Beginnings, Middles, and Ends by Nancy Kress notes/thoughts

 Chapter 1

Implicit promise. 

One emotional, one intellectual. 

Emotional=read this and you'll be thrilled or scared or entertained or saddened or whatever, but it will act upon your emotions. 

Intellectual= one of three types. 

1. Read this and you'll see this world from a different perspective. 

2. Read this and you'll have confirmed what you already want to believe about this world. 

3. Read this and you'll learn of a different, more interesting world than this. 

Note: 3 can be on its own OR coexist with either 1 or 2. 

Examples: A romance promises to entertain and titillate (emotional promise), to confirm our belief that love conquers all (intellectual 2), and to transport us to a more glamorous world (intellectual 3).

A mystery novel promises an entertaining intellectual challenge (emotional), confirmations that the human mind can understand events, the satisfaction of justice, and insights into human nature (2, 3).

A literary novel (i.e. Toni Morrison's Beloved) offers unpleasant, difficult, strong emotions. Intellectually, it may unsettle one's view of the world (1).

Promises are important because they are why a story feels satisfying to a reader. The fulfillment comes from the making, furthering, and concluding of the promise(s) that the writer makes to the reader.

How does a writer signal these promises to the reader? Partially through genre, but also through the use of characters, plot, tone, and style.

Note that this must be present as a throughline in the story in the final draft, but will almost certainly not be present in the initial idea of the story. It usually emerges partway through the first draft, and the story must then be carefully reshaped around it to make it seem inevitable.

Elements of a Compelling Scene

Character

You must give the reader a person to focus on- and quickly! Especially in short story, but equally true in novel. Ideally, this will be an interesting character- someone who holds the reader's attention and makes them curious about what will happen next.

Some writers of novels will use the first chapter to give a broad overview of setting instead of introducing a character (c.f. John Steinbeck). However, the beginning writer should keep in mind that he or she is not John Steinbeck.

Conflict

Arises because something is not going as expected. Small scale or large scale, it must be present from the very beginning of the story. aka tension. Often small-scale, but that doesn't mean it should feel unimportant. Begin with an indication that something is not going as expected, or someone is experiencing disturbing emotions, or something is about to change.

Specificity

Use specific details as much as possible. This is super important! 

They help you in three ways. 

1. Detains anchor your story in concrete reality. 

2. Details set your opening apart from the hundreds of others similar to it. 

3. Details convince the editor that you know what you're talking about.

Credibility

Can this writing be trusted? Credible prose assures the reader that the writer can handle the English language. Credible prose consists of a few different elements.

    Diction: Words are not misused, and similar words are not substituted for each other by mistake.              Also avoids cliches where possible.

    Economy: Uses only as many words as it needs to create its effect. It doesn't sprawl. Again, there are     writers who break this rule, but only skillfully. The writer is reminded that he or she is not William        Faulkner.

    Sentence construction: Sentences are carefully constructed to convey meaning and avoid            awkwardness. Further reading: Elements of Style Strunk and White or any other style handbook.

    Sentence variety: Vary the sentence length to avoid a sing-song effect, or monotony. Etc.

    Parts of Speech: Not overloaded with adjectives and adverbs. In general. Faulkner, etc.

    Tone: The focus should remain on the story, not on the writer. So do not overwrite through clever            asides and parentheticals.

*ending on page 24*