Cut to the Chase

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Thu, 2006-01-19 14:57
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2Lou
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Cut to the Chase

I have this pile of rejected manuscripts (I'm going to arrange them in a heap, label it 'Rejection' and flog it to a gallery ' eat your heart out, Tracey). Anyway, digging through this quite impressive pile, I noticed someone had started to edit one copy. Ooh, free edit, I thought, cool. But then I saw that they'd put a dirty great line through the first page and a half!
Now, I did sulk, I admit it, but it got me thinking (ooh yuk ' how Carrie Bradshaw, sorry) do many writers tend to create overlong, unnecessary openings to their stories (not unlike this post, in fact). I certainly find it happens in films. I've frequently watched a film after missing the beginning, found it engaging, powerful etc., seen the beginning at a later date and found it to be totally superfluous. So maybe my anonymous editor had a point. Anybody found the same thing? Am I in good company here, or was it just a really crap first page and a half?

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Foxy
Foxy's picture
Well I don't know if I qualify as "good" company Lou but I have been guilty of writing overlong openings to stories. It is something that I try very hard not to do now because it wasn't until I completely rewrote the beginning to one of my short stories that I managed to get it accepted for publication in a magazine. I have also finally managed to finish the synopsis to my novel, does that mean I can stop being a rotten egg now Lou?
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southern belle
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Hmmm...I kind of vary. I have some stories where I go back and read the beginning, and there's lots of unnecessary or boring stuff in them. But then I've got another one I was working on for a long time, and was my first attempt at writing a longer thing, and when I went back to reread it I was horrified at how fast it was going. Then I completely rewrote what I already had, and it only added a tiny little bit, and still seemed to be going too fast, lol.
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2Lou
2Lou's picture
Yeyyyy Foxy – finally the synopsis! Ok, rotten egg sanction hereby lifted. In retrospect, I do think that paring down to the essentials is the way to go. That’s not to say you have to make the beginning bare boned or bland – it’s just that, apart from atmosphere, I feel that details are often only of interest once you’re hooked into the story. Having said that, I’ve recently found the same hitch as yourself, Southern Belle. I’ve actually added a section to the opening of a children’s story because, on re-reading, I felt the main character needed to invite a tad more empathy before the action started. That seems to have worked, but it’s certainly a fine line. The other problem I find, is that, when you’re overly familiar with the story yourself, it's hard to determine what is obvious to your reader and what isn’t and that can lead to overwriting.

~
www.fabulousmother.co.uk

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2Lou
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Ha ha - 'that seems to have worked' my arse. Just been told to lose the bit I'd stuck on at the beginning before the action starts...

~
www.fabulousmother.co.uk

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