Best Openings

[Ladyhawke_18]

Tell me:

A. What are some of the best openings to YA novels you enjoyed? Maybe give me your top 3. What method was utilized (Did it open with a flash back, dialogue, a witty idea, or right in the midst of action?

B. In your writing, how have you opened your pieces, and was it successful/ effective?


I've got a novella (I haven't decided yet if it is Middle Grade or YA). Not only do I want to make it longer, I'm determined to discover the perfect opening for it.

Right now it begins with straight dialogue, but I'm thinking a witty blurb about possibilities or something...

I'm interested to review things that work for other writers.

***

To answer my own questions:

A.

Twilight comes to mind. It opens with the MC saying she never gave much thought to how she would die. That's a bit of a hook. It's a first person novel, though. ACTUALLY...it has been a while since I read it. Doesn't it start with a prologue? A preview of the climax. Is that cheating? Getting the reader riled up by giving them a glimpse of what is to come much later?

B.

My best short stories (the one readers seem to like the most) open right in the midst of action.


~Sasha

[BriMaresh]

I disagree about the start of Twilight--I have no reason to care about Bella, or why she should or shouldn't die, at that point. The back of the book was more gripping, to me, than the opening sentences. However, the back does a good job, and by the time I'm a few pages in, I've forgotten that the opening was a bit lame and silly.

As for ones that I think nail it?

"In a hole in the ground, there lived a hobbit." Three guesses as to which book THAT is. Another: "Necromantic golem." Amelia Atwater Rhodes's Token of Darkness. It starts right away with a difficult situation, and pulls you in. Both, I remember despite not having the books on hand. A good sign, I think.

In my own work, I've found that people like it best with an anchor point. They need some vague notion of where they are, who they're with, what time it might be. The Hobbit does it exceedingly well. You may not know what a hobbit is, but you know that what ever it is, it is in the ground, in a hole, living. It gives you a fixed point, before throwing you into the fray. Whether it's the fact that we're crouching behind a tombstone or it's that we're spraying bullets at a werewolf, a little concrete information goes a long way.

[~*Kate*~]

I did a couple of posts on my blog about openings and their effectiveness-- this post (http://mysphereofdomesticity.blogspot.com/2009/12/teaser-tuesday-first-lines-take-three.html) links to most of them. I also did a contest (http://mysphereofdomesticity.blogspot.com/2010/01/teaser-tuesday-first-line-with-little.html) and then a second contest (http://yahighway.blogspot.com/2010/01/teaser-tuesday-first-lines-and-contest.html) at YA Highway.

All that to say-- I think the most effective openings made the reader ask a question (or two or three).

[Ladyhawke_18]

You've got a fantastic blog there, Kate. Thanks for the input, both of you.

[maddicharmed]

My favourite opening has to go with my favourite novel, City of Bones by Cassandra Clare. It starts with dialogue (I'm pretty sure) and it really makes you want to read more. As for others, I can't really think!

[DrummerGirl]

Off the top of my head:

Looking for Alibrandi - Melina Marchetta.
I loved Josie's voice - jumped of the page and got me within the first few pages. Plus it was funny and clever and I knew straight away: I'm going to love this book.

Before I Die - Jenny Downham.
She writes beautifully. It was so easy to turn those pages and a few pages in, you're hooked.

Dreaming of Amelia - Jaclyn Moriarty
I opened her book and read the first page and knew it was going to be one of my favourite books. And it just got better. And it is - one of my all-time faves. I re-read it back to back.

And that's the first three I thought of :)

[inkspatters]

Seconding Looking for Alibrandi. I remember laughing, like actually properly laughing, at that opening. I just thought it was very, very clever. Cracked Up to Be by Courtney Summers got me immediately with its unique way of summing up high school and super-strong voice and I loved the opening of John Green's Paper Towns as well :D So those would be my top three, I guess.

In my writing...I don't even know what my process for an opening is. I guess I want the first line to tell me something about a situation, in a certain time and place. I also want it to provide a question, make you curious and present something interesting. As to whether or not it's effective, I have no idea lol.

[Geek_Pride]

Markus Zusak opening.

I am The Messenger:

The gunman is useless.

I know it.

He knows it.

The whole bank knows it.

[Lindzy1954]

I think the opening to [I]The Lovely Bones[I]was excellent. It introduced the problem immediately and by way of the wording, hooked me right away.

Lindsay
website/blog: www.lindsayncurrie.webs.com

[Stunted]

In terms of YA, Wicked Lovlies, had a wonderful opening. It wasn't a big cataclysmic moment, by any means, but it immediately immersed me in the character and the conflict and the world. Didn't hurt that it was beautifully written.

The opening to Dorian Gray, my favorite novel, didn't particularly grab me when I first read it, but now whenever I read it, I feel like I'm coming home. Wilde starts off by bringing us into the characters' world, and by introducing the theme.

[Ladyhawke_18]

So I'm hearing a few things. We tend to like openings that:

A. Cut to the chase. There was a hobbit in a hole. "Moon Called" comes to mind. The opening is: I didn't realize he was a werewolf at first. Or "The Lovely Bones" which pretty much begins, Hi, name's Susie and I was 14 when I was murdered.

B. Something clever written in good voice.

I'm not familiar with "Looking for Alibrandi" so I looked up the first page on Amazon.

Not only is it clever and written in good voice, there's some tension there as the MC is embroiled over multiple choice.

Good feedback folks! Thanks!
~Sasha