Opening your story

Openings grab the reader's attention, making them want to commit more time to the book. Often, it is said that busy editors with tons of manuscripts will throw away books because of a uninteresting first page, a boring first paragraph, and, even, a bland first sentence. Therefore, openings--and openings with a BANG!--are an important part to a story; because sadly, readers to judge books by their covers (and by covers I mean opening to a story).

Here are some helpful hints; but as always, these are recommendations. If these tips don't help, then don't use them. Writers constantly pick and choose techniques that they think will be useful, creating their own personal toolbox of tips.

• You want to drop your character right in the middle of the action (i.e. think the beginning of the Indiana Jones movies. Even though the action is not relevant to the rest of the story, Indy is dropped right in the middle of action).

• Provide the necessary background to bring your audience up to speed (nothing more though).

• Establish the major dramatic question (it doesn't have to be revealed entirely, though).

• Identify the narrator, or the narrative point-of-view early on.

• Don't paint elaborate state sets, don't have lengthy preambles, don't have overtures (and you get the point).

• Establish a distinctive voice (what is distinctive about that voice?). Make it recognizable.

• Don't be afraid to start right in the action (i.e. "The second blow crushed my nose into a bloody mess."). This beginning gets the reader right into interesting action, asking questions about (a) who is he fighting? (b) what happened in the first blow? etc. etc.

• If the setting has an important role--if it is critical--take that time to describe that picture (AGAIN: Only. If. Its. Critical.).

• Let the audience know something will happen (i.e. "The night before the volcano erupted...")

• A lot of writing is intuitive, write what you feel is an attention grabbing opening.