I’ve been posting a lot about
how to start a story. It was my plan to post something else like FAQs in Composition-Writing, but I was
reading Walter Woon’s The Advocate’s
Devil trilogy when I came across something that I’ve just got to share with
you.
Firstly, who is Walter Woon?
One of the most famous things about him is that at one time, he was our
Attorney-General. Other achievements he has notched up include graduating from
NUS Law with first-class honours, completing a Masters in Law in Cambridge, being
an ex-NMP, being Singapore’s ambassador to Germany and Belgium at one time. If you’re
interested, you can read up about him in Wikipedia.
I had originally picked up the
book thinking that it would be a collection of the cases he has handled. Other
lawyers and professionals have done this before: SubhasAnandan, Chao Tzee Cheng, to name a
couple.
I was mistaken. The Advocate’s Devil was a book of
fiction. It centres around a Peranakan lawyer, Dennis Chiang, who had just
returned to Singapore after finishing his law degree in Cambridge. But this is
not a book review. Instead it is a post to share how one of the foremost
lawyers of our time also uses the 9 techniques
that I posted recently to begin his stories. Being in such distinguished
company makes one more confident about one’s methods. I also thought it would
be useful for you to see firsthand how someone who is accomplished in the
English language uses the techniques.
There are 8 chapters in the
book, and out of these 8 chapters, Walter Woon used the techniques we discussed
to begin 6 of his stories.
The 8 chapters are:
1. The Body in Question
Technique used: Flashback
Madeline.
There’s no mistake about it. That’s her name in the papers all right. And that
photo. Still as beautiful as I remember her. What has it been now? More than
sixty years since the last time we met? Half a century? I can recall the day
clearly. It was the day she lost her husband.
Quite amusing actually, to see
a top lawyer using the cliches we ask our pupils to avoid. But he did redeem
himself with the last sentence in the paragraph, an effective hook.
2. The Widows’ Tale
Technique used:
Proverb/Idiom/Famous saying (famous saying, in this case)
There
is a Chinese saying that wealth only lasts three generations. It has been my misfortune
to be four generations removed from the fount of wealth. My father’s
grandfather came to the Straits Settlements shortly after Raffles had conned
the Sultan of Johor into ceding Singapore to the British. Great-grandfather did
a little of this and a little of that, but his big break came when he was
appointed gambier and opium farmer — he didn’t grow the stuff, just imported it
and collected the taxes for the British. Anyway, a couple of years as the
honourable East India Company’s tax collector provided him with the capital to
buy a small coastal vessel, and the rest, as they say, is history.
3. A Prince Among Men
Technique used: Climax/Create
suspense (create suspense here)
In
my time I’ve tried murder and I’ve tried rape. But the most trying of trials
I’ve always found to be are family trials. I never look forward to them when I
was on the bench. There’s almost always something intractably bitter about a
family quarrel that ends up in court. The ones I hate the most are those
involving custody of children. The Solomonic practice of cutting babies in half
is impractical (apart from being unspeakably messy), so the judge must make a
decision and hope to God that he has done the right thing. Give me a hardened
murderer any day; it’s less strain on the nerves. My initiation into the
intricacies of the family court came very early in my career. I’ll never forget
her.
Walter Woon is trying to
create suspense here with his first line. By talking about the brutal crimes of
murder and rape, and saying that family trials are even worse than these, he is
trying to intrigue the reader: What is so bad about family trials that he would
prefer murder and rape to them?
Also notice the hook he
inserts in the last sentence: I’ll never
forget her. A provocative statement that is intended to trigger the
reader’s curiosity: Who is she? Why did she leave such a deep impression on
Dennis Chiang?
4. Evelyn
Technique used:
Characterisation
I
discovered early in life that one of the secrets of a good practice is to look
the part. You don’t have to be brilliant to be successful. Clients generally
can’t tell a good lawyer from a bad lawyer; a grave expression and grey hair
are always an asset. It doesn’t matter if when you open your mouth you put your
foot in it, as long as it is done with decorum and dignity. You can always
blame the Judge later. We had a perfect example right in the firm.
His characterisation is a
little different from what we usually do in our compositions, the difference
being that he has the luxury to of time and words to take the time to develop
his story. So over here, he is actually describing an inept partner in the law
firm that Dennis Chiang worked for, but he didn’t give the name of the partner
until in the second paragraph. In this paragraph, he is just describing to us
how a lousy lawyer like this partner could be successful despite his lack of
ability.
5. The Advocate’s Devil
Technique used:
Speech/Dialogue
“I
need you to devil for me.”
The
request came like a bolt out of the blue. I was quietly rummaging through the
library, looking for something to read that would not instantly send me into a
state of terminal boredom, when Mr d’Almeida materialised at my side.
A great way of using speech.
Also great hook. Most people would be intrigued by the very first sentence in
this chapter. But actually to be an advocate’s devil simply means to act as an
assistant to the advocate.
6. Nurse’s Orders
The introduction here is a
continuation of what happened in Chapter 5 (at the end of Chapter 5, Dennis
Chiang fainted after being hit by a poisoned dart; the beginning of Chapter 6
describes him regaining his consciousness), so the techniques are not used.
7. The Red Cell
Technique used: Building
suspense
There
comes a time in every lawyer’s life when he is called upon to win his spurs on
the field of battle. Mine came not long after I was called to the Bar…
Like Chapter 3, Walter Woon is
trying to create suspense in the reader by writing in this manner (it can
almost be called ‘mysterious’). Questions he is trying to get reader to read on
to answer: What case is Dennis Chiang going to handle? How will it turn out?
Will he win or lose?
8. Crossroads
Technique used: none
In this chapter, Walter Woon
also used a development in the previous chapter to continue his story.
So dear reader, now that you
know an eminent lawyer-ambassador-academic uses many of the same techniques as
you to start a story, you can rest assured that you are in good company. What
you need to do is to think of how to insert hooks into your introductions, to
surprise, intrigue and excite your reader.
PS: If you want to read a
review of The Advocate’s Devil, click
here.
