How I Begin

When I began to write my narrative essay I knew that I needed to make my reader curious as soon as possible, because when the time came that they realized what they were reading about I didn't want them to bail. I, personally, have never been a fan of sports, stories, and bailing out is something I could see even myself doing. However, if I could build up enough report with the reader from the time that they began to read to the time that they figure out it's about football, maybe they'd stick around. I thought that the best way to do that was to bring the reader deep into the scene. To get them invested. I'd grab them from wherever they were and bring em' in real close. 

I knew that, in general, my narrative is centered around football, and that's probably my least favorite thing about the story. You know in middle/ high school, in English class, when you were given the choice of your topic for a paper, and you'd have to pass your papers around and read/ edit your classmates, or even better, listen to each one read there's aloud to the class? There would always be that one kid (or a couple) who you already knew what their topic would be before hearing it, and it was sports. Their papers weren't only predictable and cliche, they were also boring. Boring and slow. Like the writer. Having that be my previous experience with sports stories I knew that it was entirely possible that others held a similar position on the matter. So I thought it was best to first, prove that the story could be interesting, then second, not let my reader down. This was the first time I have ever written a story about sports in my life. Scouts honor. The reason that I chose the topic was for ease's sake. We were assigned to write a sketch for our salon groups that didn't have to be very long, and it didn't have to be perfect. I'll admit, I didn't spend too much time deciding on what to write about, I had considered writing about that experience for awhile now, because it was funny, not too many people knew about it, and I wanted to see if the reaction I'd get would be as good as I thought it would be (sometimes things are just funny in your head). Also, I knew the amount that I had to say about the incident wouldn't take very long, was straight forward, and I could push it out within the hour. Also, also, I knew that there was a lot to football that people couldn't discern on their own unless they'd actually done it, so I wanted to give them a taste of that. 

I felt pretty good about the piece for how much time I spent on it, and I even felt good after I read it to my salon group. The praise I received was encouraging, but something else I didn't anticipate happened, I was asked the "so what?" question. Truthfully, I didn't have that question in mind at all when writing it. I was unaware that there had to be a "so what" component fulfilled. I had written something that was funny and that was as far as I had gotten. After class I thought a lot about it, and I took that question as a challenge to make something, even just a funny story, matter, and even more challenging, make football matter. Not just in the stupid team-building, rags to riches, thug to role model, anything is possible way, but from a new, fresh perspective. I wanted to try and give a horse that's been beaten into pulp a pulse again. Just call me Frankenstein. 

Anyway, the way to do that was to first fool the reader. I wanted to disorient them, then reorient them in my own world. From there I continued on in a straight line, action by action, but while keeping them fixed in my own thoughts. I wanted to make sure they knew this story wasn't just about football, it was about a person. People are interesting. Football is not as interesting. I wanted my writing to reflect that idea that people see things differently, and that even the most basic things, like sports, could be mysterious.

I could think of several other ways to begin than the way that I did, it would just alter the overall style of the narrative. I wanted the style to be fast paced and immediate. Beginning in the other ways that I have in mind might possibly craft another type of narrative, though it's hard to say, that usually just happens as you write. Now that I think about it, it seems possible to keep the same style that I had in mind, but the effect would still be different. Within the boundaries of the length guidelines that we were given I think the way that I chose to start suits my desired effect best. 

Overall the process has been very exciting, I'm really enjoying the guidance that i'm getting! It's about time that I took a class that aids in my future career goals. The first two years of college are just High School: part 2. 

-Sean