Quick SUPPLEMENTAL Writing Lesson: Opening Scene Example (Patreon)

This week we're discussing opening scenes with inciting incidents and next week you'll be turning in your own opening scene with an inciting incident!

With that in mind, I thought I'd try to help you all out a bit by offering an example of an opening scene from a current project I'm working on and talking about how it nominally meets the requirements, so I can give you an example of how to proceed. I'll answer both the discussion questions for this week and point out how it meets the guidelines for the Module Six rubric. The scene itself is about 2,000 words, so it's completely optional to read it, this is just if you need some extra guidance. Also, this is an early draft, so keep that in mind and cut me some slack!

My current project is a New Adult romance about Samata "Sam" Chandy, a young woman who decides to become a supervillian in order to cheer up her crush, Alyssa, who she knows is secretly a superhero.

You can read the whole opening scene in this post here. 

Now, if you've read it, let's go through the discussion questions together!

 Did the author effectively engage you in the first chapter? How so? Did the author open with action or some form of emotional immediacy to draw you in?

I can't answer whether is was engaging, but you will notice that I opened with suspenseful danger than I hope will grab the reader's attention. The life of a turtle hangs in the balance! My protagonist recklessly throws herself off a tree to save him! She's desperate to get her crush's attention but instead she makes her sad!

What was the barrier between the characters? Did the author make it apparent right away?

I think the scene clearly shows that Alyssa is depressed about feeling useless as a superhero, has some sort of baggage regarding someone called "Sylph", and Sam wants to help her but doesn't know how. Also, Sam knows Alyssa's secret but Alyssa doesn't know she knows, which is sure to be a barrier as well.

What is the setting? Did the setting indicate the subgenre of romance? Why?

The setting of a run-down shelter for super-powered animals (as well as Alyssa's presence as a small-town superhero) firmly indicates that this is a fantasy subgenre.

Now, let's move on to the rubric. I'll point out how this scene highlights my characters features and flaws, introduces the main conflict, contains an inciting incident, and gives a sense of setting.

Create an inciting incident that will disturb the life of the protagonist and begin her journey- At the end of the scene, Sam accidentally reveals to Alyssa that she's been playing damsel-in-distress on purpose and this greatly upsets their status quo. Now Alyssa is upset and unsure of herself as a superhero, and Sam doesn't know how to fix things. This disturbs Sam's life and it leads to Sam's decision to become a supervillain for the sake of cheering up her crush. So, you aren't required to include everything that will transform the character's life and drive the narrative in this opening- you just need to show the first step of that journey. There simply needs to be a clear change to the character's 'normal' and I should get a strong idea of how the protagonist's life is being disrupted and/or transformed.

Introduce the main conflict of the story- I introduce how Alyssa is insecure about her place as a superhero and Sam wants to fix that. She also has a crush on Alyssa, but hasn't told her, and Alyssa doesn't even know Sam knows she's a superhero! So, there are secrets between them and they aren't communicating because of it. And rather than talking honestly to Alyssa, Sam is doing dangerous things in an attempt to validate her and get her attention. This leads to a lot of friction between them. This is the conflict that will drive the narrative moving forward.

Articulate the main features and flaws of the protagonist- I (possibly over)emphasize here that Sam is clumsy, reckless, lovestruck, and has low self-esteem. She's constantly thinking of herself as a screw-up. Most people feel like that sometimes, though Sam's low regard for herself even leads to her risking her life, which takes it farther than most of us. But I also try to show that Sam cares for the shelter animals and does her best to look after them. She also cares a lot for the people in her life and tries hard for them. Not only does she worry about Alyssa, but she wants to please her mother, and she cares for Alyssa's little sister too, even mentioning that she tutors her. She's also a bit caustic towards the bratty kids and she shows some gumption in her rescue attempt of the turtle.

Believable Setting: It's definitely not "realistic", but Sam is working at a 'run-down' animal shelter full of animals she can't control in what's explicitly referred to as a small town that only has one superhero. It's a setting that goes with the conflict of Alyssa feeling irrelevant and Sam feeling a bit stuck and helpless, leading her to take drastic action. It's a setting that hopefully works for Sam's character and strengthens the story's core components, and that's what matters.

---

I hope all this gave you some help in crafting your opening scene!