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THREAD ALERT: FF is opening to subs again in March, so I thought it might be useful to talk a bit about story openings that hook me. 1/
You might say "openings aren't everything" and you're right, but the reality is that there will always be stories that are compelling from the first sentence to the last, and those are the ones I'll always go with. 2/
So, with that in mind, let's look back at the openings of some previous FF stories. (Note: The ones I'm choosing to feature here are all stories selected from the slush where I hadn't read any of the author's previous work.) 3/
The way @jaqwrites opened Endling in http://www.fusionfragment.com/issue-2/ is a textbook example of something that'll hook me. 4/
Sentence 1: It's compelling for me because it's got this sort of magical quality to it (and on second readings, it has a wonderful link to the story as a whole).
Sentence 2: Wait, ZIPTIED? Now I want to know what's going on. 5/
Sentence 2: Wait, ZIPTIED? Now I want to know what's going on. 5/
And then in the second half of sentence two, you've got this playful simile. It's a fascinating paragraph; these two soft, gentle passages bookending some dude getting his wrists ziptied. And lemme tell you, that juxtaposition WORKS. 6/
In just two sentences, Jaq was able to show me strong writing in two of the things I look for, which I'll call "artiness" (ie. atmospherics and turns of phrase) and "page-turnerism" (ie. making want to know what's going on). 7/
Next, let's check out the opening to "You, Tearing Me Apart Onstage" by @MatthewBHare in https://www.fusionfragment.com/issue-4/ . (And btw, don't undersell the impact of having an interesting title like this one, because it definitely played a part.) 8/
Look, the number of subs I get where the opening line is something like [Job Title] [First Name] [Last Name] [completed action / felt feeling] is, well, a lot. Those openings aren't that exciting to read, but more than that, they don't give me a sense of voice. 9/
That first sentence of Matthew's, "My lungs are mouth are good product, but they don't sell me." is huge. It tells me a bit about the subject matter, a bit about the theme, and a whole hell of a lot about how the MC sees themselves. 10/
In that second paragraph, with the (limpid, apparently), you can almost hear the MCs self-deprecation. And not only that, but by now I've got questions: What's QUBLA? How does it interact with meatspace? 11/
By making me ask those questions, Matthew's successfully checked the "page-turnerism" box and they've also injected enough voice into those first couple paragraphs that I've become emotionally invested in the main character. 12/
Check out the opening to "Balloon Season" by @ThomasHaWrites in https://www.fusionfragment.com/issue-3/ . 13/
I can't understate the impact of being able to surprise me. When you're reading hundreds of stories in the space of a month or two, that can become difficult to do. But Thomas's first sentence does it. No one describes a summer afternoon as urgent. 14/
Basically what we're reading here is a checklist, a list of mundane tasks that feels so weird when juxtaposed against this image of a summer afternoon. It gives the sense of something being very, very wrong and really ratchets up the tension. 15/
Thomas drops a few hints into these opening paragraphs: that this isn't just a crazy MC--the whole neighbourhood is doing the same thing; that he's a family man (which turns out to be core to the story); and he's infused the whole thing with the sense of a countdown. 16/
That's it for now. Can't wait to read everyone's first pages (and more!) in March!
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