Takeoffs & Landings
Your teen has a great idea for a story, but how do they get their audience onboard for takeoff and stick around for the landing?
Takeoffs and landings for airplanes are the most complicated parts of flight. So, how can they start their story in a way that peaks curiosity and in such a way that the audience wants to know more?
TAKEOFF
The takeoff of their stories needs to hook the audience’s attention, otherwise the audience likely won’t stick around. It doesn’t matter how awesome the dialog or special effects will be AFTER a long boring 3 minute introduction. They need to create an open loop and they need to create it at the beginning.
An open loop is simply bringing up a question and not answering it right away or as Jay Acunzo said “[it’s] a moment of tension left unresolved.” That can be done through actions, a sequence of events, direct questions, etc. The goal is to create curiosity (that’s the open part or the gap in the loop) as soon as possible so the audience is intrigued and wants to know how the loop is closed (i.e., what’s next). Example: The man walked away from his family and into the room not knowing he’d never come back out. Why would he not come back out? What’s in the room? What happens to the man? What happens to the family?
Have your teen read these first sentence story starters. Do any of them create curiosity for them?
- People say that dragons aren’t real, but I know better…
- Whoever that was looking back at me in the mirror, it certainly wasn’t me…
- It was 2 am and the phone was ringing…
- It’s a strange and scary sensation to suddenly forget your own name…
(No affiliation. These come from: https://www.twinkl.com/blog/50-exciting-story-starter-sentences).
Exercise: Your teen’s turn. Write 5 open loop story hooks, then ask at least 3 people to rank them for which one creates the most curiosity to the least. Then ask why. Getting feedback is a critical part of this exercise so you can start to see what interests other people (even if they aren’t the target audience for your story).
LANDING
And then… there’s the landing. Have you ever read or watched something that seemed to end abruptly or inconclusively (I don’t mean cliffhangers)? Like the ending was forced and characters seemed to have things conveniently resolved? Or, like it dragged of for too long (*cough* Lord of the Rings: Return of the King *cough*)?
To stick the landing you need to start well. Gee, thanks. No, seriously. I don’t mean the beginning of your story, I mean when you start planning your story. You need to start your story with the end in mind. Although I haven’t confirmed this with any of my pilot friends, I’m assuming they don’t take off without knowing where they are going to land. When you know how your story ends, then you can progressively work your way towards it. You know the hero is going to defeat the dark wizard? Great, now how do we get the two to meet? What tension can you create up to the climax? What are some surprises at the end? What will the new life look like for the hero after the dark wizard is defeated?
Exercise: Write the beginning of these story endings.
- A group of 10 year old boys lost on a desert island stopped their fight to the death when an adult suddenly showed up.
- A man saves himself, but not his city from being blown up by a nuclear bomb.
- A woman drives off to be reunited with her sister after winning her freedom in a game of live battleship.
Resources:
- About open loops:
- Open Loops: A Tiny Technique to Make Stories Far More Gripping
- 3 Ways To Open A Story - Jonathan Blum
- Ending your story:
