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I'm frustrated with the opener of a story I'm working on. It goes against two common bits of writing advice: start the story as late as possible, and, don't describe the usual order of business.
The starting the story as late as possible advice has always given me trouble. Exactly when is that? I understand the basic concept. I don't need 18 pages of backstory/history about a character to care whether or not he/she has a gun to his/her head. But-- and this is where my confusions starts-- I do want some connection, some understanding of their dilemma, some clues about why this gun-pointing is more dramatic and interesting than the pages of generic gun-pointing available for me to read about in the newspaper.
Fanfiction has a few built-in shortcuts (we know the characters, we know their alignments and habits and motivations and backstories), except with wrestlefic, that's not always the case. There's a difference between backstage!Hunter and arena!Hunter, and his current TV alignment (heel, face, tweener) isn't necessarily the alignment he's going to have in any given fic. Even though I have my pre-set notions of characters, I go into fics willing to be told who is the protag and who is the antag and what their deals are.
Some story time is necessary to do that, so I get confused/fretty over this late-starting business. I don't trust myself usually to judge what's necessary and what's me being in love with the backstory. I like the mundane and the everyday and the emotional baggage character's lug around with them. Provided it's well-written and lively, I'm happy to read it. And because I like to read it, I write it.
A lot my stories begin in a similar manner: introspection by the POV character, then another character shows up to cause trouble. The current fret-causing fic begins that way. In one draft, it takes 8 paragraphs for the troublemaker to show; in another he shows up in paragraph 3. Neither feel right, and while the obvious answer is Write Draft #3, I want to think on the problem first, not just write in the dark.
The starting the story as late as possible advice has always given me trouble. Exactly when is that? I understand the basic concept. I don't need 18 pages of backstory/history about a character to care whether or not he/she has a gun to his/her head. But-- and this is where my confusions starts-- I do want some connection, some understanding of their dilemma, some clues about why this gun-pointing is more dramatic and interesting than the pages of generic gun-pointing available for me to read about in the newspaper.
Fanfiction has a few built-in shortcuts (we know the characters, we know their alignments and habits and motivations and backstories), except with wrestlefic, that's not always the case. There's a difference between backstage!Hunter and arena!Hunter, and his current TV alignment (heel, face, tweener) isn't necessarily the alignment he's going to have in any given fic. Even though I have my pre-set notions of characters, I go into fics willing to be told who is the protag and who is the antag and what their deals are.
Some story time is necessary to do that, so I get confused/fretty over this late-starting business. I don't trust myself usually to judge what's necessary and what's me being in love with the backstory. I like the mundane and the everyday and the emotional baggage character's lug around with them. Provided it's well-written and lively, I'm happy to read it. And because I like to read it, I write it.
A lot my stories begin in a similar manner: introspection by the POV character, then another character shows up to cause trouble. The current fret-causing fic begins that way. In one draft, it takes 8 paragraphs for the troublemaker to show; in another he shows up in paragraph 3. Neither feel right, and while the obvious answer is Write Draft #3, I want to think on the problem first, not just write in the dark.
