Tuesday 17 June 2014

Opening lines in fiction

The cardinal rule of opening lines is that they should possess most of the individual elements that make up the story as a whole. An opening line should have a distinctive voice, a point of view, a rudimentary plot and some hint of characterisation. By the end of the first paragraph, we should also know the setting and conflict, unless there is a particular reason to withhold this information.

Resist the urge to start too early: You might be tempted to begin your narrative before the action actually starts, such as when a character wakes up to what will eventually be a challenging or dramatic day. Far better to begin when something is happening.

The question You could start with something that begs a question. Why is this happening etc? This will keep the reader reading



John Dean

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