The Devil Wears Prada
The Devil Wears Prada, by Lauren Weisberger, is a great example of "expansion" in revealing your world to your reader. In fact, this book's introduction was how I first became interested in the topic of reveal your world to your audience. I was at a workshop given by Pikes Peak Writers and the person leading the workshop used this introduction to illustrate how starting close to your character and expanding the world outward was a good way to draw your audience into your story. Ever since then, I have been more aware of story openings and how authors reveal their worlds, studying them and breaking them down to see what commonalities I could find.
The result of that research and study is my new workshop, "Let There Be Light: Revealing your World to Your Audience." Just like with my "Brains, Brawn & Bravado" workshops, one small spark has grown into a flaming inferno of information.
The Devil Wears Prada opens inside at a busy New York City intersection. We see immediately that the driver is unfamiliar with this particular car and is having trouble driving it, so much so that she breaks the heel off a seven-hundred-dollar pair of shoes trying to brake in order to avoid rear-ending a cab.
After this, we learn that the driver is very nervous, and that nervousness is only worsened by the shouts from people outside shouting at her about her inexperienced driving. Another clue is revealed when she to wipe her sweaty hand on her Gucci suede pants in order to dry it.
She is so nervous at this point that she must light a cigarette to calm down, but that only adds to the disaster. Then, the driver gets a call on her cell phone. Through this call, we learn that her name ins Andrea, she works for someone named Miranda Priestly, and the car actually belongs to Miranda.
Andrea is evidently Miranda's go-fer and Miranda is, let's just say, less than compassionate. As the first chapter progresses, we discover more about the relationship, and about Andrea, each new piece of information building off the previous, expanding outward from that first scene at the intersection.
In addition to expansion, Weisberger uses the concept of "show; don't tell" to reveal these details to us. The combination of "expansion" and "show; don't tell" works to draw the reader into the story, immediately allowing the reader to empathize with the main character.
Expansion lets the reader immediately become part of the story. Rather than watching the story unfold in front of them, they can experience the story unfolding around them, grabbing and holding their attention from the first sentence and preparing them to turn the next page.
The result of that research and study is my new workshop, "Let There Be Light: Revealing your World to Your Audience." Just like with my "Brains, Brawn & Bravado" workshops, one small spark has grown into a flaming inferno of information.
The Devil Wears Prada opens inside at a busy New York City intersection. We see immediately that the driver is unfamiliar with this particular car and is having trouble driving it, so much so that she breaks the heel off a seven-hundred-dollar pair of shoes trying to brake in order to avoid rear-ending a cab.
After this, we learn that the driver is very nervous, and that nervousness is only worsened by the shouts from people outside shouting at her about her inexperienced driving. Another clue is revealed when she to wipe her sweaty hand on her Gucci suede pants in order to dry it.
She is so nervous at this point that she must light a cigarette to calm down, but that only adds to the disaster. Then, the driver gets a call on her cell phone. Through this call, we learn that her name ins Andrea, she works for someone named Miranda Priestly, and the car actually belongs to Miranda.
Andrea is evidently Miranda's go-fer and Miranda is, let's just say, less than compassionate. As the first chapter progresses, we discover more about the relationship, and about Andrea, each new piece of information building off the previous, expanding outward from that first scene at the intersection.
In addition to expansion, Weisberger uses the concept of "show; don't tell" to reveal these details to us. The combination of "expansion" and "show; don't tell" works to draw the reader into the story, immediately allowing the reader to empathize with the main character.
Expansion lets the reader immediately become part of the story. Rather than watching the story unfold in front of them, they can experience the story unfolding around them, grabbing and holding their attention from the first sentence and preparing them to turn the next page.
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