We've been told time and again that the opening lines in a story are of great importance. In our own reading, we know which openings grabbed us right away and which ones left us floundering, still wondering what it's all about. The chart pictured today gives us seven kinds of openings. Each one is from a well-known published book.
Let's look at the various ways we can open a story.
An Action: If you begin with an action, you're very likely to pique your reader's attention. If a girl is running down a darkened passage on a rainy night, you want to know why. You'll go on to see if something happens to here--good or bad. You have questions that need to be answered.
A Character: Harper Lee opened her famed novel To Kill A Mockingbird by letting the narrator tell the reader about her brother, Jem. She says that Jem had a badly broken arm. You want to know why. You want to know more about Jem. Is he the youngest of the two or the eldest?
A Setting: If you begin with a setting, you might not capture your reader quite as quickly as with the first two openings discussed above. Especially if you go on and on describing the place. Some readers like a story opening with a setting. It grounds them, lets them know where this story will be happening. Others want to move into the 'real' story. Different openings appeal to different readers.
Dialogue: There are two or more people speaking, so we're introduced immediately to at least two characters. As a reader, I would want to know more about the people and more about what they are discussing. The author has me with him/her right away.
A thought: In this kind of opening, we have a narrator who lets us in on his/her inner thoughts. In the example given in the chart, we know that the person has been to the movies and is on the way home. Our guess is that the narrator is a female since Paul Newman seems to be a central thought. Do we want to read more? Probably. We want to see how she gets home and what further significance the movie star plays in the story.
A Statement: The example used in the chart is from Pride and Prejudice. Usually, when a story opens with a statement, we can expect that the entire story will either prove or disprove it.
World Building: Here we learn immediately that this story is going to be perhaps a bit of fantasy or something other than the world we live in now.
We accede that A. Opening lines are important and B. Opening lines can be of several types. How do we choose which way to begin? I think much of the choice is an inner feeling that the writer has. What so I want to emphasize to my reader? What will make them want to read more? What is important to me, the writer?
Even though there are multiple types of openings, the words in each are what hooks your reader. Make them count.
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