The Accidental Writer: Drilling Down on the Opening
Many believe the opening line of a novel is of critical importance. Some agents refuse to read on if that first line fails to “wow” them. They scoff at anything not poetic or inspiring or literary.
I think the opening paragraph is the right measure, not the opening line. Yes, the first words you share with a reader are certainly important, but you generally need an opening paragraph to really pull it together. Don’t get me wrong. A novel can absolutely be worthwhile even if the opening paragraph under whelms, but that first paragraph is an author’s chance to shine, have fun, show the readers you’re in control and the adventure you’ve laid out is well worth their time. Take advantage of it.
Captivate readers with your opening. Leave them wanting, even needing more. They should wonder about a main character, or what happens next, or what in the world does the author mean by that? Have fun with the opening and your readers will know it. Other parts of the book might get bogged down at times in descriptions, settings, or plot twists, but the opening is that true opportunity for the author to create a little magic.
Here is the opening of my soon to be released psychological thriller Shatter Point:
“I’m a killer. No better than a common murderer, and worse, really. More like a serial killer who can’t help himself as he takes life after life, unable to stop even if he wished he could.”
Hopefully this opening sets the tone for the rest of the book and immediately sucks the reader in.
Here are some other great openings:
Call me Ishmael. – Herman Melville, Moby-Dick (1851)
A screaming comes across the sky. – Thomas Pynchon, Gravity’s Rainbow (1973)
Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. – Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita (1955)
Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. –Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina (1877)All this happened, more or less. – Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five (1969)
So many other great opening lines have been written, it’s very hard to make a list. Take your time and come up with one of your own, and most importantly, have fun with it.
You can follow my mostly incoherent tweets on @jeffaltabef. Shatter Point is being released on September 22nd, for a sneak peak check out the publisher’s website – http://www.evolvedpub.com/product/shatter-point/
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