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Thinking about beginnings! As I read a lot of indie books, the first lines of a book can make or break the deal with me. An enticing description and great reviews only go so far: the first lines have to sing.
So here are my hot tips for crafting openings. #writetip
So here are my hot tips for crafting openings. #writetip
1. DON’T have an impersonal beginning. Don’t talk about the weather or the landscape. DO introduce us immediately to an arresting individual character.
2. DON’T start with a cliché. Two that come to mind: introducing the character in the middle of a sparring session, or a chase. DO start with a truly unusual and arresting situation or observation.
3. DON’T start with a wall of text - if you present big dense paragraphs, it doesn't usually look good. DO get quickly to dialogue, action, and so on.
Some ways I've started books:
- A line of dialogue from the middle of an ongoing argument.
- A quirky or ominous philosophical statement.
- An arresting and evocative visual image.
- A line of dialogue from the middle of an ongoing argument.
- A quirky or ominous philosophical statement.
- An arresting and evocative visual image.
EG:
- a boy day-dreaming out loud about wanting to better his life.
- a young man reminding himself that now is a bad time to start believing in miracles.
- a woman suddenly beginning to dance.
- a boy day-dreaming out loud about wanting to better his life.
- a young man reminding himself that now is a bad time to start believing in miracles.
- a woman suddenly beginning to dance.
One thing all these things have in common is that they take place in a moment of flux – which then introduces an element of mystery. What's wrong with the boy's life? Why is it a bad time to believe in miracles? Why the dance?
Similarly, all my least favourite openings are either static and bogged down with inertia; or, because cliched, they lack a sense of mystery.
So those are my two secret ingredients for hooking a reader from the first line: flux and mystery.
So those are my two secret ingredients for hooking a reader from the first line: flux and mystery.
