This week: Pick Your 'Punch'line Edited by: THANKFUL SONALI Library Class!  
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What constitutes background information, and what is the nub of the story?
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Dear Reader,
Had I known the true value of the necklace, I would've looked after it better. My Mom, however, told me the story of how it came to be after it had already been stolen from my unlocked desk-drawer. Until I learned its history, it was only a cute trinket -- after it had gone, it became a family heirloom, never to be found again.
The necklace, it turns out, had once belonged to my great-grandfather. That's why it had the name 'Morarji' on it, in thin real-gold lettering. Morarji was my great-grandfather.
The necklace had been given to him by his future mother-in-law, at his naming ceremony when he was a few days old. That's why I'd taken it to be a mere trinket. It was made to fit a baby, and was small, light and flimsy -- but it was real gold.
Has the story sunk in yet? The object in my possession had been a christening-gift to my great-grandpa, from his future mother-in-law.
Those were the days of arranged marriages, and when two close friends found themselves in the family way at the same time, they decided that if one had a boy and the other a girl, the children would, at the appropriate age, marry each other. It thus came about that the future mother-in-law attended the christening, and the gift she gave the boy was passed on to me ... and had now been stolen.
So, I've heard that in films, it's the editor who gets to decide in what sequence each scenario is revealed. The actors and the director work on the various shots, and the editor pieces them together to spin the narrative. I guess it's the same for us writers.
We have something to tell, but how do we reveal it?
In the above anecdote, I told you it had been stolen in the beginning. So you read the whole thing, knowing of the theft. Your reading was tinged with sadness or regret. What if I'd kept that information for the last (punch) line, though? "I can't pass it on -- you see, I hadn't realised its value and it was stolen from my unlocked desk-drawer'. There would've then been a build up about this trinket, and then the shocker. It depends on the effect you're trying to achieve.
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Here's another one:
My Dad was all set for a trip to Sri Lanka with his photography group. He had packed carefully, practised using his camera and spare camera, and got a list from me of what I wanted him to bring back (not too much, I assure you!  )
He was at the airport with his friends, checking in. Then he called me -- I was at home. "Can you find my current passport? I've brought the old one by mistake,it isn't valid any more."
The airport is a good distance from my place. I hastily phoned some friends to keep them on standby to rush there by car, in case I found the current passport.
I didn't, and Dad had to cancel his trip.
So here, I sprang it on you about the incorrect passport after building it up about the trip. I could have hinted at this, too, with Dad moving various passports and insisting on keeping the earlier ones for sentimental reasons and so on. The main idea was to showcase the two 'punch' lines I had in mind.
So -- depending on the effect you want to create, choose what you want to reveal first, and what you want to keep for the last line.
Thanks for listening!
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Drama: June 17, 2020 Issue [#10200]
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