Post by account_disabled on Dec 4, 2023 23:11:18 GMT -5
Whether writing a 1000-page novel or a short essay, the writer must capture the reader's attention at the beginning, must give him or her a compelling reason for that effort – a reason to keep reading. In my writing class I call this technique narrative urgency . Shawn Mihalik I don't know if it's correct to literally translate narrative urgency , but honestly, after asking in a valid forum, I haven't found anything better. I don't think, however, that it is that wrong of a translation. If we take the etymology, "urgency" comes from "urgere", which also has the meaning of "to press". A narrative, therefore, a style of writing, which is pressing.
You read, I believe, that book that didn't allow you to take your eyes off the pages, that you finished in one breath, devoured, that you even took to the bathroom. A Phone Number Dataphrase by David Foster Wallace was also quoted in Mihalik's article: The job of the first eight pages is to keep the reader from wanting to throw the book against the wall during those first eight pages. I believe that this is the work of all the pages that make up the book. I've abandoned books after 300 pages and still had 500 to go, just to give an example. The strength of the incipit It's the first and only thing I read when I find a book in the library. If I'm lucky, I can read an excerpt online, even if there are still many publishers who don't make it available.
In my opinion the incipit remains the most important part of the book. Obviously it also depends on the reader, because I think that something happens between the reader and the writer, an unexpressed connection that allows you to appreciate the book. Each of us understands the incipit in our own way, like all of an author's writing. However, it is also true that a functional incipit, perhaps in media res , an incipit that immediately puts you into the drama of the story is more pressing , makes you ask the fateful question "and now what happens?" The plot that captures Is the story. There's nothing to add, is there? Now we can ask ourselves how to manage to write a truly original plot , to write something not read elsewhere, but I think it is impossible, with everything that has been published in the past up to now, to find something truly unique.
You read, I believe, that book that didn't allow you to take your eyes off the pages, that you finished in one breath, devoured, that you even took to the bathroom. A Phone Number Dataphrase by David Foster Wallace was also quoted in Mihalik's article: The job of the first eight pages is to keep the reader from wanting to throw the book against the wall during those first eight pages. I believe that this is the work of all the pages that make up the book. I've abandoned books after 300 pages and still had 500 to go, just to give an example. The strength of the incipit It's the first and only thing I read when I find a book in the library. If I'm lucky, I can read an excerpt online, even if there are still many publishers who don't make it available.
In my opinion the incipit remains the most important part of the book. Obviously it also depends on the reader, because I think that something happens between the reader and the writer, an unexpressed connection that allows you to appreciate the book. Each of us understands the incipit in our own way, like all of an author's writing. However, it is also true that a functional incipit, perhaps in media res , an incipit that immediately puts you into the drama of the story is more pressing , makes you ask the fateful question "and now what happens?" The plot that captures Is the story. There's nothing to add, is there? Now we can ask ourselves how to manage to write a truly original plot , to write something not read elsewhere, but I think it is impossible, with everything that has been published in the past up to now, to find something truly unique.