This month I am celebrating a milestone, which prompted me to think about life’s traditional milestones in the context of my writing.
It is useful to use a hook like a milestone (eg, a wedding, birthday, funeral, bat mitzvah) because it is through these meaningful events that you can reveal your protagonist’s character upfront through action rather than exposition. The protagonist’s family or peers all attend (or are noticeably absent). Your protagonist has opinions about the milestone event. They have opinions about those present, and those present have opinions about them. Milestones can also set the tone of your story and unveil the world in which your characters live.
In Gone Girl, for example, the novel begins on Nick and Amy’s 5thwedding anniversary, allowing us to learn about the state of their relationship and how they see themselves and each other. In Love in the Time of Cholera, the novel begins with Dr. Juvenal Urbino attending the death of his friend. This allows us to learn about the Doctor’s professional and personal reaction to the death of someone close, as well as his proximity to death. In Lord of the Rings, Chapter 1 uses several milestones to unveil the world of the story, the epic nature of the trilogy, as well as the character of the protagonists: Bilbo Baggins’ 111th birthday celebration to which the entire community and beyond is invited; Bilbo leaving Hobbiton forever; Frodo’s significant 33rd birthday.
While each of the authors have distinct narrative styles, their use of particular milestones as starting points set up the story to come. What milestone would best reveal your protagonist to the reader and set up the world of your story?