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Writing the Dramatic Truth
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By Bill Johnson
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A hallmark of powerful fiction is writing that rings true in apotent, vivid way. Writing rings true in a novel because thestoryteller has provided a context for the truth of a novel,generally through setting out a story's promise. Without thatcontext, a story's readers are forced to memorize details untilthe details have a clear sense of meaning. After a few pages,this lack of contact makes reading many unpublished novelmanuscripts a chore, not a pleasure.
Christy Yorke in her novel Magic Spells offers a great exampleof how to begin a story with the introduction of a promise. Thispowerful novel opens with these sentences.
At one time, when Alex was two and she was just beginning topanic about his lack of speech, she had thought she could lovewords into him.
This sentence speaks to a mother's dramatic truth, that she hasa son with a disability and she wanted to believe she couldsomehow heal him with the power of her love. The sentence raisesthe question, why did the son fail to develop the power ofspeech? Would her love be enough to heal him?
In one sentence, Christy Yorke has set out the promise of thestory and established a context for everything that follows. Therest of the novel unfolds from this first sentence. The purposeof the first sentence of a novel is to give the reader a reasonto read the second sentence. Most unpublished authors fail to dothat.
Second sentence...
But she, more than anyone, knew what a risk it was to pour allyour love into one body. Tragedy, when it came, had only oneplace to strike.
These two sentences suggest the mother's loss and raises thequestions, what tragedy stuck her life, and to whom did she giveall her love? A reader is being drawn forward to get the answerto these questions.
All that love had done nothing. In almost seven years, Alex hadnot said one word. Jane had taken him to every doctor on theEast Coast, but she knew they would not find anything. She knewwhat had happened. Alex had gotten her life by mistake.
These sentences begin to develop an answer about the son'sinability to speak, and raises the question of what the mothermight have done that her son would suffer this problem. It alsospeaks to the great tension she feels around finding a cure forhis problem. She is a dramatically driven character. If themother were indifferent to her son's problems, the novel wouldfall apart immediately.
He had nightmares while her dreams were black as space. He feltguilty over something he didn't even know about.
The author continues to develop the idea of some past tragedy,and the impact it still has on the mother. The language here isbeautifully lyrical and descriptive, and it also rings true.
Alex was riding off down Sycamore Lane. "Don't go too far,"Jane yelled. "Don't go on the highway."
These sentences foreshadow what tragedy befell the mother, andher concern about keeping her son close. The author also givesthe mother a name. First, Christy expresses a truth about hermain character, then she begins to offer some details.Struggling writers generally start with the details ahead ofestablishing a context for what they mean.
He had already turned the corner. Jane looked down at herclenched fists. She wondered when the day would come when shewouldn't imagine all the horrific things that could happen tohim when he was out of her sight. She wondered when he wouldstop squeezing her heart, or when she would cure him the way amother should, with a snap of her fingers, just like that.
This passage sets up the plot question of the novel, when andhow the son will find his voice, and how the journey to thatplace will squeeze the heart of his mother with greater andgreater force. The story question for the novel, about findinghealing, is clearly presented.
This story opening has powerfully set the story into motion.
Christy is an author who knows how to get to the real heart ofher characters. Her latest novel, The Secret Lives of the SushiClub, is another great demonstration of how to write the truthin a novel. I highly recommend both novels to anyone who wouldlike to study the craft of storytelling by reading the work of apublished author.
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