Posted 4/5/97

What follows is a review of the first page of the novel The Exorcist (that follows the prologue) to continue an exploration of the principles that underlie the creation of a well-told novel.

First sentence, first paragraph, page two, (page 11 in the paperback edition),

	Like the brief doomed flare of exploding suns that registers dimly on blind men's eyes, the beginning of the horror 
	passed almost unnoticed; in the shriek of what followed, in fact, was forgotten and perhaps not connected 
	to the horror of it all.
	

Breaking down this sentence into its components, "Like the brief doomed flare of exploding suns that registers dimly on blind men's eyes..."

The Bible has a number of references to the blind seeing again, or those who appear to see not really seeing at all. This clause suggests that what's going to happen in this novel will be on a scale of something that shapes our world, but most will be unaware of it. The author is setting both his plot into motion and his story with this first sentence. His plot because this line suggests there's been an explosion, but most are unaware of it, but it will have consequences none-the-less. The dramatic purpose of this sentence for the story is that whoever deals with this explosion won't have the support of the masses, who will be only dimly aware of what's at stake.

In a subtle way this sets up that the audience of this story will be in the "know" of these events. People like that feeling.

Continuing,

	     ...the beginning of the horror passed almost unnoticed.
	

We were cued in the prologue that the "horror" of evil was approaching. This clause signifies that it has arrived but almost unnoticed...except to those who must deal with it.

Lastly, it's clear that the "horror" mentioned WON'T pass unnoticed. If it did, there would be no story. Many inexperienced authors spend so much time hiding what's their story's about to create later revelations, the opening scenes of their novels lacks a story line. Here, we're again told that a battle between good and evil has begun, not will begin, has begun.

Next clause,

  ...in the shriek of what followed, in fact, was forgotten (the horror) and perhaps not connected to the horror at all.
	

First, note this information continues to draw in the story's audience. Any readers who want to know what this "horror" is, will have to keep reading. Readers who want to find out what "the shriek of what followed" referrs to, have to keep reading. If they want to find out what was "perhaps not connected to the horror at all," they have to keep reading.

Continuing, we know from the prologue that an evil is approaching. From this first sentence, we know that it has arrived. Movement of story. Every element of a story must serve some purpose of advancing the story along its story line. Anything that does not is inert, i.e., dramatically unmoving. People come to a story with an expectation to be moved on some level. Stories that fail to move an audience are often set aside. Explanations designed to describe characters and give them a history or to set events into motion along a plot line are irrelevant if they are disconnected from the storyteller's underlying purpose of creating an engaging quality of dramatic movement along a story line.

Moving on, second sentence, last line of first paragraph, page one,

	It was difficult to judge.
	

Another question raised, what was difficult to judge? We have to keep reading to find out. Will we, the audience, agree that it was difficult to judge, or not? Again note the subtle way the audience is drawn into the story to feel its drama.

The first two sentences of this novel beautifully continue its advance. They create a vivid impression of an advancing horror that has manifested into the world for an epic battle between good and evil. The experienced storyteller understands they must find a way that concretely and visibly sets their story's core dramatic purpose into motion from the opening lines of their story. Struggling storytellers have a purpose that is inverted. They set out to create characters and plots and withhold the dramatic purpose of their stories until page 41 or beyond. It means they've taken forty pages to get to the first sentence of their story. Blatty begins his story with the first sentence he writes.

Could a writer use a first sentence to introduce a character or plot event and still set a story into motion? Yes, but that has to be the INTENT. Most inexperienced, struggling writers don't have the same INTENT as successful storytellers.

The Exorcist, Paragraph Two

The first sentence of the second paragraph, and two additional words,

	The house was a rental. Brooding. Tight.
	

Many inexperienced writers struggle because they set out to make and prove statements. For example, one could go down any number of paths to prove that the house is "brooding," to show what about it suggests that it is "tight." None of those statements would advance the story itself. Again, Blatty only uses those words that via their arrangement and design advance his story, and he has a guide to chose those words from understanding his story's dramatic purpose.

Next sentence,

	A brick colonial gripped by ivy in the Georgetown section of Washington, D.C.
	

	Across the street was a fringe of campus belonging to Georgetown University; 
	to the rear, a sheer embankment plummeting steep to busy M Street and, beyond,
	the muddy Potomac.
	

Understanding a story's dramatic purpose has a cascade effect. Understanding what's at the heart of a story allows the story's author to perceive its movement. From a story's movement, the novelist can perceive the shape of a story's plot. Understanding a story also suggests the kind of characters who would act out the story, those who feel the pull of shaping the course and outcome of the story. Understanding a story and its movement, one can perceive what sets a story into motion along its story line and plot line, which suggests an opening for the story. From there one can see into the dramatic purpose of a scene. From there, into the dramatic purpose of each word used to describe a scene.

Failing the beginning of that process -- understanding one's story -- sets off a whole other kind of cascade of events. A faulty understanding of a story's movements is the basis for a weak plot and weak characters. The creation of a plot line, but no story line. The creation of scenes that have no clear dramatic purpose. Worse, scenes created with words that have no meaningful context to the story, so they fail to create a "moving" experience of the story.

One can, of course, write toward an understanding of one's story. But struggling writers generally only write to rearrange the elements of their stories to try and overcome why their novels lack narrative tension and fail to sustain the interest of their readers, who find what they are reading "unmoving." Since these writers often keep making the same mistakes, they keep ending up with the same result: an unpublishable novel.

This concludes my review of page one of The Exorcist, and my opinion on what Blatty was setting out to accomplish via his writing.

©2000 Bill Johnson

Continue to The Exorcist -- Page Three Review