I know I talk about first lines a lot in
my blogs but they are so important.
One of the best ways to start a story is
to instantly introduce the reader to a character who addresses us directly in a
voice that is distinctive and compelling. What do I mean? Try this: “If you
really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is
where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were
occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of
crap, but I don’t feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth.” — J.
D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye
The voice is distinctive, you are
challenged and want to learn more about this person.
John Dean
Whether you are setting out to write a short story or a novel, you need to decide on the voice that will tell the story. Here are some questions to consider before you start writing.
Do you want to use a third-person observer whom we never identify - the nebulous narrator? The advantage of being a third person narrator is that you can be everywhere at once and see things which the main character knows nothing about.
Or do you write first person? The disadvantage is that the first person can only comment on what he or she sees and knows and can only narrate on one moment in time and place, However, using ‘I’ can be a more relaxed, informal, more intimate form of writing.
Whoever you are, what is the role of the storyteller? Are they there simply to tell a damn good yarn, or to comment, to judge, to trail events which will happen, to introduce issues and concepts, in short to lead the reader into a way of thinking?
In my novels, I go for the nebulous third person narrator and let the reader jump to their own conclusions through the words and actions of the characters.
John Dean
