The thing that happens
I've written about beginnings before, but this semester I had a realization. While teaching my journalism class, I was discussing the proper way to begin an article, which for hard news (not feature stories), is usually the inverted pyramid style.
The idea of the inverted pyramid to is get all the information up front, so that if a reader stops reading after the first paragraph or two, or if a story gets cut in a print publication due to space (also known as: an ad comes in and needs that space) he or she will have enough information about the story to understand it.
To do this, reporters use the 5 Ws: who, what, when, where, and why. You can also throw in an H for how if necessary. Using this style gives all the facts up front, and then explains them in the paragraphs that follow. For example:
Arson is suspected in an early morning fire that destroyed the Smokey Hills Restaurant in Springfield today. Fire fighters from three districts were able to exterminate the blaze within four hours. No one was injured. Damage to the 8,000 square-foot facility is estimated at $6 million. Owners say they will rebuild.
By using inverted pyramid, the basic facts are covered in a short space. If the article were to continue, the reporter could add more details and background information including quotes and stories about the events planned there that will need to be relocated, or how it affects those in the community. An interview with the owner and a firefighter on the scene could give the article some interesting insight.
When writing hard news, the ending comes first. It's the answer to the question what happened? As I was talking about this in class, I had a sudden realization that fictional works are created in the opposite manner.
Fiction usually starts before the climax and works toward it, slowly building tension and conflict as characters and a ticking clock move toward the main event of the story. As we read through the chapters, we learn about motivation and watch characters develop along the way, perhaps giving us insight into the psyche of an arsonist. At the end we experience the thing that happens.
Lately I've been thinking about structure, and the way stories unfold. Are they teased out by the writer as he or she drop hints here and there along the path that is the plot? Or, do they start with the thing that happens, and work backward?
Writers can use either technique to uncover a story. I am always looking for ways to improve writing, regardless of genre, and because I write fiction and nonfiction, I'm going to experiment with both strategies to strengthen my own writing. How about you, what techniques have you used to tell the story?
Mary
Mary Horner is the author of Strengthen Your Nonfiction Writing, and teaches communications at St. Louis and St. Charles Community Colleges. She also works as a freelance writer, editor and speech coach.
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