I picked up a writing magazine at Barnes and Noble the other day while shopping for a last minute gift for our nephew (an avid middle grade reader), and found a fascinating article on Foundational Narrative Design that has made me consider whether I am being thoughtful enough as I craft my WIP.
I’m in the very early stages of planning what some might consider a super hero story — it could even be a graphic novel at some point (though I have no real talent or patients to illustrate it) — set in Boston (I think) in 1952. I have about 5,600 words written and some character sketches started, so very early in the process.
But at this point figuring out the plot feels more like swimming through cold thick prune juice than crystal clear fresh water. Ideas are murky. They come to me very slowly. Between having just moved into our new house and not knowing where most of our stuff is, caring for our seven-month-old baby who currently has bronchiolitis, Christmas holiday shenanigans, and fighting off the sickness myself, I am having a lot of trouble just remembering story ideas that pop into my brain, let alone finding the time to write a lick of prose…or even a note to self that makes any sense when I come back to it later. And let’s just face it, “mom brain” is a real problem. It happens when the act of keeping tiny humans alive uses up precious neurological pathways that were once used for creative thought.
Fortunately, Little #2’s appetite and nap schedule is getting back to normal and I found a couple of hours today. First, I had a bath in our new double wide jacuzzi tub and finished reading Andy Graff’s article, “Foundational Narrative Design,” in The Writer’s Chronicle.
“Foundational Narrative Design,” he explains, “is the groundwork of information that is presented in any story to establish a set of guidelines and principles that a story will continue around.”
According to Graff and the authors he sites in his article, FND becomes a contract between the writer and the reader that is established especially within the first one hundred words of a piece of writing (he referred to fiction, but I would surmise that it could apply to non-fiction as well).
This contract, subtly weaved into specific words, setting, place, and theme in the first hundred words builds the readers trust in the writer and allows them to accept and “fall into the fictional dream,” as Graff said referencing John Garner’s The Art of Fiction.
Graff explains deviation from the Foundation Narrative Design, or contract, breaks the and pulls the reader out of the dream as they try to make sense of inconsistencies. I would expect this would be enough to make a reader put the book down, maybe not in the first deviation, but perhaps after two or three.
This really makes me think about the first one hundred words of my WIP. Do the first hundred words establish a stylistic foundation that will continue through out the story? Does my MC behave as he will throughout the story? Do the words elude enough to what he may learn to entice the reader to continue but not so much that the story is spoiled for the reader? Do these words successfully portray the theme of my story? What is the theme of my story? Have I set appropriate reader expectations that I’ll be able to fulfill?
And the biggest question: Am I supposed to know the answer to these questions as I’m writing my first draft?
I tend to have a problem with unfinished manuscripts. I am excellent at beginning a story, but I get bogged down in the planning and analysis and then stop writing. However, I find that I need some amount of planning otherwise I get completely lost in the woods of a never-ending story. I suspect the balance is somewhere in the middle of complete planner and complete pantser, at least for me. And I bet answering some of these questions, or at least being mindful of them, will help to build my integrity as a writer and maybe keep my readers reading.
What do you think, dear reader? If you’re a fellow writer, I would love to hear from you! Please, share you experience, successes, and/or frustrations in the comments below!
- Graff, Andy. “Foundational Narrative Design.” The Writer’s Chronicle Nov 2019: 61-66. Print
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