tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26951738.post6305667352747239157..comments2024-03-25T11:49:21.281-07:00Comments on The Splintered Mind: Direction and Misdirection in the First Sentence of a StoryEric Schwitzgebelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11541402189204286449noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26951738.post-15867281798611844262016-08-31T18:43:17.158-07:002016-08-31T18:43:17.158-07:00Does it seem a bit of a contradiction though betwe...Does it seem a bit of a contradiction though between the numbers game of maximal reader retention vs actual personal connection? If it can't survive a first date going badly, what could it survive anyway?<br /><br />And as you say some of these start off alluding to one thing but then it's not important latter on. How does 'later disappointment' tie in there?<br /><br />Is the urgent question really one of how to get traction out there amongst people and people who read?<br /><br />Callan S.http://philosophergamer.blogspot.com.au/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26951738.post-27141067662403943152016-08-31T07:22:01.385-07:002016-08-31T07:22:01.385-07:00Interesting question!
I'd say two reasons, at...Interesting question!<br /><br />I'd say two reasons, at least:<br /><br />(1.) Readers often choose whether to keep going after just a few sentences. If you're off on the wrong path, then you lose readers, or keep mainly the wrong ones who are later disappointed. Compare: If the first date had gone badly, or had led to a misimpression of who you were, that person might never have become your spouse. This can be so -- of first dates and of first sentences -- regardless of whether the first date is memorable or actually remembered.<br /><br />(2.) Furthermore, authors make it so. They put thought into the opening of their stories, so you know it's not an accident how it's done. This justifies reading substantial significance into the first sentence, giving it interpretative weight, and looking at it in retrospect, after having read that story, to think about why the author chose to start in that specific way, given how the story went.Eric Schwitzgebelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11541402189204286449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26951738.post-12821904561490946272016-08-31T04:06:07.330-07:002016-08-31T04:06:07.330-07:00Is it that important - is the way you met your sig...Is it that important - is the way you met your significant other for the first time the important thing? I mean, it's nice if it happens in a nice way - but it could just as much happen on a dark and stormy night...<br /><br />But seriously, how important is it?Callan S.http://philosophergamer.blogspot.com.au/noreply@blogger.com