Fahrenheit 451 book design that can be set on fire - Imgur

This book is a good design but also we don’t condone burning books obvs.

Starting a story in the middle of action is fine if that’s the kind of story you’re telling. Generally, that’d probably be something in the adventure/thriller genre. But not all stories suit the kind of opening where assassins are chasing a monkey over the rooftops of Buenos Aires (although I have no doubt that book would be a huge hit).

And even if you are writing in that genre, you might prefer to build up to those kind of scenes. Having someone hanging from a twelfth storey window ledge can feel very hackneyed.We don’t know the character, we don’t know why he’s up there, and frankly, we don’t care. It’s not always enough to just put some random person in peril.

A high tempo opening scene might not be right for your story and it quite often reads like an attempt by the writer to inject the story with drama it hasn’t really earned and can feel contrived.

But an energetic set-piece out of an action movie isn’t the only way to make the reader feel they’re in the middle of something interesting. Another way a story can benefit from starting in the middle is to start in the middle of emotion.

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Mmmmm all of this. It’s the personal crisis, that schism between how a person appears to b and how they are, that can be intriguing as a car chase. Regardless of their comfort, domination or fear in a situation, a person still has to fulfill an social and/or personal standard. How does the character achieve movement between these spheres?

Posted on February 21, 2013 via moody writing with 61 notes