In the book How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy, Orson Scott Card says that the absolute worst books he has ever read started with 50 pages of background before getting to the event that sets the story in motion. In Card’s opinion, an author should start the book as close to the action as possible, and he’s not wrong.
My favorite books all start that way. S.M. Stirling’s Island in the Sea of Time trilogy start with a historian landing on an island just before the island is shot back into the Bronze Age. John Jake’s historical fiction trilogy North and South starts with two young men meeting in a brawl on the dock on their way to West Point. (In truth, the prologue gives background to both young men, but it really isn’t necessary to read to enjoy the story). My childhood favorite, Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls starts with a man coming home from work and saving a dog from a dog fight, which triggers childhood memories of his beloved coon dogs, Big Dan and Little Ann. In each case, the reader is given a short sketch of the situation and *boom* the event that sets the story in motion occurs.
As a writer, it’s interesting to flush out characters and know everything there is to know about them. A character’s background, motives, and quirks are what makes them intriguing. However, it isn’t always possible, or wise, to share all of those things with the reader. Some background, the reader doesn’t need to know because it doesn’t move the story along. Other things the reader does need to know, but the best way to tell them may not be before getting to the action that starts the story. Instead, those details can be inserted in later, once the story is already in motion.
Writing Ring of the Tax Collector was interesting, because every chapter was a different person, and a different story, which gave me many opportunities to practice getting to the action. In writing the follow up book, The Book of Death, things aren’t so straightforward. I managed to crank out 40 pages before realizing I hadn’t *really* gotten to the action yet. So, I’m trying it again. Literally. I put aside all my previous work and am starting fresh. I know the ending. I have some idea of how to get there. The trick is just starting the book right next to the action.
That, I’m working on.
Go forth and write!
My favorite books all start that way. S.M. Stirling’s Island in the Sea of Time trilogy start with a historian landing on an island just before the island is shot back into the Bronze Age. John Jake’s historical fiction trilogy North and South starts with two young men meeting in a brawl on the dock on their way to West Point. (In truth, the prologue gives background to both young men, but it really isn’t necessary to read to enjoy the story). My childhood favorite, Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls starts with a man coming home from work and saving a dog from a dog fight, which triggers childhood memories of his beloved coon dogs, Big Dan and Little Ann. In each case, the reader is given a short sketch of the situation and *boom* the event that sets the story in motion occurs.
As a writer, it’s interesting to flush out characters and know everything there is to know about them. A character’s background, motives, and quirks are what makes them intriguing. However, it isn’t always possible, or wise, to share all of those things with the reader. Some background, the reader doesn’t need to know because it doesn’t move the story along. Other things the reader does need to know, but the best way to tell them may not be before getting to the action that starts the story. Instead, those details can be inserted in later, once the story is already in motion.
Writing Ring of the Tax Collector was interesting, because every chapter was a different person, and a different story, which gave me many opportunities to practice getting to the action. In writing the follow up book, The Book of Death, things aren’t so straightforward. I managed to crank out 40 pages before realizing I hadn’t *really* gotten to the action yet. So, I’m trying it again. Literally. I put aside all my previous work and am starting fresh. I know the ending. I have some idea of how to get there. The trick is just starting the book right next to the action.
That, I’m working on.
Go forth and write!