WattMagazine[2015] Issue #2

• Writing Tips II

Writing an Introduction:

OK, the first thing you've gotta do when you're writing a story is set the scene. In fact, it's impossible NOT to set the scene when starting a story. Whatever you write, it's about your story, it's giving a feel of your story, so it's setting the scene. The only problem is, you have to be able to do it WELL.

The location. Let's say your story is set in a fantasy world- in a kingdom, for example. You need to be able to describe this kingdom, not in too much detail, but in too little either. The most basic description of the kingdom would probably be the name of the kingdom, the name of the monarch and the name of the capital city. What would be even better would be to add some extra details, such as the currency of the kingdom, the climate, the terrain etc. This may be hard to take in, so here's a comparison
example:

Bad Description-

The Nanatani Kingdom was ruled by King Abel III, who resided in the castle in Kawao City.

Better Description-

Spread across seven immense valleys, the Nanatani Kingdom, blessed with a perfect climate, enough rain to survive, but also many days of amazing sun and warmth, revolved around the colossal palace in Kawao City, Nurrey Castle, where King Abel III, a tyrant of a king, counted the thousands of kunal he had collected from the people. Every month, Abel expected every one of his subjects to give him thirty kunal in tax every month, or face a gruesome execution.

Now for your protagonist. In fact, it doesn't have to be your protagonist, but at least one character. For example, when setting the seen in my series 'Kusanagi', the protagonist Naoki only makes a brief appearance at the end of the introduction.

There may be cases where the protagonist doesn't appear at all in the introduction, and I can see that possibly working, but what I don't see working is an introduction without any character at all. Characters are what begin the story, what progress it and what end it. So, for when you're writing an introduction, be sure to give your readers a good taste of at least one of your characters.

E.g.:

Bad Description-

Erik was a strong person that liked eating chicken.

Better Description-

Erik Sinason was known for his immense strength and inability to resist chicken to the point where he would rather eat too much chicken and throw up than leave the chicken uneaten. Most of the fringe of his strong blonde hair was covered by his red bandanna, and he possessed a scar below his right eye. He wielded a vast black broadsword, so large that only someone with strength of his caliber could lift it.

Finally you need a plot. A story doesn't go anywhere if there's no plot. Something needs to happen in order to trigger the rest of the events of the story, and eventually the ending. Even in the introduction to my story, 'Kusanagi', Giustizia still read the holy book extract to his son Emilio, which told the readers about what happened millennia ago which causes this story to be as it is. In 'Naruto', if Mizuki had never tricked Naruto into stealing the scroll, Naruto wouldn't have ever learnt the Shadow Clone Jutsu and become a ninja, which would have meant that the story of Naruto wouldn't have existed as it does. In 'Fairy Tail', if Bora hadn't have tried to kidnap Lucy, Natsu wouldn't have saved her and invited her to Fairy Tail. In 'Attack on Titan', if the Colossal Titan didn't appear and cause Eren's mother's death, Eren might not have had the burning desire to kill the titans, and therefore not be able to 'Titan-Shift', leading him to die being eaten by that titan. In 'Blue Exorcist', if Astaroth hadn't attacked Rin, he may have never found out about being the Son of Satan. In all these examples, something has happened in the introduction that caused the entire story to take shape.

For this reason, a good introduction is very important in terms of shaping your story. An introduction to a story is like the foundations of a building. If it's weak, the building will fall down. You need a strong foundation to support the building, just as you need a good introduction to support the story.

Article written by; RobertLeech