James Bond Openings

I don't see anything wrong with that. You are introducing the character and showing who she is.

I suppose it depends on you and your style. Starting off, just write it how you want, Bond-style vignette included, and then see what the betas have to say. FWIW, I really like the sound of the scene. It does tie into the story in that it's her start.

As long as it's doing something then I don't see a problem, and establishing character and setting and having its own conflict, even if it's self-contained to that chapter, is usually good enough to get me hooked, so I have no problem here. Besides, it sounds like it leads right into the main plot of the novel, so not bad.

I'm also of the mind that, by the time I realize the opening heist isn't actually going to play in the plot anymore, I should be invested in the story and characters enough that I don't think about it or don't care when I do.

I think the opening is fine in that it can show her character and her abilities. But I think that a lot of the bond openings actually do contain something that comes back later in the movie. Maybe it's a character that recurs later in a different role. Or you later find out that the mission itself had some hidden meaning to it.

You can start with plain action as long as it progresses your story. But it's really not hard to find a way to ultimately tie it in to the story so that there's a bigger payoff that makes the reader appreciate it more. In your case, maybe the person she's stealing from is actually a Nazi supporter. Or turns out to be a spy for the Brits. It doesn't need to be a big deal, but those kind of pay offs always make me appreciate what the writer has done and feel very satisfying when they pop up.

The Bond-style opening works to establish who the main character is and what their current situation is; like a much more exciting "day in the life of". As long as the next scenes follow logically on from that point, I like 'em - as BBBurke notes, most of the Bond ones actually do relate back to the main story.

It isn't what you do that matters, it's how well you do it.

And I see nothing 'wrong' at all with such an opening. Go ahead and do it!

I like it - and I never felt cheated by those James Bond openings - they always tied in somewhere, even if the action itself was just an illustration of someone's character.

Big Bond fan so I have to come out swinging...

Most of the Bond openings are proper openings to the film introducing vital characters or some aspect of the main plot crucial to the film's development. In Dr. No, a series of killings are seen in the opening, thus before Bond ever arrives on scene, we know a hero is needed to solve the mystery behind these crimes. In From Russia With Love, we get to see training in the behind-the-scenes opening from SPECTRE point of view, the main villain organization from the first film and this film as well. It has everything to do with the plot. You Only Live Twice Bond is seen murdered at the start of the film, which is obviously both compelling but alos crucial to the story. Diamonds are Forever's opening we see Blofeld killed by Bond, which provides a jumpstart to the entire storyline of that film and the final on-screen encounter with Blofeld and his doubles. The opening to Live and Let Die is again a series of bizarre murders, which sets up the mystery of the film's villains. The Spy Who Loved Me, Bond kills a seemingly ordinary goon who later turns out to be the lover of woman hell-bent on avenging his death, the same woman who falls for Bond. Every modern film from License to Kill up to the latest, Skyfall all have major tie-ins from the opening scenes to the major plot points, with the exception of Tomorrow Never Dies. The openings of Goldeneye and Casino Royale could be considered some of the best opening scenes to any modern action films, and if you cut them out the rest of the story wouldn't make sense.

So....I would suggest that your opening scene in your book DOES tie in with the overall story, because as you can see, even flashy openings in action movies need to have relevance to the story line.

Like everything else, this one is going to come down to execution. I like the idea, but you'll just have to make sure it demonstrates the character (and justifies its purpose).

I'm with TAMaxwell, write it and see what betas say. It sounds like a great idea. Make it happen!

This discussion came up with the critique of my WIP The Galactic Seven: Project Cygnus. My book starts out where the mc (he is actually the villian, is in prison and breaks out with the aide of an alien race called the Thubians. I think some people wanted to know why my mc was in prison and what the terrible thing he did to put him there. It is revealed in the second chapter, but I think some people were not motivated to read on because they wanted to know that information at the start. I guess that wanted to know why they should care about this character in the opening. That, somehow, led to the comparison of my novel and James Bond novels and/or books. I don't mean my writing style, but more of how I plot my novels.

I like high-action openings. I don't need to know the details. But like my novel, you have a prisoner in his cell or whatever. In a conversation you find out that he did something terrible. You also find out that there is a plan for him to be broken out by some alien "connections". They come and after a quick battle, they rescue him and take him back to their home world. That ends the first chapter.

The second chapter you find the heroes, the Galactic Seven, doing mundane things such as running diagnostics on their craft and joking around. Then they get a call that the villian has escapaded and then we find out from the chief, in my case the chancellor of the Coalition of Planets, what he did and where he may be. Then our heroes begin the search.

I like those kind of openings and I think they work very well. I did not copy the James Bond format on purpose, but it had to be there in my subsconscious. I write what I like. Maybe it is cheezy, maybe it is cliched. But I've always love scenes like that.

By the way, Live and Let Die just came on the radio while I was writing this.

Your beginning sounds good to me. As spikeman pointed out, "Bond openings" normally do tie back into the main plot in some way, so you could try to connect the heist to something important later, but this sounds good. Especially with the driver turning out to not be her driver at the end, which seems to throw the plot in motion. Just make sure you get across your MC's character through the heist -- is she rather flippant through the whole thing, or is she incredibly precise?

onesecondglance said:

The Bond-style opening works to establish who the main character is

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The way it's described in the OP, pertaining to the Bond movies, I think it works to remind you who the main character is, really? Whether it would work in a standalone book, or the first of a series, might be a rather different question, I think.

alexaherself said:

The way it's described in the OP, pertaining to the Bond movies, I think it works to remind you who the main character is, really? Whether it would work in a standalone book, or the first of a series, might be a rather different question, I think.

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Ah, but since every Bond movie opens that way, then it will be an introduction the first time you watch one.

You may have a broad awareness of what the character is like from pop culture - comparable, perhaps, to the introduction to the character and scenario a reader might get from a blurb before they open the book - but that scene actually shows you what they're like.

I think the scale has tipped, but I'll chuck my vote in anyhow. Your opening sounds great and I definitely wouldn't be put off by it. As it's a little off-side from the main plot, you could almost (if you tip-toe around the other AWers) turn it into a prologue

I think that's a fine way to open a story. What I see too often in SYWs is authors who drop the reader straight in the middle of the action. You'll note that in every bond opening there's a bit of context given before the action begins. Make sure to include that part of the opening too.

I love those openings. They establish so much about a character early on and if the action is good, we get to realize how great they are.

I use something similar to let my reader know just how dark and nasty things can get so they cringe a bit at the thought of going forth.

If the heist has nothing to do with what follows and is never mentioned again be wary of including details to which the reader may attach too much importance and expect to find resolved or mentioned later.

I really like it -- as long as you're showing us who she is and how she pulls off these capers, and why the government wants to recruit her, it should work. (She may also need to figure out HOW they found her so easily? What did she screw up, and could that play a role later?) The original art she needs to steal could come back later, when she's undercover and runs into the bad guys at the worst possible moment, maybe?

Just remember that in that time frame, you had the Battle of Britain, then the Blitz, going on, so London was fairly hopping, and fairly dangerous. (Sorry, the history teacher in me . . .)