It gets filled with
Lies, sucks all of the fears, contradictions
Dreams, terrors, arts lusts tears.
Hans Magnus Ensensberger, the Blank Page
How shall we start? For me beginning is almost never a problem. The first sentence comes naturally. The words are molded in the mind, and my heroes are being sentenced very quickly. The problem begins when they appeal. The quest begins with the first step, but can we take another?
How shall we start? We can start by listening. “Call me Ishmael” is a wonderful gift from the unconscious. All we have to do now is to listen and not to mess it up. Another way is to start by telling the reader how hard it is to start, or to let the heroes tell the reader what is their motivation to tell the story. Just think of the beginning of the Divine Comedy.
“1 at midpoint of the journey of our life
2 I woke to find me astray in a dark wood,
3 for the straight way was lost.”
We have here a time, a place and a hero with a feeling that enables us to go in many directions a lot. Shulamith Hareven, the Israeli writer said that she likes the beginnings that change the world and the way of the world. In her article about beginnings she quotes the Polish Nobel Prize winner Henryk Sienkiewicz who begins his epic novel With Fire and Sword in the following manner:
“The year 1647 was that wonderful year in which manifold signs in the heavens and on the earth announced misfortunes of some kind and unusual events. Contemporary chroniclers relate that beginning with spring-time myriads of locusts swarmed from the Wilderness, destroying the grain and the grass; this was a forerunner of Tartar raids. In the summer there was a great eclipse of the sun, and soon after a comet appeared in the sky. In Warsaw a tomb was seen over the city, and a fiery cross in the clouds; fasts were held and alms given, for some men declared that a plague would come on the land and destroy the people.”
In one of her books Hareven tries to follow his footsteps. this is the beginning of her book Prophet in free translation:
“The right order of the world has come in to a grinding halt an hour after the sunrise. Instead of going to the pasture with the flocks of sheep and cattle, cramp against the narrow gate and pouring out like a slow sea upon the hills, the shepherds that stood far away began to turn around, pushing the herbs all over into the city. It was done quickly and brutally, with a lot of club shaking, like evening fell suddenly while the sun hadn’t finished coming out yet. “
But how shall we start our relationship?
Perhaps like on a blind date.
Hello, my name is Yoav Itamar. I’m 28 years old, I live in Tel-Aviv and I write, translate, act and I teach how to write.
This week we are going to deal with beginnings and what can we achieve from a successful writing.
The purpose of this blog is to think together about the different features of writing. I will share my thoughts with you and I hope we would be able to create wonders together.
You may contact me at yoitamar@gmail.com
Yours,
Yoav