Opening scenes - heart-thumping-thrill-ride-with-the-lot, or something else?

Rooke · Feb 5, 2012

We all know the opening of a work is important, but how important?

Does it have to be action packed, full of controversy and representative of the entirety of the story...

- Or can it be less representative, slower, acting as an intermediary ... or even... as a beginning!

Do we have to be *paranoid* that possible readers are going to read the first paragraph or sentence, and then tweet.. "TLDR - you suck!"

Am I naive in being more hopeful that the majority of readers *will* go on with the book, as long as the entertainment does progress and continue to draw them in - even if there isn't a sex/death scene in the first couple of paragraphs?

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring : Chapter 1: A Long-Expected Party

- Have times changed so much?

Are your creative options restricted by the realities of your genre, market, agent, commercial prospects, ...

Or is it just another, "as long as the writing is good" thing?

I don't have anything against a fast-paced, thrilling opening - it's just that as a storyteller, I'd like to have a choice.

Hansey · Feb 5, 2012

Don't confuse a gripping opening that has conflict in it with an opening that's full of car chases, explosions and fireworks. The opening doesn't have to be a thrill ride, but you do want it to introduce conflict, or the reader is going to get bored and not want to read on. A story that begins with the main character getting out of bed, shaving, brushing his teeth and going to his accounting job where nothing happens all day isn't going to excite a lot of people.

You used the words "draw them in" and that's exactly what you want to do. How you do that is up to you, whether it involves a gunfight or a conversation in a coffee shop. Just try to make sure there's some kind of conflict introduced that the readers will care about and want to continue reading about. That, and making them care about the characters you've introduced as well.

Rooke · Feb 5, 2012

I may have muddied the waters a little, I was using the Action'y concept as an illustrative extreme.

I think what I'm trying to say is : does the opening need to be an (artificial/imposed) Sales pitch, or can it just be the beginning of a story?

blacbird · Feb 5, 2012

Something needs to engage the reader. That doesn't need to be zombies exploding in a battle with vampires. Go look at the opening scenes of famous successful novels by good writers, and you'll get the idea, methinks.

cas

Hip-Hop-a-potamus · Feb 5, 2012

I suggest you read Jeff Gerke's The First 50 Pages. It tells you everything you need to know.

kaitie · Feb 5, 2012

It should always be the beginning of the story. The problem that many people have is that they don't recognize that what they think is the beginning isn't actually.

Rooke · Feb 5, 2012

Yeah, I'm possibly getting a little swayed by some of the posts here.

My current intro is more on the 'beginning' side, and doesn't immediately get to the action, buy I don't necessarily want to cut for cutting's sake... maybe a little more research as suggested.

Little Ming · Feb 5, 2012

kaitie said:
It should always be the beginning of the story. The problem that many people have is that they don't recognize that what they think is the beginning isn't actually.

Pretty much this. I think some people just don't know when their stories start. Throwing your reader into the middle of a life-or-death car chase with no context can be just as boring as your MC waking in the morning and taking a dump.

BethS · Feb 6, 2012

Rooke said:
I think what I'm trying to say is : does the opening need to be an (artificial/imposed) Sales pitch, or can it just be the beginning of a story?

It had better be the beginning of a story.

And as long as it's an intriguing beginning, you're fine.

bonitakale · Feb 6, 2012

As a reader, I like a beginning that introduces me to the main character and shows a bit of what might be his or her ordinary life.

If the ordinary life of the m.c. is in itself different and interesting (she feeds her dragon; he does surgery that saves a child), that part can be longer and hold my interest.

If the ordinary life is dull (the hero works on an assembly line, and the real kickoff for the story is what someone says to him at lunch) that part probably should be shorter.

rich_cheese · Feb 6, 2012

Depends of the type of story you write. When I read an action book, I typically expect some kind of kickin' action scene or similar.

If it's a longer, drawn out story, or more epic, then I'll be happy with something more mellow.

It's whatever is best to start the story - action, non-action, whatever. It's just got to hook you into the main character and why you want to read about them in the first place.

brianjanuary · Feb 6, 2012

You need a good opening sentence and a good first page with a strong hook to interest agents, readers, etc. How many times have you opened a book and just read the first page--then either accepted or rejected the book?

This doesn't mean a car chase necessarily, but the hook has to be there from the start.

Orianna2000 · Feb 6, 2012

The advice I was given is to start the story at the moment the MC's life changes. The moment that normal turns upside down and they begin the journey that's going to last until "the end". It doesn't have to be all action and fireworks, but you definitely need a hook of some kind, something interesting to draw the readers in and make them want to continue reading. These days, readers have little patience. They don't want to wade through 50 pages "concerning Hobbits" . . . they want the story to get to the point.

I strongly recommend Hookedby Les Edgerton and The First Five Pages by Noah Lukeman. They'll teach you how to craft a strong opening that will entice readers to keep reading. Also good is Beginnings, Middles & Ends by Nancy Kress.

Menyanthana · Feb 6, 2012

Rooke said:
Do we have to be *paranoid* that possible readers are going to read the first paragraph or sentence, and then tweet.. "TLDR - you suck!"

Well...yes. I am. Because I am that kind of reader who reads the first few sentences and then thinks "That is not interesting enough."

However, you don't need action.

Beginnings that have kept me reading include Harry Potter's "Mr. and Mrs. Dursley were proud to say they were perfectly normal" and Pride and Prejudice's "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife."

Why?

Well, both lines are mocking the people they're talking about, and I think that's funny. I have met people who complained about nothing happening in the first chapter of Harry Potter, but it doesn't seem to have hurt the sales in the long run.

You could also start with something that will make the readers want to know how this situation developed - like, for example, "Shades of Grey" by Jasper Fforde, which, if I remember correctly, starts with the statement that the protagonist and his father are going to see the last rabbit. Which makes the reader wonder since when rabbits are an endangered species.

Of course, there are different tastes...there are people who hate it when fantasy books don't explain how the fantasy world works in the first chapter, while I think it's boring to explain everything in detail instead of just starting with the story.

jaksen · Feb 6, 2012

The opening scene should be interesting.

That covers a lot of ground, btw.

kaitie · Feb 6, 2012

There's also something to be said for the fact that tension (or lack of it) can occur even when you start in the right place. My last book, for instance, had to have the beginning rewritten three times to get a good sense of tension and just that hint of dread going through it to propel the reader on.

I didn't actually change where the story started or a single event--it was all in the writing. The most I did was add in a line here or there that shifted a little more of the focus onto the overarching conflict.

I'm someone else who actually would prefer to get to know characters a little before seeing them in a death-battle, but at the same time there has to be something there to create conflict and interest.

Hiroko · Feb 6, 2012

I don't need dread to be an element of a beginning. The beginning just needs to be interesting--just like any part of a book, you need to make this part catch the reader's attention. This will need to be to a larger extent, of course, since the book just started.

Polenth · Feb 6, 2012

When people talk about starting with a hook, they don't mean insert a sales pitch. They mean make it interesting, so people will want to read on. When they talk about action, conflict and tension, they don't mean a gun battle. They mean something about the situation has to suggest it's going to lead somewhere interesting.

If that doesn't make sense, the best thing to do is read some openings for novels published in the last five years. Analyse why the opening is interesting (or why you think it's boring). That should give you a lot of examples of different ways to open a novel effectively.

Bufty · Feb 7, 2012

Whether it's bombs exploding or birds chirping, your opening sentence only has to be interesting enough to make me want to read your second sentence, which when added to whatever image I formed from the first sentence should make me want to read your third sentence, which....

Jamesaritchie · Feb 7, 2012

All an opening has to do is make the reader want to turn the page. However it does this is fine. But I do believe story and character needs to be in the opening. It's story and character that makes a reader turn the page.

amschilling · Feb 7, 2012

Orianna2000 said:
The advice I was given is to start the story at the moment the MC's life changes. The moment that normal turns upside down and they begin the journey that's going to last until "the end".

If there's one thing I got out of all the agent "thanks but no thanks" feedback from my first MS, it was this. Well, that and I wasn't enough of a sadist when it came to my characters (but that's a whole other post).

Swannington · Feb 7, 2012

Jamesaritchie said:
All an opening has to do is make the reader want to turn the page. However it does this is fine. But I do believe story and character needs to be in the opening. It's story and character that makes a reader turn the page.

This.

As others have said, it doesn't need to be all out action and guns blazing right from the first sentence. But it does need to be compelling. It needs to give me a reason to keep reading. It needs to give me a reason to care, or want answers, or to see what will happen next.

The biggest turnoff for me in the first page of a book is large chunks of description with not much else happening.

Becky Black · Feb 8, 2012

I'd also add that it's got to fit the rest of the story, otherwise it will feel like a bait and switch. If it starts with a heart-pounding, thrilling action sequence in chapter one, it had better not turn into a gently paced character study about first love and coming-of-age in chapter two.

The opening is the first promise to the reader, it's saying, "here's the kind of story I'm telling. You in?"

KSandoval · Feb 8, 2012

A few people have said that it doesn't need to start with a gun battle. I'd like to take it a step forward and say that's a hard opening to pull off.

Openings need to make the reader care enough to keep reading. They have to be interesting, yes. And tension is important. But if I open a book and find a gun fight, I'm not likely to care. Because I don't know the character well enough to be concerned about the fact that they're in danger.

Building interest in the protagonist is an excellent way to keep a reader reading. At least, it is if that reader is me. Bullets can be just as boring as scenery descriptions if they lack context and meaning.

Eldritch · Feb 12, 2012

A lot of great advice in this thread. My contribution is this:
Open with something that will have your reader wondering, "WTF?"

Menyanthana's example of the protag and his father going to see the last rabbit is a good illustration of this concept.

Opening scenes - heart-thumping-thrill-ride-with-the-lot, or something else?

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