Beginning and Endings
“I think the end is implicit in the beginning. It must be.
If that isn’t there in the beginning, you don’t know what
you’re working toward. You should have a sense of
a story’s shape and form and its
destination,
all of which is like a flower inside a seed.”
- Eudora
Welty (pg. 93)
I know school is officially DONE
when I begin to read for me. I love to read, but I have become a very picky
reader. I won’t read just anything – even when on the beach. Time is precious,
and books are plentiful. What does this have to do with beginnings and endings?
Everything.
I need the beginning to be
powerful, to draw me into the story, the characters, the plot. I need to
connect quickly, or you lose me. And when I reach the end, I need to feel –
something, anything – just don’t leave me with a neutral emotion.
My favorite writer is John Irving.
I come back to him often because of what he accomplishes as a writer. Somehow
this man can begin a book, and 400 pages later, end the book with almost the
same words applied to a new situation and it all works and has meaning.
Consider A Widow for A Year and the
“It’s only Eddie, dear” that begins the tumultuous relationship between mother
and daughter, and brings the relationship back together at the end of the book.
Or A Prayer for Meany. I could go on.
As you consider beginning and
endings, what strikes your fancy? What book beginnings and endings do you hold
onto? A writer is first a reader and reads to hone his/her craft. Tells us about your favorites and how they
influence your writing.
Brenda, Your post really resonated with me. About a week ago, as we were having a team luncheon to celebrate a colleague's retirement, we started to talk books. There were so many suggestions flying around. I saw eyes light up with the possibility of lounging and reading. People started to talk louder, faster and I heard several declarations of, "You've GOT to read that!" flung across the table. I was in a relationship with David Sedaris' essays a few weeks ago, so this particular beginning stands out for me. He writes at the start of his essay, "Think Differenter", "Of the many expressions we Americans tend to overuse, I think the most irritating is 'Blind people are human too."' That is so very Sedaris. Shocking to the point that you feel uncomfortable. And desperate to read more. I love the shocking beginning, and I also love the mid-action/middle-of-a-scene beginning. I must be a drama queen. As for endings, I like the ones that allow for interpretation. Finality is frustrating to me. Because after reading something (this really just applies to fiction) I want to be able to continue the fantasy world that I've created in my head. I like wondering what might happen next or imagine that these characters will continue to "live on." My writing is mostly non-fiction writing at this stage of my life. And, therefore, does not mirror the beginnings and endings I mentioned. However, I wonder if this style can be applied to non-fiction writing?
ReplyDeleteExposition is key, but too much exposition is a killer. I’ve been trying to read the Casual Vacancy for months now, but getting through the 10-plus chapters of straight exposition is like trudging through the muck. I keep going because something similar happened with me and The Blind Assassin—and it all came together so gloriously and completely at the end. I know for certain that my narrative doesn’t demand that much complexity, but I want to be sure that my reader knows my characters and setting as deeply as I do. Struggling for that balance between inferential and direct.
ReplyDeleteReading these 2 chapters threw me into a panic. The lists of different kinds of beginnings and endings...I need to remember them all! Which ones will be the most powerful, do I recognize different beginnings and endings in ALL my reading? Fletcher says the ending might be the most important part of writing, but he sure makes beginnings sound important too! As far as what strikes me as a reader, I look a book that starts off slow, giving me a chance to figure out what is happening. I guess that's a "leisurely lead." I recently read Elizabeth Strout's Olive Kitteridge and the Burgess Boys back to back. I like her writing style, how she begins and ends her stories. She almost meanders through time in the life of her characters. There are various types of conflicts (another list I worry about!), but in the end the character, town, etc. has changed--but life goes on.
ReplyDelete"Response to Chapters 7 and 8, Ralph Fletcher"
ReplyDeleteMost of the time the writing that students do in my class end with the beginning and begin with the end. I always explain to them that the introduction and conclusion should in many ways be interchangeable. The introduction should draw the reader in and outline the argument presented in the body paragraphs. The conclusion should reiterate the facts and relate them to the main argument. There should not be any surprises or ambiguous endings. I had trouble with these two chapters. I tried to relate them to my class and thinking but I kept getting stuck on the kind of writing I expect my students to do. The problem with history is we all know how the story ends. Saigon always falls, women get the right to vote, four kids die at Kent State. The important factor in writing history is how these facts and details are analyzed in the work. The analysis and arguments trump the beginning and the end.
As far as favorite endings to books - "Blood Meridian" by Cormac McCarthy definitely sticks with me. Who is the judge, is he real, is he the human condition...."He never sleeps, the judge. He is dancing, dancing. He says that he will never die."
Chapter 7 Beginnings
ReplyDeleteAs I began reading this chapter, I began to think about the books I have abandoned as a reader. As the years in my reading career have continued to pass, I become more aware of the great importance of the beginning to me as a reader. I have not abandonded many books, but of those I have, it was due to the lack of a good beginning. One example, was the first book in the Harry Potter series. That particular book took too long to set the scene and as I grew closer and closer to my first one hundred pages, I kept thinking that I would never finish this book because it was too slow. I plodded on and finally the book took off, but I can't believe that I almost apbandoned that series. to this day, it is one of my very favorite series that I have read. Like Brenda, my reading window is too precious to spend time on a book that does not capture my attention with a good beginning. As I look for my next good read, I spend time reading the beginning pages very carefully before making a committment to the read.
Moira Messick's Reflection:
ReplyDeleteWhile I reviewed my third grader, Kate's, writing journal, I was impressed by her clever and catchy leads. Clearly her teacher taught the class the importance of drawing the reader in with an onomatopoeia. As I flipped through the pages, I noted that all of her leads began in the same way. Was this Kate's writer's voice making her mark on the world or did she need a lesson on the importance of varying one's bold beginnings to grow? I then remembered it was now summer, decided to let it go, and went on to read Fletcher's chapter on "Beginnings."
I enjoyed investigating the myriad of engaging beginnings and plan to have students try out different beginnings for a particular piece as a Reading Writing Workshop (RWW) activity. This was the first chapter that inspired a tangible mini-lesson for me - hooray!
As I read, I wondered if I had a "go to" beginning technique in my own writing. I reflected on books with beginnings that bothered me, such as those that began with the ending. This style can be disconcerting for me, as I sometimes wonder if I missed something as a reader (I am easily distracted by shiny objects).
I then pulled out my "great beginnings" list from novels that I use in my classroom and looked at the varying techniques used. I will be putting that list into my PAWLP portfolio as I am sure it will be fun to play "Can You Guess which Book This Beginning is from?" with my PAWLP colleagues this summer.
I will not sign off with a poignant,ironic or ambiguous ending this evening. Rather, I give you a derivation of a hero's journey, the circular ending. I leave you with my final thoughts on expanding Kate's reserve of beginnings.
People say you can either be a good mother or teacher to your children but not both. I understand this perspective but will not accept these limitations. I will still strive for both and sneak in conversations about the myriad of possibilities for beginning a story. When we read at night, I will slyly engage her in a conversation about how that particular author decided to introduce her book and whether or not Kate thought it was a good choice. I will stealthily teach her the importance of having a varied stockpile of beginning techniques This will be done under the guise of chatting about her favorite past time, reading. Come to think of it, this will be a great was to approach with my students as well.
It is time to say good night now, as I have big plans this evening. Kate just began Nancy Drew's "Secret of the Old Clock."
A book has to grab my attention in the first few chapters or I become disinterested immediately. I guess it's the ADD kicking in, it can't be all about descriptive writing either. Sometimes Stephen King takes 3 pages to describe a tree. I am an eclectic reader—I hear someone talk about a book and then want to read it. I read many young adult novels because I like to experience what my students are reading. That way we can have informal book chats. Currently I am reading the Beautiful Creatures series. Often times series books use the beginning to repeat much of what happened in the precious book, which I find tedious.
ReplyDeleteAs a teacher, I tell students it's okay to abandon a book that they are reading for pleasure within the first 50 pages if it isn't grabbing their attention and read another book. I ask them to revisit that uninteresting book later on during the year. I've read plenty of books I disliked as a child that I liked as an adult—Witch of Blackbird Pond for one and Tale of Two cities for another.
Similarity, I have read an entire book and hated the ending, it makes me angry! They pull the reader in, have great characters and conflict then ruin the ending. When this happens, I rewrite it and encourage my students to do the same.
Jeanne Mastriano
ReplyDeleteFavorite opening? The first two paragraphs of To Kill a Mockingbird. Nell Harper Lee raises all the big questions for us in those opening bits. It's wonderful. And the ending, as Scout looks back over time and space from the Radley porch - I'm flattened. There you go, Mr. King. I've been flattened by books. Maybe now I can write.
As you consider beginning and endings, what strikes your fancy? What book beginnings and endings do you hold onto? A writer is first a reader and reads to hone his/her craft. Tells us about your favorites and how they influence your writing.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if I really hold onto beginnings of books per se. I think with the books I enjoy most, you don't notice the beginning because it so effortlessly allows you to attach to the characters, setting, or mood. These books can leave me feeling robbed when they end. The post definitely made me think of A Prayer for Owen Meaney because it is the first book I think of when you are looking for a book that lays out all the clues and yet ends in a way that you never see coming. It is truly one of the best endings I have ever read even though it did not make me happy. One of my all time favorite books is The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell. This book bounces from three quarters to the actual beginning groin back and forth between past and present before finally ending.
Where are you in your writing? Is your setting a backdrop for your story or an integral part? Is there an odd fact that you can play with to bring your setting to life? It's your writing...play a little and see what happens.
I think my current writing is resonating with the comment about the unimportance of setting. When I read it I considered that in my piece the setting simply does not matter. I felt a sense of disappointment or mild failure and questioned whether this made my writing less. Perhaps this is just an indication that my narrative is about common themes and the setting is irrelevant but another part of me wonders if it would improve my writing to include a more concrete setting. .
Endings - Chapter 8
ReplyDeleteHave you ever read the ending of the book because you couldn't wait to get there? Only once or twice have I done that, but then I still had to finish the book to find out how the author brought everything to a neatly wrapped conclusion. The book seemed to take forever and there were so many twists and turns that I had to find out how it all ended before I got lost on the road. My favorite endings are the surprise endings that I didn't see coming. I love when authors are able to fool me, when I think I have it all figured out and then the conclusion takes me on a different path, a path that I had hopped wouldn't come. One of the authors that completly surprised me several times was J. K. Rowling. On several occasions, her characters that were brought out to be flawed, but well loved, were brought to an untimely end in one of her books. It left you thinking, how can this possibly work now without ______________________? From there she left you waiting for the next book to see how it all came together, how the peices fit so neatly into place for the suspense to continue.
So I guess that I would say that my favorite book endings leave me hanging on for more, wanting that next book or even wondering what would possibly bring this story to an end. Also, I love those books where the authors never intended there to be a sequel, but yet you contemplate what that sequel would be if it were indeed written.
Maybe I should consider this an ending to the response I began writing a couple of weeks ago -- where is it?
ReplyDeleteI am not a beginning nor an ending kind of reader. What resonates with me is how literature feels. (I think I'm more connected with what Fletcher describes in chapter 12 as "unforgettable language" or character motivation.) When I read The Fault in Our Stars, I knew--felt-- how it would end way before it did and so I slowed down just a little bit, savoring each page and the corresponding tears as I moved toward the inevitable. And the sobbing that enveloped me felt as real as any time I have cried over personal loss. Did I just contradict myself? Maybe the best kinds of endings are the ones that just feel right. Or wrong. That cause you to feel something at all.
--Rachel