1/ Show the reader where she is. Is she on a crowded New York City subway? Or a secluded pathway along the seashore?
2/ Make it clear who she is there with. Is this story about a pickpocket or a priest? And is the pickpocket kneeling in a dimly lit church? Or is the priest hunched over on a curb on the Bowery?
3/ Start your story with an arrival. The setting is an old-time Western town. The townspeople peer through half-drawn curtains to peer at a stranger dressed all in black riding into town with a scar on his cheek and a scowl on his face.
4/ Start with a departure. Melinda leaves her small town with nine dollars in her pocket to travel to a far-off big city. She knows no one there, but she has to escape the stifling world she’s been living in.
5/ Open with dialogue. Not “Good morning, Joe.” “Oh, hi, Louise. How’re you doing?” “Oh, can’t complain.” And so on. No, start with a snippet of conversation that the reader will find fascinating. One of Sydney Sheldon’s excellent thrillers starts with this line of dialogue: “Can you make it look like an accident?” Don’t you have to keep reading?
6/ If you’re writing humor, start with something funny. If you’re writing something sexy, start with a hint, at least, of the provocative.
7/ Frontload! This is a word you hear around the desk of an editor putting together an anthology. It simply means to put the best first. Put your best writing in the opening, and then strive mightily to keep up the high standard!
8/ And, most important of all, start on the day that is different. Things will never be the same again.
9/ A final thought. Paraphrasing a famous movie producer (Goldwyn?): Start as close to the end as you can and end as soon as you can. In other words, cut out anything superfluous at the beginning, and at the end!
And…write the opening last, not first. Not all good fiction writers do this, but it’s often true that a writer doesn’t know the best way to start a story until she’s finished it. And, if you get hung up on writing a great opening, often you just don’t get beyond it!
"I help writers and aspiring writers achieve their goals."
About Me
**A writing coach helps you achieve your writing goals by working with you one-on-one, providing manuscript critiques and evaluations, whether you want to write fiction, nonfiction, plays, or your life story.
**A writing coach gives creative support in overcoming writer's block and achieving publishing success. Although a coach is a teacher, the relationship is more personal, and it often lasts for a longer period of time.
