Opening Paragraphs.

I use the first paragraph mainly to establish the tone and voice of the book. It doesn't need to start with a bang unless it's a bang sort of book, but it should give the reader an idea of what he's getting into.

Here are the first paragraphs of the two things I'm working on right now. Veeery different voices.

Akiva, who has been aware for quite a while that he is the oldest boy in his Hebrew school class, realizes one Saturday that he also has the longest fingers. Not slightly,for his age, but significantly longer. Of all the boys doodling in their prayer books, Akiva’s hands look by far the most graceful and inappropriate. He slips his mouth down to his pencil and chews on his nails.

Click to expand...

That last week between when we come back from winter break and when the quarter ends is like an alternate reality. Everyone darts around looking uncomfortable and unnecessary, and they’re almost as brown as I am with their Bahamian or Cayman or Dominican tans. They’re still on vacation. They’re not here. I wish I had gone on vacation. I stayed home and cuddled an ice cream carton.

Click to expand...

Hm....I always try to do something catchy. Tone and voice, like Shady said, but something that hooks.

My opener for AMN is one sentence:

"Hangovers are a bitch."

The Duff has a simialr one line opening, followed by a paragraph.
But that's just my style.

I just start writing the story. As I progress I get lots of ideas. The start can change dramatically over time. With my first book I had a prologue at first. I entered it in for a comp and received really strong recommendations to get rid of the prologue. Then I revamped the whole story to make it more action packed and the start had to go.

So I wouldn't worry about it. It will sort itself out.

Mumut said:

I just start writing the story. As I progress I get lots of ideas. The start can change dramatically over time. With my first book I had a prologue at first. I entered it in for a comp and received really strong recommendations to get rid of the prologue. Then I revamped the whole story to make it more action packed and the start had to go.

So I wouldn't worry about it. It will sort itself out.

Click to expand...

I agree with this. Don't overthink it, you'll probably be changing it later. Just start writing; by the time you get to the end, you'll know the beginning.

Having said that, I recently had my first book all edited and ready to go when I realized I didn't like the first sentence anymore. Which was weird, because it was a great first sentence and loved by my non-family/friend test readers. I think I'd just seen the sentence too many times. I was sick of it. Also, it felt too dry for how emotional the book had become. The voice wasn't right.

So, I needed a new first paragraph. It was insanely difficult for me to come up with what was missing. I ended up starting the book in a dream in order to capture the emotional, brooding nature of the rest of the book. This meant altering a half-dozen portions of the ms, adding elements of the dream in here and there, but it resulted in a better read. It created an entire theme, another layer, that I never planned on.

It was a pain, but it was worth it.

For the one I'm working on now - "I have to pee."

2nd in process - Emily looked around at the bodies littering the floor and sobbed through the tears streaming down her face.

For the one in edits right now its - My foot slipped and I teetered precariously on the narrow ledge twenty stories above the city.

And the one on sub - The beak nosed teacher peered at me over the top of his glasses then squinted at the pink slip of paper I had handed to him.

My opening lines have driven me crazy, I'm ignoring them for a bit now but this is the current version.

The mountain looked like an impossible force had torn it apart, ripping an entrance in the age-old stone. And we were driving straight for it. Finally, after hours of watching the bland English countryside roll by, I was roused from my melancholy.

I guess I hope it sets the scene and tone and gives a little insight into how the MC is feeling, but I've read them so many times I just can't tell any more.

Opening lines are pretty tough. For me, I like to have a hook, one that's simple but kinda showcases what kinda character I have.

If you're writing in first-person, you want to have a first sentence or paragraph that is strictly your MC. Get to know he/she and it won't be hard to write what follows.

Though, if you're writing third-person. Well, there's a lot of ways you can start it off. Maybe you want to start off with dialogue or maybe a paragraph or a one-liner. Get to know the plot, the setting, and it should all come to you.

Here's two openers for WIPs I'm working on:

In her dream-there were no walls or floors, she was just falling, drowning in a never ending dark abyss.

Click to expand...

Impulse. That was going to be my excuse for waking up at 6 a.m, throwing on some sweats, and stealing my brother's car.

Click to expand...

Hope I was of some help.

The opening line/paragraph/whatever should:

a. be just enough to hook the reader
b. summarize the situation the MC is in, the MC will be in, or just summarize the overall voice of the MC
c. be not too info-dumpy or wordy.

Let's review:

It's something that draws the reader's attention, answers the question of "What makes this book special?", be unwordy (shouldn't be the bio of the MC right then and there), and should effectively have them read on, to the second paragraph, to the second page, to the second chapter, through the whole book, to the B&N cash register/agent contract/publishing contract. (no pressure! )

See my blog post on the subject here.

My opening paragraph (pre-revisions) is:

I stood on my toes and craned my neck, trying to see over the heads of the people in front of us. We were six rows back, not family and not important enough to warrant a closer position. Jason’s parents had money—lots of money—and it seemed like anyone in town with an ounce of clout had turned up for his mother’s funeral.

Click to expand...

There was a thread a few days ago asking for the best opening people had ever read. You might find it worth a look http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=147400.

First paragraphs establish your voice, your tone, your POV.

Sometimes, all it takes is a sentence:

The second time I died, I was fifteen.

Click to expand...

Five months ago the sky went purple.

Click to expand...

Don't be devastated if the the first one isn't gold, though. Just make sure you get a hook in somewhere in the first chapter, preferably on the first page.

Ninety-four thousand, two hundred and seventy-six dollars fell out of the sky Thursday morning, and Nelson Howe gathered as much of it as his hands could shove into his clothes.

Click to expand...

She tottered on the building's ledge looking down at the street twenty stories below. Her bare toes hung over the edge, making her body sway back and forth, the breeze exaggerated by her heightened emotional state. Silver hair whipped everywhere at once, shrouding her body like prey in a spiderweb. For the fourth time that day, Winter stepped forward and let gravity take her.

Click to expand...

Fa says if I can catch the mutt I can keep it. It's just an excuse to keep me busy so don't have time to think about everything we're leaving behind, he thinks I can't do it. But I will. I made up my mind, when I get on the train my new pet is going with me.

Click to expand...

Mumut said:

I just start writing the story. As I progress I get lots of ideas. The start can change dramatically over time.
So I wouldn't worry about it. It will sort itself out.

Click to expand...

I totally agree with these ideas from Mumut.

The start of a story is way too early to think about, much less worry about, how you will begin to write the story -- the first paragraph. I find that once I've happy with the the guts of the story the beginning becomes apparent.

I usually open my novels with a shocker. But I don't worry about the hook until I'm done with the rough draft.

Today, I had to re-write the hook of my novel (that I've re-written three times, now fourth), so that way it didn't jump right into dialogue, but allowed a teensy bit of room before dialogue began, so that way I could establish tone with the readers.