great if you can start off with something mysterious!

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