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Q&A How can I reconcile the exposition of the three act scheme vs. starting out with a bang?

A useful tip I read about (The Fire In Fiction, Donald Maass) is to use what he calls microtension to hook the reader. This is where tension is created by conflicted feelings within the characters....

posted 12y ago by Lexi‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Answer
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T02:30:51Z (about 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/6333
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by user avatar Lexi‭ · 2019-12-08T02:30:51Z (about 5 years ago)
A useful tip I read about (The Fire In Fiction, Donald Maass) is to use what he calls microtension to hook the reader. This is where tension is created by conflicted feelings within the characters. That is, what are they doing or saying that makes them feel upset, or uncomfortable? What are the feelings warring inside them, and why are they incompatible?

I like using this for my starts, as I tend to write more character-driven pieces. It still has the tension to hook the reader, but it works quite well with exposition as well.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2012-09-13T00:55:49Z (over 12 years ago)
Original score: 2