How can a book that starts like this become a best-seller?

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vixey

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I totally misread your post as saying that the next book was called "Shatner", which led to a daydream about William Shatner stalking the rooftops of London's hospitals and singing Chim-chinee.

ROFLMAO - and in tears. This image really made me wake up this morning.
 

nevada

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I totally misread your post as saying that the next book was called "Shatner", which led to a daydream about William Shatner stalking the rooftops of London's hospitals and singing Chim-chinee

The Shat would totally do that. I bet he's signing up for the movie right now.
 

vixey

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But the way he would sing Chim-Chimeny ... oh, my ears!
 

tehuti88

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I found this opening neither terribly fantastic, nor terribly horrible. I've seen worse. I've put down worse, and I've picked up and read worse! It really all depends.

I tend to be a bit more forgiving when selecting a book. The cover and title draw me in first, I admit. But I then look at the back cover to see what it's about, the spine to see if it tells the genre. Then the inside of the jacket to see if there are any blurbs there if not on the back. I look for the story's summary. If that keeps me going, then I browse through a few pages to see what the style is like. (This was the point when I gave up on Stephanie Meyers (sic?) and her vampire books. I saw a few lines in the middle of the book, was appalled that this was YA, wondered if I'm just really prudish, scanned a few more lines, gagged over the narrative voice, and put it back. Just my opinion.)

And do you know what? I just realized that reading the first few sentences is not usually something I do. I tend to browse more toward the middle, where the writer is more likely to have gotten into the swing of things, to see how it is. I might look at the very beginning but I guess I don't tend to judge an entire story based on that alone. I take a lot of things into account before buying a book.

But maybe I'm just more patient that way because I don't have anything better to do? *shrugs*
 
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Edmontonian

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Glad to cause some conversation

Hello everyone,

I'm glad to cause some conversation. Although some of your replies were misguided, my point (which initially I thought was pretty clear) was that the beginning in Michael's book completely shattered conventional beliefs, held dear to our hearts and taught religiously in most writing courses.

To the writters of all those comments that attempted to make this matter personal or starts a bickering, sorry, fellows, you failed miserably.

I haven't started playing the field yet, but once my first book comes out, I hope people would talk about it, whether they like it or not, it does not really matter.

In terms of commissions for selling Michael's book, I get 10 percent of the cover price :)

ED
 

KikiteNeko

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I might be in the minority here, but I think that opening reads like a fourth grader's book report.

But yes, these are the things that become bestsellers, whereas the more skilled, deft, agonizingly-finetuned writing slips between the cracks. Why? Because the readers decide what they're going to buy, and ... yeah. You can see where I'm going.
 

Toothpaste

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Edmontonian - I honestly think sometimes those "rules" are more harm than good. I still believe one should learn them, but then they have to ALSO teach how to forget them. Nathan Bransford wrote a really interesting post (buried in his archives) about the difference between starting a book with a bang literally and starting a book that will grab a reader. So many authors these days are so determined to throw the dead body into the first sentence, the explosion, the whatever, they are taking the grabbing the reader to the most extreme. There is still a place to establish scene and mood, to create the lull before the storm.

Personally I didn't really get hooked by the beginning, but that was by the quality of the writing. The Mary Poppins reference was so obvious and tired in my opinion. But the actual setting and way he did it read as interesting and got us right into the story. If every book began with a literal bang, it'd get tired very quickly.
 

maestrowork

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my point (which initially I thought was pretty clear) was that the beginning in Michael's book completely shattered conventional beliefs, held dear to our hearts and taught religiously in most writing courses.

And what conventional beliefs are they? What I tried to convey was that I found the opening did its job -- it may not be the way I'd have written it, but it held my interest. It presented the main character, a place, and some kind of intrigue to keep the readers wanting to find out more. It put us right in the story instead of miles of backstories.

I think it's a misconception that the first few paragraphs of a book must start with a bang, or a major conflict, or death or action. Not necessary, even if you're writing a thriller -- it doesn't always have to start with murder, or mayhem.
 

Stacia Kane

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I thought it was a good opening, too. I could have done without the Mary Poppins line (I'm not a fan of the use of "you" in fiction like that, although it's not as bad in first POV as in third) but I liked the setup and description, and the voice interested me.

So I don't believe this goes against conventional wisdom in the slightest. We're told to begin in media res, with a scenario or action that will draw the reader in and interest them; the MC standing on the roof of a hospital certainly interested me (why? What's he doing up there? Is he going to jump, is he chasing someone, is he spying on someone, what?) We're told to have an interesting opening line with strong voice; I thought this did. We're told not to begin with backstory, and this didn't.

I haven't heard of this author, but I'd like to check him out. I like thrillers and this one grabbed me.


ETA: Heh, I see while I was writing this a couple more people posted, too. Yes, starting with action does not mean the first line of the book has to be "The dead body flew threw the air, blood streaming from the gash in its throat" or anything. It just has to be interesting in some way, raise some sort of question or curiosity or sense of anticipation/excitement in the reader. The point is not to have an opening line like "Bob woke up and went to make himself a cup of coffee" or "Amy was twenty-two and she had beautiful long blonde hair and blue eyes and everyone thought she was great."
 
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Debs

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Well Ed, I clicked on the link, thinking I would read just a few more lines and read all that was there.
Now I have to go and buy the book too 'cos i am completely sucked in to the story.
 

nevada

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I'm glad to cause some conversation. Although some of your replies were misguided, my point (which initially I thought was pretty clear) was that the beginning in Michael's book completely shattered conventional beliefs, held dear to our hearts and taught religiously in most writing courses.

Held dear to *your* heart maybe. I don't see how it completely shattered conventional beliefs, and certainly in the writing courses I have taken nothing was taught religiously. The mantra was "if it works, do it." And based on responses here I would say that this worked extremely well. So maybe you should let go of your conventional beliefs held dear to your heart and think outside of your box.
 

Momento Mori

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Basically, I agree with everything that Toothpaste has said above, but I'd also point out that as someone who is doing an MA course in creative writing and who took several evening classes in creative writing before that, I've certainly never been taught that you must start your story with a catchy line or grab their attention from the off. How you open your novel usually depends on what genre you're writing in (if any) and where your story actually starts (i.e. are you starting it at the inciting incident, or are you starting it later on in the chain of events).

I'm not sure how the opening you posted "completely shattered conventional beliefs, held dear to our hearts and taught religiously in most writing courses". The course I'm on teaches you to look at what the opening of your novel needs to do, which usually (but not necessarily) is to introduce a character, situation or setting that will make the reader want to find out more. Sometimes you can do that through your opening sentence, but that's not always going to be possible, e.g. literary fiction writers are more likely to go for a slow build up over the opening few chapters as they establish character and setting. In childrens and YA fiction, it's customary (but not obligatory) to plunge straight into the action or scenario.

Without having read the book you're quoting from, it seems to me that the author is establishing an unusual setting, which will be built on in the chapter. If this is the case, then it's not assessing the opening couple of sentences that's important, but whether the setting is going to be developed into something interesting in that chapter that will make the reader want to find out what happens in chapter 2.

MM
 

Prozyan

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. . . was that the beginning in Michael's book completely shattered conventional beliefs, held dear to our hearts and taught religiously in most writing courses.

Bolding is mine, of course.

One old adage to keep in mind when taking a writing course from a professor is "Those that cannot do, teach." In other words, take any conventional wisdom or firmly held rules with a grain of salt. Toothpaste and KTC are dead on correct in their advice about the so-called "rules". Guidelines is a much better term.

That said, I don't really see which conventional beliefs, held dear to our hearts and taught religiously in most writing courses that were shattered by this opening.

I will say I didn't find the first four sentences particularly gripping, but they did get me to the fifth sentence without stopping. The fifth got me to the sixth, and so on and so forth until I did find the book grabbing me.

Basically, I'm asking what "rules" did this opening break? I'm asking this question not to turn this into some type of confrontational discussion. I'm genuinely interested in what rules you believe this opening violated. The only one I can see is that the opening didn't interest you. That is perfectly fine, but it doesn't necessarily mean that because you personally did not like the opening that it is breaking some deeply held convention of writing.
 
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mscelina

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Okay, I'll bite. What precisely ARE you asking then? You start off with this--

Hello everyone,
I already know the answer to my question (the author has penned a lot of non-fiction books), but just wanted to bring this issue to everyone's attention. I'm talking about "Suspect" the first book of Michael Robotham fiction. While we are taught by almost everyone to start the story with a catchy line, to grasp the reader's attention and all the good advice, read for yourself to see how this story starts...

*snipped for brevity*

--which is either (A) a complaint about the writing style or (B) an indication of preference for the teaching that apparently we all have had. Then you go to this--

Thanks for the replies.

If I only have twenty seconds to scan this book in a bookstore, I would put it down. There is no thrill in the first page, nothing is happening, and frankly, I don't give a hoot about what you can see from the roof or in the roof, hospital or not.

Unless, the hero is going to witness a murder from up there, or spot a dead body, or something even slightly thrilling, this scene has no point. At least not right in the opening lines of the first chapter of a thriller.

But then, I have already shelved the book, so I wouldn't know.

ED

--which indicates that you do NOT like the opening and, as a result, would NOT buy the book. So then, you finish with this-- (bolding and commentary mine)
Hello everyone,

I'm glad to cause some conversation. Although some of your replies were misguided,*an insult to some of the people who took the time to read your post and respond to your thread* my point (which initially I thought was pretty clear)*and obviously it wasn't, even to yourself* was that the beginning in Michael's book completely shattered conventional beliefs, held dear to our hearts and taught religiously in most writing courses. *which you completely dismissed in your second post as pointless*

To the writters of all those comments that attempted to make this matter personal or starts a bickering, sorry, fellows, you failed miserably. *didn't notice anyone bickering. Looked to me like people were trying to figure out what problem--if any--you had with the opening. A problem that was implicated by the title of your thread, by the way*

I haven't started playing the field yet, but once my first book comes out, I hope people would talk about it, whether they like it or not, it does not really matter.

*snip*
ED

Look, we can only go off of what you give us when you start a thread that deals with subjectives like writing style. If you initiate it with a question like "How Can a book that starts like this be a bestseller?" then you have to expect that we are going to assume that you dislike the opening. Especially when you verify it with your second post.

So, I ask again--what is this "issue" you wanted to bring to our attention?

There is no issue. Robotham wrote a description that some like and some don't, leading into a fairly gripping first scene. The opening establishes location. The 'big bang' you're looking for that 'we hold dear to our hearts' (which was a gross generalization, by the way) occurs within the first couple of pages. So you wouldn't buy it? Fair enough--but several other people on this board will. Is that the issue?

Because from where I'm sitting, after reviewing your posts, it sounds to me that because YOU didn't like the opening because it violates some preconceived notion of how a story should start then it's some sort of miracle that it's now a bestseller.

And besides, Ed, if you already know the answer to your question then why bother to chastise the rest of the board for their replies? *shrug* Seems like a waste of time to me.
 

BenPanced

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Oh, to phooey with it. You introduced several of us to a damn fine book, so whatever backtracking you're trying to do, Edmontonian, is useless to me.
 

IceCreamEmpress

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Okay. Edmontonian, you asked the question, "How can a book that starts like this be a bestseller?" and your question was answered: Because more people find the opening engaging than find it off-putting.

You didn't like the opening because of the tone or because it was too casual or because it wasn't exciting enough, or something (I'm not too clear on what your issue with it was from your post, actually).

Other people liked the opening because of the tone, because they felt it evoked a strong first-person voice, because they felt it set an unusual scene vividly, because they liked the reference to Mary Poppins, etc., etc.

And that's how a book becomes a best-seller. Not everyone has to like it; just a lot of people.
 

hammerklavier

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I liked it too, made me want to know what he's doing in the hospital, staring out the window.
 

rhymegirl

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I've got to say I was curious so I read the first page of the novel. Even just reading the first 2 paragraphs, I was hooked.

As for the Mary Poppins reference, I liked that. I saw that film when I was about 9 so the reference immediately took me back in time.

This is the thing about books. You're already going to have feelings about what hooks you and what doesn't. It's great to be able to write an intro that will hook EVERYBODY.

But I don't know if that's really possible. There are classics I've tossed aside because the intro didn't hook me. But they'll hook someone else.

You can't please everyone.
 

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Get rid of the 'blah' 'blah'.
Exactly. What matters in the scene is that the character, and perhaps the writer, are interested in it. There are cheap ways of showing this--catching the character in the middle of some action where he'd better be interested-- and there are the not so cheap ways. The first line that started this thread off is one of the expensive ones.
 

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I had no issue with the opening because it took me about 1.5 seconds to read it and by the time I may have noticed it didn't follow the rules I'd been sucked in by the subsequent paragraphs. ;)

Seriously, I thought it was a great opening and immediately painted a picture for me. I must admit, however, that I am familiar with that area of London, but even if I wasn't the Mary Poppins reference would have painted that picture for me. In all fairness one could argue that a reader unfamiliar with Mary Poppins (as unbelievable as that sounds :D) might have a different opinion.

And in the interest of full disclosure I am a fan of Michael's books and enjoyed both Lost and Suspect. I became a fan of the person after he spent over an hour helping me resolve a plot dilemma, and picked up Lost because he impressed me during our conversations and I was interested to see how he put his story together. I enjoyed it so much I picked up Suspect and devoured that as well.

Can't wait to read Shatter!

:Sun:
 

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TIPS FOR THE FIRST CHAPTER [FONT=Arial,Veranda]
  1. Make sure the first chapter starts with action.
Okay, folks. We might give Ed just a wee bit of wiggle room. The above quote comes from Joe Konranth's site, and he also goes on to say that one should never start a first chapter/paragraph with atmosphere, scene or setting. I don't neccessarily believe in this, myself.

But...

We've all seen several blogs and writing sites where agents and editors recommend the same advice--better to get things moving and interesting from the start. The DIFFERENCE is, is that this applies to new writers who don't have scores of publishing experience and books behind them. King could have a guy tinkling in a urinal and counting the stains on a bathroom wall with his first sentence, but we would continue on because we know his style and there's a good bet that he's going to please.

So it can be pretty damn confusing when a new writer reads all of these tips and rules, and then opens up a book and finds the opposite. It's because these authors CAN, it's because they have a great voice, and because it's probably not overdone.

And it is so very subjective, anyway.

I can't cite any examples off hand, but can anyone remember best-selling books that begin with long (boring) prologues, face-in-the-mirror descriptions, waking up scenes, elaborate settings, or other so-called non-standard openings? They're out there. Why do they get a passing ticket? Famous author scenario aside, it might be because of...

Voice.

I think this has been mentioned upstream. Prince of Tides starts off with a kind of boring inner monologue (for me anyway), but the thing that sucked me in about it was the VOICE.

I think we've all been confused at one time or another from contradictions in what 'should be done' and what we ultimately find out there. I think it just depends on how well the author pulls it off.

Tri


[/FONT]
 

Prozyan

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TIPS FOR THE FIRST CHAPTER [FONT=Arial,Veranda]
  1. Make sure the first chapter starts with action.
[/FONT]

I'm pretty convinced that "rule" has ruined more potential openings than any other, simply because a lot of people have no idea what "action" means.

It is said much more accurately: Start with interesting.

The real interesting of this particular excerpt come five sentences into it, when the narrator starts speaking with the teenager. The author spent a whole four sentences and 87 words setting the scene before getting to the meat of the scene. Is that too much? Probably not.

So often people get caught up in playing the "gotcha" game that they ignore the larger picture. Sure, it is easy to point the finger and say "look! He's starting with scene setting! Bad author, bad author!". But does anyone really consider why the author began that way instead of with the fifth sentence? Look at the big picture. Once the narrator starts talking to the young man, the scene takes off. If the settting weren't described first, the author would eventually have to interrupt the action flow to get to it. Instead of doing that, the author spends 87 words grounding the reader in the setting before taking off into the action, which allows all the tension and emotion of the action to stay at the front.

Its kind of like that deep breath you take on a rollercoaster, when you've reached the top of the hill and are starting to head down. A quick breath, then woosh, you're off.

If you really want to get something out of looking at successful author's work, try to get past playing the "gotcha" game and see if you can figure out why the author made the choices he did.
 
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