Novel Openings, What's The Secret?

[Katie-Ellen]

It's fine But inside the writing groups is where members post samples of their own writing for feedback.

'The past is a foreign country. They do things differently there'. - LP Hartley. The Go-Between.

It condenses so much feeling.

 

[Deleted member 604]

'The past is a foreign country. They do things differently there'. - LP Hartley. The Go-Between.

It condenses so much feeling.

And draws your attention and is plainly spoken.

 

[E G Logan]

OK here goes with 2 different openings saying much the same thing. Let me know what you think.

A week without sex was unusual for Agi but four in a row so rare Megan felt it her duty to help her friend out of her manless spell as she referred to such occasional bouts of celibacy.

Agi’s sex life or rather the lack of it concerned Megan. A month without a single groan of pleasure from her bedroom was a record so when Larry told her about his new friend, Jed, she sensed the potential for a spot of matchmaking.

I'm for the second. The first sentence is too long.

 

[E G Logan]

@E G Logan
I don't know what to say to that one...It's certainly a thought-provoking opening. However, I'm not sure if that would appeal to everyones taste.

Perhaps.
But it was a very successful literary novel. And that opening sentence almost made me gasp out loud when I first read it.

From Wikipedia
“Earthly Powers is a panoramic saga of the 20th century by Anthony Burgess [author of A Clockwork Orange] first published in 1980. It begins with the "outrageously provocative" first sentence (above)...
The novel appeared on the shortlist for the Booker Prize in the year of its publication but lost out to [tough competition led by Lord of the Flies author] William Golding's Rites of Passage. In an October 2006 poll in The Observer, it was named joint third for the best work of British and Commonwealth fiction of the last 25 years.”

 

[E G Logan]

Hey Everyone,

Thanks again for sharing your own approaches and experiences regarding plotting your characters, fascinating.
If I haven't picked your Writer Heads enough. I'm going to pick them again but this time it's Openings.
(I think BrainPicks like these may become a regular thing from me BTW)

I don't know about you? But the difference between picking up a book in a bookstore and buying it. For me has to be the first page - It has to captivate me instantly, literally prepare the bait, throw the line and I'm caught (I'm a goner) off to the till I go with the book in one hand and my purse in the another.

So, let me ask you both as a Reader and as a Writer:

What does it for you opening wise?
What stops you from putting that book you picked up back down?
As a writer what openings do you prefer and create?

Here are the top SEVEN ways to book openings:

1. Don't start talking about the weather.
2. Draw your readers' attention.
3. Put something in motion - Is my current opening in my work - Mr.Grey Sky (Was in the Writing Room)
4. Use short paragraphs and direct sentences.
5. Set the time and space coordinates.
6. Specify the rules.
7. Leave the backstory for later.
8. Learn from the best - Get JK Rowling on here an author who is traditionally published - Has sold millions - Is well known and Her books have been turned into movies - I will listen wholeheartedly to anything she has to say. (Slight envy too LOL)

* And I think it's so important when sharing our thoughts and feedback in whatever field should come from our own experiences and credentials.*

Here is what made me buy...

'The Priory Of The Orange Tree' By Samantha Shannon yesterday in Waterstones.

The stranger came out of the sea like a water ghost, barefoot and wearing the scars of his journey. He walked as if drunk through the haze of mist that clung like spidersilk to Seiiki.
The stories of old said water ghosts were doomed to live in silence. That their tongues had shrivelled, along with their skin, and that all that dressed their bones was seaweed. That they would lurk in the shadows, waiting to drag the unwary to the heart of the Abyss.

It got me well and truly hooked, superlative writing.

Please feel free to share a few lines of any openings that appeal to you both as readers and writers to correlate with your opinions and thoughts.

Alix

Check out openings from Shirley Conran, multimillion-selling UK commercial women's fiction writer and queen of Beginning With A Bang. Often literally.

In particular, see Lace. I would almost swear it will make you go: "No!" -- but you won't forget it. Not great literature, but it shifted a LOT of copies.

From The Guardian:
"Shirley Conran's Lace is to be republished this summer, 30 years after it became the ultimate escapist fiction, for a generation of women. Just whisper the word "goldfish" to any woman in her late 30s or early 40s and see how many of them blush..."

 

[Deleted member 604]

But it was a very successful literary novel. And that opening sentence almost made me gasp out loud when I first read it.

Me too, it definitely got a reaction out of me. And I'm fan of Anthony Burgess and Clockwork orange and the film directed by Stanley Kubrick.
Reading and writing are very subjective in that respect. What I like or look for in a book opening might not necessarily be what you like etc.
And as writers, authors our work often reflects that, none of us will write the exact same opening or story. Because fundamentally that is what makes us different and distinct as writers. Does it not?

 

[Deleted member 604]

Just whisper the word "goldfish" to any woman in her late 30s or early 40s and see how many of them blush..."

Love that line

 

[E G Logan]

When Lace first came out, I had a young male colleague, Jack. He borrowed it, then went about asking us (then) girls: "But what does he do with the goldfish?"
It took him about two weeks and some alcohol to get someone to tell him.

 

[Deleted member 604]

ONE ​

A few miles south of Soledad, the Salinas River drops in close to the hillside bank and runs deep and green. The water is warm too, for it has slipped twinkling over the yellow sands in the sunlight before reaching the narrow pool. On one side of the river the golden foothill slopes curve up to the strong and rocky Gabilan Mountains, but on the valley side the water is lined with trees- willows fresh and green with every spring, carrying in their lower leaf junctures the debris of the winter's flooding; and sycamores with mottled, white, recumbent limbs and branches that arch over the pool.

One of my absolute favourite books - OF MICE AND MEN BY JOHN STEINBECK - I studied it for my A-Level in English Literature and the highlight for me when studying it was the significance of the opening and the power of contrast and opposites.
It opens with Beauty that seems to slowly wither away as the story goes on, such as George and Lennie's relationship, Lennie's sanity and George's influence over him and most of all the power to protect him.
The opening is calm, peaceful and the end is violent and upsetting. Pure brilliance from STEINBECK.

 

[Katie-Ellen]

I care nothing for Steinbeck. He leaves me completely cold. But that for me is the secret of a novel opening. Caring. Do I care? What is it that I care about? But there's no recipe for that. If the writer cares, then that has to come across, and if it does, and the writer has the skill for that; which is a gift really, a poetic gift of empathy, not technique, and the reader is on the same wavelength, then they will connect. The reader will care.

 

[Amber]

We seem to forget that Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were writers, non-fiction memoir writers And my favourite opening is this from John:
In the beginning was the Word: and the Word was with God and the Word was God.
I'm just taken in by the simplicity of it, I guess. The first sentence in the bible has also the same effect on me.

My favourite fiction opening is from this novel and everyone knows it:
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.

I find it hard to find anything I like as much in today's books. Having said that, I must, with great regret admit, I have no gift myself in finding a good opening for any of my works.

I always thought they were more oral storytellers. I'm not sure of the history of each books. I think at least one of the books you mentioned is a compilation of letters. Also, if I recall, two of them have parts which are near identical. Two beatitudes or two sermon on the mounts... I can barely remember... and Revelations, with all its horrors was a series of wartime communications where the Christians were trying to hide what they were really saying. I do remember that much from when I read the Bible and read about the Bible.

That opening line from John is lovely.

...and the part from Pride and Prejudice always makes me laugh.

 

[Dan Payne]

I always thought they were more oral storytellers

Actually it's better to think of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John as preachers, not historians or storytellers. The gospels were not themselves oral histories, they documented and codified a lot of what were already oral stories, but they did so in definite, written form. The intention of each gospel was as a tract to a particular congregation, and each has its own specific themes and overriding interests. Matthew, Mark and Luke have a lot of overlap: Matthew and Luke are believed to have used Mark's gospel as one of their sources for their own versions. (The New Testament has a bunch of contemporaneous letters, but these four books are not them.)

A student of literature can probably learn a lot from the gospels and how each one was constructed differently for different purposes. We do this by deconstructing and analysing word choices, the structure of the 'plot' - how they put different fragments together to enrich themes. The same kind of analysis, in other words, that we can apply to Stephen King or to Jane Austen or whoever our favourite fiction author might be, to understand how they achieve the effects they're aiming for.

 

[Amber]

Hey Everyone,

Thanks again for sharing your own approaches and experiences regarding plotting your characters, fascinating.
If I haven't picked your Writer Heads enough. I'm going to pick them again but this time it's Openings.
(I think BrainPicks like these may become a regular thing from me BTW)

I don't know about you? But the difference between picking up a book in a bookstore and buying it. For me has to be the first page - It has to captivate me instantly, literally prepare the bait, throw the line and I'm caught (I'm a goner) off to the till I go with the book in one hand and my purse in the another.

So, let me ask you both as a Reader and as a Writer:

What does it for you opening wise?
What stops you from putting that book you picked up back down?
As a writer what openings do you prefer and create?

Here are the top SEVEN ways to book openings:

1. Don't start talking about the weather.
2. Draw your readers' attention.
3. Put something in motion - Is my current opening in my work - Mr.Grey Sky (Was in the Writing Room)
4. Use short paragraphs and direct sentences.
5. Set the time and space coordinates.
6. Specify the rules.
7. Leave the backstory for later.
8. Learn from the best - Get JK Rowling on here an author who is traditionally published - Has sold millions - Is well known and Her books have been turned into movies - I will listen wholeheartedly to anything she has to say. (Slight envy too LOL)

* And I think it's so important when sharing our thoughts and feedback in whatever field should come from our own experiences and credentials.*

Here is what made me buy...

'The Priory Of The Orange Tree' By Samantha Shannon yesterday in Waterstones.

The stranger came out of the sea like a water ghost, barefoot and wearing the scars of his journey. He walked as if drunk through the haze of mist that clung like spidersilk to Seiiki.
The stories of old said water ghosts were doomed to live in silence. That their tongues had shrivelled, along with their skin, and that all that dressed their bones was seaweed. That they would lurk in the shadows, waiting to drag the unwary to the heart of the Abyss.

It got me well and truly hooked, superlative writing.

Please feel free to share a few lines of any openings that appeal to you both as readers and writers to correlate with your opinions and thoughts.

Alix

You should do these regularly. You have a lot of energy, enthusiasm, and you're so friendly. Also, these are really interesting.

The excerpt from Waterstones is very pretty.

I'm a sucker for curiosity. I've been told it's not a very good cookie but I'm a sucker for it when I read and it's how I write. But I also suspect the beginnings I like, the ones that spark my curiosity, also have a lot of emotion.

Off the top of my head I can't think of a book where I liked the first few words.

 

[Amber]

Actually it's better to think of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John as preachers, not historians or storytellers. The gospels were not themselves oral histories, they documented and codified a lot of what were already oral stories, but they did so in definite, written form. The intention of each gospel was as a tract to a particular congregation, and each has its own specific themes and overriding interests. Matthew, Mark and Luke have a lot of overlap: Matthew and Luke are believed to have used Mark's gospel as one of their sources for their own versions. (The New Testament has a bunch of contemporaneous letters, but these four books are not them.)

A student of literature can probably learn a lot from the gospels and how each one was constructed differently for different purposes. We do this by deconstructing and analysing word choices, the structure of the 'plot' - how they put different fragments together to enrich themes. The same kind of analysis, in other words, that we can apply to Stephen King or to Jane Austen or whoever our favourite fiction author might be, to understand how they achieve the effects they're aiming for.

Okay. Interesting.

 

[Deleted member 604]

You should do these regularly. You have a lot of energy, enthusiasm, and you're so friendly. Also, these are really interesting.

Aww thank you @Amber. I'm trying and I'm thinking along side @Carol Rose Craft Chats, the mix would be pretty cool. Obviously not together, like twice a week from me in Cafe Life or wherever.
@AgentPete? Thoughts? It's up to Pete really.
And there is me taking a break from here, from Litopia, maybe indefinitely.

 

[Amber]

Check out openings from Shirley Conran, multimillion-selling UK commercial women's fiction writer and queen of Beginning With A Bang. Often literally.

In particular, see Lace. I would almost swear it will make you go: "No!" -- but you won't forget it. Not great literature, but it shifted a LOT of copies.

From The Guardian:
"Shirley Conran's Lace is to be republished this summer, 30 years after it became the ultimate escapist fiction, for a generation of women. Just whisper the word "goldfish" to any woman in her late 30s or early 40s and see how many of them blush..."

I don't remember the goldfish reference but I read her books. I've been wondering if those type of books would be coming back around.

 

[Eva Ulian]

A student of literature can probably learn a lot from the gospels and how each one was constructed differently for different purposes. We do this by deconstructing and analysing word choices, the structure of the 'plot' - how they put different fragments together to enrich themes. The same kind of analysis, in other words, that we can apply to Stephen King or to Jane Austen or whoever our favourite fiction author might be, to understand how they achieve the effects they're aiming for.

I totally agree with this. Matthew the ex-tax collector wrote for that particular audience, he knew before becoming an apostle. His writing has a different emphasis to Luke, who because of his "medical" background, dwells more on the details of the nativity, again a different audience. I'm not sure who Mark's audience was, must look into it. However, I know John was different from all of them- his gospel is quite poetical and uses a lot of verse- maybe for the more literati amongst us??? What I find rather cute is the publishing industry hasn't changed much since then, the aim is and probably always will be- to write for OUR audience.

 

[Tom's House]

Don't forget the power of style, as in The Sound of the Fury: Through the fence, between the curling flower spaces, I could see them hitting. They were coming toward where the flag was and I went along the fence. Luster was hunting in the grass by the flower tree. They took the flag out, and they were hitting. Then they put the flag back and they went to the table, and he hit and the other hit. Then they went on, and I went along the fence. Luster came away from the flower tree and we went along the fence and they stopped and we stopped and I looked through the fence while Luster was hunting in the grass.

 

[E G Logan]

You should do these regularly. You have a lot of energy, enthusiasm, and you're so friendly. Also, these are really interesting.

The excerpt from Waterstones is very pretty.

I'm a sucker for curiosity. I've been told it's not a very good cookie but I'm a sucker for it when I read and it's how I write. But I also suspect the beginnings I like, the ones that spark my curiosity, also have a lot of emotion.

Off the top of my head I can't think of a book where I liked the first few words.

How about: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." Hard to beat, I think.

 

[Lex Black]

I am forever mentioning Jim Butcher's "Dresden Files" around here, so why not again?

The opening line of the sixth book, "Blood Rites", is legendary among fans of the series. It's a study in brevity, setting up the tone, giving an idea of the sort of story about to unfold and hints at the personality of the poor fool about to take us through it:

"The building was on fire, and it wasn't my fault."

 

[RK Wallis]

@Lex Black Jim Butcher is just brilliant, isn't he?

 

[Deleted member 604]

"The building was on fire, and it wasn't my fault."

That is such a strong opening/one liner - to sum up the current situation in one sentence like that, that is what I call artistry.
And cheers @Lex Black for sharing that one, and regarding your name referring to Rich's post. I think it's cool it can be either used as a really mean villain or a really strong heroine .

 

[Deleted member 604]

What does everyone think of this one?

The Witcher

I

Later, it was said the man came from the north, from Ropers Gate. He came on foot, leading his laden horse by the bridle. It was late afternoon and the ropers', saddler's and tanners' stalls were already closed, the street empty. It was hot but the man had a black coat thrown over his shoulders. He drew attention to himself.

 

[RK Wallis]

@RainbowNerdAlix that line doesn't grab me the way @Lex Black's example. But that's just me.