to have started before the “beginning,” and it sets up a complex dynamic
between the two characters.z A couple of lessons can be learned from this example. One is that a story
is not mere chronology. In fact, we might say that most stores are not
chronologies but rely on backstories. In his famous series of lectures
DERXW¿FWLRQZULWLQJ$VSHFWVRIWKH1RYHO, the British novelist E. M.
Forster made a distinction between story and plot. Story, according
to Forster, is the chronological listing of events; plot is the story plus
causality and motivation.
z Another way of looking at this idea is to consider that all stories begin in
PHGLDVUHV, “in the middle of things.” Even stories that seem to begin at
the very beginning, such as the opening of the book of Genesis, actually
begin in the middle. Although it may seem as if we can’t get much closer
to the beginning than “in the beginning,” even this opening presumes a
previously existing character—God.
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is the creation of order out chaos and the creation of meaning out of
meaninglessness. Stories may feel natural, but they don’t occur in
nature. As writers, we imagine a series of events or we borrow them
from life, we order them in a certain way, we choose to highlight some
facts and ignore others, and we bring these events and characters to a
conclusion or a resolution.
z The fact that even a simple-seeming story can suddenly turn complicated
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basic facts about Sarah and Brad, but to explore this situation, we must
start making choices—about what’s important to tell, what’s not, whose
point of view to tell it from, and when in the story to begin.
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sets the scene, an exchange of dialogue, an interior monologue, some
action, or a combination of these? One possible solution is to outline
the story in advance, but many writers prefer to improvise as they work.