I started writing my first book when I was still at school. It wasn't historical fiction, it was high fantasy, and it was the first of ten books, under the collective title The Watcher's Heir . I knew from the word go that it was going to have this number of books, although I didn't really work out exactly what would happen in each one. Twenty-five years on and the books are still not finished, although I now only have a couple more to go! Every Christmas I settle down and manage to write a chapter or two more, and every New Year it is my resolution to finish them. I suspect this will go on for a few years more. In the passage of time since then, I've written more than a dozen books. I can't quite pinpoint what it is which keeps obstructing the conclusion of these books. It could be that I am not the same person I was 25 years ago (who is?!), and so the voice which began the books is almost unrecognisable. It could be that I have now passed the age almost all of my ...
Friday 1st November 2019 - Beginnings
No matter what anyone tells you, your beginning is
spectacularly important. No pressure or anything, but if a reader doesn’t gel
with your first line, your second must be amazing. The general rule of thumb is, the further a
reader is expected to go to find the story, the easier it will be to lose them.
Starting a book can seem a bit like a rocky, uphill
struggle - but it's worth it!
One of the most well-known beginnings:
In the beginning was the word
It’s difficult to rival that one!
But it’s a statement of truth (let’s leave fact out of it,
as most of use NaNoWriMo writers are in the business of fiction), and that’s
what most of my first lines are.
Petrovia Lodge was all that could
be expected of a country house for a family of a not inconsiderable income.
Day’s Dying Glory
Day’s Dying Glory
In a country at peace, men of war
are confined to their homes and families.
Beneath Black Clouds and White
Beneath Black Clouds and White
The springy heather underfoot was
the only thing which coaxed on the faltering footfalls of the tartan-clad man
as he stumbled forward.
Caledon
Caledon
‘The gule block is almost spent,’
a delicate voice announced from the curtained archway, the first sound of the
new year.
The Year We Lived
The Year We Lived
All of these set the mood and paint a picture in the reader’s
mind. They also serve to establish the
voice for the rest of the story to come.
The most important thing is to make sure your opening line is true to
the rest of the book, and that it doesn’t just fill a space on your blank
Scrivener page.
Remember, this is not
so much your hook as your bait, you want to make it irresistible to your target
audience.
And it’s not just your first line. Everything in your first chapter wants to lay
the groundwork for the adventure which is going to unfold, whether that is
focussing on one character so your reader gets to really appreciate and
emphasise with them, or introducing a whole host of them to create the image of
a busy confusion. Once you’ve got this
foundation laid, your story will begin telling itself, you’re just a tool for
the telling!
Here are a couple of things to think about in the opening
pages of your novel:
- Place is vital! You don’t have to be heavy-handed and detail every brick in the wall, but you do want your reader to connect instantly.
- Starting with speech grabs your reader but tell them who’s talking, or they begin your story with preconceived ideas.
- Don’t use any voice but your own, or the story will feel stilted.
Virginia Crow
www.crowvus.com
My favourite opening line has to be by Muriel Spark - "He looked as if he would murder me, and he did". If I could write anything that was half as witty and macabre, I would be happy!
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DeleteWow, that is an amazing beginning! Talk about opening with a punch!
I know! I "think" I'm getting the book of short stories this comes from for Christmas - so that's my Christmas ghost story sorted 😅
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