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The very first page must contain...?

gothicangel

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Depends, is it intrical to the story or just backstory? For instance, a crime novel will start with the discovery of a body, its the job of the detective to fill in the blanks.
 

PamelaC

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Like the majority here, I need a strong voice that pulls me in and makes me want to read. It doesn't really matter what it's about. I'll read about anything if I find the writing engaging...and that usually boils down to voice.

One thing I don't like is an opening line that feels forced and gimmicky. I feel like the general shift towards shorter attention spans and the need for instant gratification has resulted in authors trying to appeal to readers who don't have the patience to read a few paragraphs before something jarring happens. Meh. I like to ease into the world of the story myself. Get comfortable with it. Familiar. Then when the you-know-what starts to hit the fan, I'm already invested in the characters, their world, and what happens to them. Otherwise, I just don't care.

But yeah. Voice. Voice is the most important thing.
 

katfeete

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I am onboard with the folks here calling your opening a door. It’s a promise you make to the reader: the book you’re about to read looks like this. It’s going to have a lot of this. It’s going to sound like this.

Voice is key, but it’s also hard to pin down as a writer — it’s kinda like looking at your ear in the mirror: how do you get an angle on that? You’re just too close to it. I like to look at what I see as the story’s strongest point and make sure that’s present. For me that’s tended to mean getting the main character front and center, even if it means breaking the “don’t start with dialogue” rule. If you think the most intriguing thing about your story is the setting, it’s 100% valid to start with scene-setting.

I’ve also found it valuable to have the characters doing something significant, but not necessarily important. On the one hand, there’s a lot of prescriptions against starting a novel with the character waking up, drinking tea, musing about life, etc, or with an infodump or mythological prelude for good reason (it’s really boring and tells the reader nothing about the story they’re about to read). On the other hand a media res opening with Big Important Event stuff means the reader has to do a lot of scrambling to catch up — and/or you’ll have to stop the action constantly to describe what’s going on. For my stories (again — I am mostly a character writer) I’ve found the sweet spot to be characters doing something that is significant to them — breaking up with a SO, applying for a new job, standing up to a bully, backing down from a fight — something that gives them a chance to make a decision and show their character in a way “oh, guess I gotta get up now” usually doesn’t, but also a scenario that’s pretty instantly recognizable for readers and not necessarily going to be a huge deal to the plot, so I can feed them information at a nice steady pace.

Also, I have learned from experience that the opening isn’t something I can worry about for the first few drafts. When I try to craft the perfect opening on an early draft I inevitably throw it away. YMMV, but for me, I have to have the whole story laid out before I can figure out what it’s about and work backwards from that to where I should start.

(I’m revising a draft right now, as it happens, so I really should start in on thinking about that....)
 

The Black Prince

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Interesting thread.

Voice is a given - a strong voice lets you know straight away you're in safe hands - that the writer knows what s/he's doing and will likely deliver on what s/he promises.

That's a big thing for me. I always set out with the intention of setting up a pleasurable expectation in the mind of the reader, so they're thinking: "Oh I see where this is going...this is gonna be good."

And then I go out of my way to give them what they expected, but waay more so that the story continues to build past their expectation and leaves them gobsmacked. That's always the plan, at any rate.

The other thing I always try to do on the first page is reveal some apparently insignificant detail which is always, on some level, a key to the deeper transcendent textures of the novel. My stories always include a couple of twists and there is always something on the first page that a reader - who reads for a second time - will suddenly appreciate the significance as they know the ending in advance.

In that moment, I want them to hate me.
 

WeaselFire

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A capital letter. Unless you're e.e. cummings. In which case, welcome from beyond the grave. :)

Jeff