Beginnings
Reading a book or story for the first time is like a blind date. We hope to be swept off our feet. But we know within seconds of meeting a person whether we like them. And so it is with stories.
Your beginning carries a lot of weight. It establishes the reader’s expectations for the journey: what world she’s in (the Upper West Side, a Gdansk shipyard, a Mayan ruin), whom she is with, how fast she’ll be moving, and how she’s going to feel about the trip. Whether your prose is elegant and serene or rocking and rolling, your beginning must take the reader by the hand and insist she come for the ride.
Establish viewpoint
Who are we? Where are we? Good writing sets these anchor points decisively. Give your reader quick access to a protagonist. Consider the difference between these three examples:
“Supersize me.”
“Oh, yeesh, Billy, like I don’t get enough of that at work.”
“It was a joke.”
“Supersize me,” I said.
“Oh, yeesh, Billy, like I don’t get enough of that at work,” Lorna said.
“It was a joke,” I said, but she’d already taken her hand off my leg.
“Supersize me,” Billy said.
“Oh, yeesh, Billy, like I don’t get enough of that at work,” Lorna said.
“It was a joke,” he said, so she took her hand off his leg and thought okay, who’s laughing now?
The first example leaves us hanging. The second is clearly Billy’s story, and the third is Lorna’s.
Start just at or just before a significant moment
Whether your opening is a springboard or a gentle step, what’s happening needs to be important.
Stories are about characters who experience conflict and have to deal with the consequences of choice and change. Their “old world” — their life, happiness, security, self-image — changes. Those changes come from significant events and the character’s response to them.
You can bring us into the story at the first moment of change: Harry thought the girl coming into the bank was so pretty that he was about to offer her his place in line, until her mouth twisted and she pulled the gun out of her coat pocket. Then everything got ugly.
Or you can start by establishing the “old world” just before it changes. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings starts with a party; Jodi Picoult’s Nineteen Minutes begins with a specific list of everyday things that can happen in nineteen minutes. Both give us a clear sense of the “old world” right before the rug is pulled out.
Take a look at the books you admire; a good opening always makes you feel like you’re already going somewhere.
Posted by: Kelley
Thanks. Your posting came just as I finished a draft of a story. I reopened the file, stared at the opening paragraph, and reworked it. Wonderful timing.
Great! I’m glad it was helpful. And timing is everything (grin).
I always write the opening lines last for some reason.
The examples were quite useful. Being able to see several variations of a lesson makes it easier to draw comparisons.
I’m the opposite — I have to get the opening paragraphs right before I can move ahead, even when I’ve got scenes burning to be written. It’s one of the things that fascinates me about writing, how many different ways there are to do it.
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The greatest opening ever…
“So gorgeous was the spectacle on the May morning of 1910 when nine kings rode in the funeral of Edward VII of England that the crowd, waiting in hushed and black-clad awe, could not keep back gasps of admiration. In scarlet and blue and green and purple, three by three the sovereigns rode through the palace gates, with plumed helmets, gold braid, crimson sashes, and jewelled orders flashing in the sun. After them came five heirs apparent, forty more imperial or royal highnesses, seven queens – four dowagers and three regnant – and a scattering of special ambassadors from uncrowned countries. Together they represented seventy nations in the greatest assemblage of royalty and rank ever gathered in one place and, of its kind, the last. The muffled tongue of Big Ben tolled nine by the clock as the cortege left the palace, but on history’s clock it was sunset and the sun of the old world was setting in a dying blaze of splendour never to be seen again.”
If that is not fine writing, then I don’t know what is…
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Quote
“Don’t try to figure out what other people want to hear from you; figure out what you have to say. It’s the one and only thing you have to offer. –Barbara Kingsolver ”
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