A Question About Beginnings

lilac_04 · Aug 4, 2007

I want to use part of my ending as the beginning, because I think it works well with my novel. However, I'm not quite sure how to do this without confusing the reader. It would only be a paragraph long and, without slipping in a date, I'm not sure if the time jump would be a bit of a jolt. How does one effectively implement this technique without throwing the reader off-course right at the beginning? In addition, if anybody could name a book or two that begins this way, I would really appreciate it. I’d like to check out a couple of examples.

-Katie

Jen_D · Aug 4, 2007

Originally I had started mine out in the same fashion. I think If it's a dramatic story and the scene used really shows the feeling of the book it'll work really well.

I know I've read books that have done this but I can't think of them right off hand.

Go for it, if it's only a paragraph or two then the time jump shouldn't matter. But if you're really worried about it you could make it dream like or change the POV. That'll make it obvious.

JoNightshade · Aug 4, 2007

Um, I can't think of any books, but the movie The Prestige does this. Well, they don't show the END at the beginning, but they show you about 3/4 of the way through. I liked it.

dolores haze · Aug 5, 2007

"The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy. Right from the beginning of the book you know how it's going to end. I usually hate this in a book, but it really worked well in this case. The sense of dread in knowing the terrible things that are going to happen is powerful and overwhelming. I was so involved as a reader I wanted to jump into the book and change the course of events. But of course I couldn't, so all I could do was read it and weep.
It takes a lot of skill to give your readers the ending at the beginning, and yet still make them want to read on. Take a look at how Roy does it. It's quite a slim volume, the story is engrossing, the prose is luscious. I believe she won the Booker for this.

Azraelsbane · Aug 5, 2007

I start out one of my novels with the narrator stating that she's dead. I guess that is somewhat the same (since the story leads up to her death).

I think as long as it doesn't give too much away, it could work well.

Andrew · Aug 5, 2007

According to one wuhtor I read "hook 'em," the transition should be seemless. He also wrote that a dream sequence is a killer... though I have used it myself and it could work--most things can work if done well. I've read other references that suggest one can start at virtually the middle of the novel and be read more because of its presentation. I think your idea is a good one--would carry on and see if you like it. A break in space may be neccessary.

Jen_D · Aug 5, 2007

Andrew said:
He also wrote that a dream sequence is a killer... though I have used it myself and it could work--most things can work if done well.

I didn't say write a dream scene, I said make it dream like. No dialogue, slow and mellow, so that the reader can almost see a hazy fog around the edges.

scarletpeaches · Aug 5, 2007

En ma fin gite mon commencement.

lilac_04 · Aug 6, 2007

Thanks for the help everybody, and I'll definitely check out "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy.

job · Aug 6, 2007

Not sure if it's what you mean, but Rebecca by du Maurier does something along those lines.

mscelina · Aug 6, 2007

Exactly. I was thinking of Rebecca as well. "Last night I dreamt I was at Manderly again..." (may not be the exact first line, but it's darn close.)

It's beautifully done because immediately the nameless heroine (and I don't know if anyone OTHER than du Maurier could have pulled THAT one off) establishes the importance of the house. Even years later, the house dominates the characters' thoughts and shadows their lives. Through it all, the sense of dread the MC has about the house shines through clearly--and the reader is sucked in. It's definitely a great example of what you're trying to do--it's a fabulous hook, but doesn't reveal much about the resolution of the plot. It leaves the reader hanging and eager to discover why she should feel the way she does. After all, it's just a house, right? Right?

Check it out. It's worth it.

Shady Lane · Aug 6, 2007

Owen Meaney gives away a good bit of the ending at the beginning.

Or maybe I'm just desperate for an opportunity to mention it because it is the
best
book
ever

Azraelsbane · Aug 6, 2007

Shady Lane said:
Owen Meaney gives away a good bit of the ending at the beginning.

Or maybe I'm just desperate for an opportunity to mention it because it is the
best
book
ever

I second that. That was the first Irving book I ever read, and it just went downhill from there, though I really liked A Widow for One Year and The World According to Garp as well. But A Prayer for Owen Meany takes the cake by far. I was SO pissed at the Simon Birch movie about it, but don't get me started on movie adaptations...

c.e.lawson · Aug 6, 2007

Azraelsbane said:
I second that. That was the first Irving book I ever read, and it just went downhill from there, though I really liked A Widow for One Year and The World According to Garp as well. But A Prayer for Owen Meany takes the cake by far. I was SO pissed at the Simon Birch movie about it, but don't get me started on movie adaptations...

No. Don't get started on movie adaptations, because then I'd have to give my rant about Anthony Minghella's Cold Mountain. Talk about ruining an amazing story...

Azraelsbane · Aug 6, 2007

c.e.lawson said:
No. Don't get started on movie adaptations, because then I'd have to give my rant about Anthony Minghella's Cold Mountain. Talk about ruining an amazing story...

But it won Oscars! Ugh...gag me with a rusty, twisted spoon.

Manderley · Aug 7, 2007

The Secret History by Donna Tartt starts with a prologue (*gasp!*) where we are told the MC and his friends have killed another friend. The rest of the novel tells the story up to this point (and a little beyond). Great book, worth a read even if you it's no use to your own WIP.

Enraptured · Aug 7, 2007

I did the same thing with my current novel; the prologue shows the character after the events of the story have already happened. To create distance between that part and the rest of the book, I made it into a prologue and used a different POV and tense. Plus, the voice is a bit different in the prologue than in the first chapter, because the main character changes a lot between the start of the story and the ending.

southernwriter · Aug 7, 2007

The Green Mile begins at the end. So does Sophie's Choice. And Forrest Gump. Lots of stories begin this way. I did it in my novel, too. It's a lit device called "framing."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frame_story

wee · Aug 7, 2007

I just read Water for Elephants yesterday & it employs this. You find out someone dies with a tent peg through his head in the 'prologue', but it is written in such a way that I wasn't sure who did it or exactly what was going on. Then when this scene comes up later, it is repeated almost word-for-word, but with a few slight differences. I thought it worked well.

(Loved the book, too.)

job · Aug 7, 2007

mscelina said:
Exactly. I was thinking of Rebecca as well. "Last night I dreamt I was at Manderly again..." (may not be the exact first line, but it's darn close.)

It's beautifully done because ...establishes the importance of the house. ... the sense of dread ... the reader is sucked in. ... fabulous hook, but doesn't reveal much about the resolution of the plot. It leaves the reader hanging and eager ...

And there you've summed it up. The literary device -- somebody points out that this is called 'framing' -- serves a couple different purposes. Nothing else would work so well.

chartreuse · Aug 7, 2007

I believe that The Last Boy by Robert Lieberman has a prologue that is really just one of the much later scenes in the book.

To be honest, although I loved the book as a whole, the inclusion of such a prologue ultimately struck me as pointless at best, and somewhat confusing at worst.

WorldPlanter · Aug 7, 2007

JoNightshade said:
Um, I can't think of any books, but the movie The Prestige does this. Well, they don't show the END at the beginning, but they show you about 3/4 of the way through. I liked it.

It was a pleasant surprise to see Nikola Tesla used in a fictional story. I thought I would be the first to give Tesla a significant role in a historical fiction. Oh well.

A Question About Beginnings

lilac_04

Jen_D

JoNightshade

has finally arrived

dolores haze

international guttersnipe

Azraelsbane

Agony is defeat

Andrew

Most of the rules gotta go...

Jen_D

scarletpeaches

lilac_04

job

In the end, it's just you and the manuscript

mscelina

Teh doommobile, drivin' rite by you

Shady Lane

my name is hannah

Azraelsbane

Agony is defeat

c.e.lawson

Azraelsbane

Agony is defeat

Manderley

Slowly does it.

Enraptured

Narrator

southernwriter

Born Under a Bad Star

wee

just a little

job

In the end, it's just you and the manuscript

chartreuse

WorldPlanter