Even better would be to show in chapter 1 (depending on content and audience, of course). In my genre (fantasy) it seems best to get right to the action if possible. Your analogy about the joke was perfect.
Well, since everyone seems to be doing it in this thred. My story begins when a character smash's through my MC's door, to explain that people are coming to kill him and they need to get rid of the 'thought to be' dead guy. My story is fantasy based, it has tonne's of info about the world the MC is in, and how I have decided to 'funnel' this info is by a book another character is reading. This character mind you, has lost his memory and is also the 'dead guy'. It works, things are interesting and I can't stop writing it. XD
Anyway, this is what I have decided is the optimal decision: 1. Create an infodump at the start of the novel. Write is as though it would be for a reader. 2. Start writing the story, beginning with a one paragraph long description of the scene which also gives a great story description (Where, when, how) using metaphors, gestures and details that would bring many realizations. 3. Continue writing the novel, but keep looking back to the infodump and insert the information throughout the story (Modify it, of course). When the story reaches 30% the reader should have learned all the facts (The neccesary ones on the first 10 pages and the rest after that). 4. Delete the infodump after you have merged all of its information into the story.
Not really. What I really meant was basic description that would bring great detail once any heed had been paid to them.
Er, how's that different from an info dump? Oh yeah, it's the next worse thing - a whole paragraph of coded pretty prose and metaphors that make no sense until you've read half the novel! Awesome! I'm going to want to keep reading to find out what it's all about!! If the reader has no point of reference when they start the first paragraph, they aren't going to understand anything that needs great heed paid to it. All the openings I've read in a long long time started with a pretty basic statement of fact. The first book with an opening I've hated that I've started in a long time is In the Kitchen by Monica Ali which I picked up. The opening paragraph is a weird coded discussion of some thing that happened but you have no idea what, just that a discussion of it is happening. Apparently someone died? But not even a person that the narrator seems to have any connection to. It just left this massive sense of being detached and unsure why you wanted to read about this. I only kept reading because it was a Christmas present, and if I hadn't been so baffled by the opening paragraph, the next scene would have been a perfectly good opening - moving into a proper scene where stuff happens. Bolded the important part. Opening with description is never a good idea - not a whole paragraph big enough for some metaphors and stuff. And certainly not hints that will only make sense later to the reader. Mess around with them, sure, but don't just be obscure because it's sort of arty that a second reading is required. You won't get a first if they can't blitz through the first paragraph and think, "Right! This looks like it's going somewhere!"
It's a question I've been considering, as I'm trying to make a jump from flash fiction and short stories into longer pieces. I think there needs to be some kind of action which relates to an overall theme of the piece- an outcast character being shunned, or doing something that will get him shunned for example.
Melzaar, you do not seem to understand. The first few paragraphs should make perfect sense at the beginning, describing the basic setting such as the weather etc. But once studied, it would reveal half of the novel. Just an idea that I had that seems good. You do not need to know anything to understand the first few paragraphs as it was intended for the simple people.
I got curious on one thing reading about that novel; if they have found out the way to bring dead people to life how come there is only 10000 human beings left on the planet? at least thats what i got, did i misunderstand something? Agree, a huge info dump right fron the first paragraph is a little overwhelming i think... I wonder if that is a problem many fantasy writers deal with, having the feeling they have to explain the whole setting before the story begins? besides that; i think that is where the artwork is, letting the reader find out where and when he is without giving the entire backstory right away, but giving him information without him noticing that he's being informed. I think what you do is a good idea, going to the bookstore and do a little studying of the beginnings sounds like a good idea and also evaluate why its good or why not. I think thats a very good idea, and that must be the most reader friendly too. Only? i think that sounds like a whole lot... I mean that at least what? 4 pages of backstory to plow through before you get to the beginning, better then to sneak it in a little at a time like above poster said. Lol. thats such a cliché. Me too, i try to start off with some kind of change or unusual event in the MC's life.
There are as many ways to start a novel as there are stories to tell. Not all of them are good, however. The info dump generally falls into this category. And, while some people use it as a way of 'getting around' the info dump, neither am I in favor of prologues used for this purpose. The question here, then, is ... are you writing to sell or are you writing for ego? Chances are you will not find agents readily disposed to this format. Something has to happen to keep the reader interested and caring about the characters. Ideally, you find a way of telling the story and letting it progress and, at the same time, including bits of 411 as to what led to this point. Granted, you can make a multitude of arguments to explain why you 'need' to work your story this way. Those arguments are, essentially, justification for not re-working your opening. So you have two choices. You can, of course, 'stick to your guns' and insist this is the only way to write your story. Let your ego stand in the way of what may well be a super story buried in there waiting to come out and be sold. OR you can be realistic and figure out how to include the most vital bits of info scattered throughout the pages of several chapters. Bear in mind, the reader doesn't need to know everything right at the beginning. In the final analysis, the choice is up to you.
That was a good one! I am the opposite; i want to find out more and more about the background throughout the story and not right away. Not to me either, but then i find many of the famous beginnings highly overrated.
If there's some kind of scene that encapsulates what the characters are like at the start of the story, giving a sort of zero point on their characters from which their change can be measured, then you can in fact begin with it. I'm writing a novel at the moment and I agonised over how it should start, but in the second planned scene I had a ready made starting point (the characters accidentally burn a building down).
Tesoro, if you think about it then you will see that even with bringing people back to life, it will not solve the extinction problem. Once people have been brought back to life, 90% of then commit suicide to be back in their peaceful world. Anyway, it would take too much resources to create bodies for millions of people.
Both. For example, I start with a few lines of dialogue, then let the characters walk into the kitchen. From that, the reader can infer that they are indoors, probably in a private home, but possibly in a workplace. Then I let one of the characters open the fridge, and the reader can infer that we are in a modern setting (as opposed to a medieval one). Then, if I mention chandeliers, the reader will assume it's a rich home, and if I mention rat traps, the reader will assume it's a poor one. For every setting, the reader has a number of default assumptions about how it looks, and as long as your setting doesn't go against those assumptions, you don't need to mention them. For example, you only need to mention what furniture there is in the living room if it's something unusual, like a pinball machine. You don't need to mention sofas, bookcases or a TV. You only need to mention what kind of home the chandeliers are hanging in if it's anything other than a rich home (like a thieves' den). Even for made-up settings, like fantasy, you can use the reader's assumptions to compress descriptions. In most fantasy settings, people can be assumed to wear medieval clothes, live in medieval houses and use medieval tools, unless otherwise specified. There are default assumptions for how castles look, how horses are ridden (with a saddle and bridle), what kind of lighting is used, and so on.
