BUSINESS 129 [M] [1] [2] [3] [4] - Classroom A - Classroom B

Lesson 4: Timing is Everything

If you're anything like me, you might prefer your messages on the message boards to be sorted into chronological order. We at WVU have choices how to view our posts, either by threads or chronologically. Timing is everything, as the title of this last lesson suggests. "Begin at the beginning!" instructors and peers might say. So you dutifully start your action at one point in time and move it forward. Logical, right?

But, we've learned rules are made to be broken. Chronological time isn't the be all and end all. Linear time becomes a writing technique we can play with, which just might get our reader's attention. What does all this mean? It means we can take time and 'stand it on its head.' That means we can open our story by showing the story's ending. By putting the ending out front, we can show how the story lines progress to the final point.

Here's an example of a story I wrote several years ago. The opening lines, although still in need of final revision, tell how the story will end:

Ashley Davenport stepped into the warm May sunshine. She took a deep breath and with head held high, as cameras clicked away, walked down the steps of the Newport Court House . . . alone. David Greene, the famous deep sea treasure hunter and author, was sitting on a park bench reading a copy of her latest novel when she sat down beside this friend she had come to love and depend on.

"How did it go?" he asked, grateful the press respected his wishes and left the two writers alone.

"Pretty much as expected. Jim gave his lawyer Power of Attorney. We just went through the motions. So, it's official. I'm a single lady. Can you believe him, David? He couldn't even leave his precious L.A. to attend . . .. "

"For heaven's sake, Ashley, Jim didn't show up for Christmas when his daughter returned from England nor did he show up in Hawaii for New Year's to see his son and talk things out with you . . . his idea don't forget. Why are you so surprised that he didn't show up for this?"

"You're right. I just thought that maybe after twenty-seven years of marriage he'd want to say goodbye or something. I'm just being nostalgic, I guess . . ."

"I don't know when we started to grow apart. Maybe I was too young, too naive. Maybe I expected too much. Maybe I wasn't glamorous enough for him. I don't know when we started to become disillusioned. No, that's a lie. It started in Manhattan 27 years ago . . ."

IE: Flashback where we stay until, chronologically, we come full circle. We know that her marriage ends in divorce but not until the story goes back to the beginning and progresses to the final point, do we find out why.

Assignment 4: Exercise: Take a story you are already working on or a new idea and develop your opening hook, using the foundation of your choice. Post the first two to three pages, approximately 300 words (double-spaced, but single-spaced on the message board) to the board.
 

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