Sparkatale

"An opening line should invite the reader to begin the story. It should say: Listen. Come in here. You want to know about this." -Stephen King

    Whether you like Stephen King's works or not, you must admit that he and many other writers, who hold the same opinion, have a logical view point when it comes to the beginning of your novel.

    What comes after your first sentence or your first paragraph doesn't matter if you can't convince your Reader to get past that much. So it would make sense that your first sentence is arguably your most important.

    Think of it this way, if you stood in a book store holding two novels, both of which had captured your interest equally, but you knew you could only buy one perhaps you would open each book and read the first few sentences. Your first book has a dark cover, with the faint shape of an extinguished candle stick in an old style candle holder, it's other adornments include several outstanding reviews and that of the author's name and the title, In Dark Corridors, in a bright gold script. Your second book has a plain army green novel with plain, overly simplistic writing stating only who the author is and what the title is: Hooked.

The first line for In Dark Corridors is as follows:

    "A young girl sat at a desk in a dark room. Her hair was blonde and her eyes were a pale blue. Her quill scratched at old parchment. It was her birthday. She'd had plenty of birthdays before but this day was special. It was the dead of winter and it had yet to snow. This girl took the lack of harsh weather as a good sign."

The first line for Hooked is as follows:

    "Ulric shot upright, his heart pounding fiercely as the lights in the room slowly began to brighten. His hair stuck to his forehead in a sweaty mass of dark curls. The young man breathed shallowly, the drugs in his system blurred his vision and numbed his extremities. With a disjointed movement Ulric rolled off the steel table, his bare knees smacking into the hard tile ground. What had happened? Who brought him here? Where exactly was here?"

    As you can see, both are similarly written though their contents are very different. Granted both of these pretend novels appear to be of different genres, but it is, in my opinion, that the latter is more captivating. By the end of the first one, my only questions as a Reader is: Will it snow today? and Is this good omen actually foreshadowing? But by the end of the second novel, I have many questions: What happened to Ulric? Is this a medical facility? Is it an abandoned warehouse? Did he over dose by his own choice or was he poisoned? Will he escape? and Has he been otherwise harmed?

Here are a few Dos and Don'ts on how to start your novel:

Do

1. Consider cutting your first chapter out entirely. Often times writers have a natural inclination to include unnecessary background or background information that can be saved for a surprising reveal later.
2. Make the Reader question your character's past, present, and future. Give them a reason to keep reading. The Reader wants to know what makes your character so special, how they got here and where they are going.
3. Tease your Reader's paranoid side. Throw in a twist fairly quickly so that your Reader stays on their toes, wondering what's going to come next. (Don't forget to deliver more twists/surprises during the rest of your novel or you will disappoint.)
4. Dive straight into your character's, well, character! You want to get your Reader attached as soon as possible. The sooner the Reader becomes invested in your character as a person and not just as somebody they are observing, the better. Think about why most fandoms are obsessed with their characters. I'm sure if you've been exposed to any cinema/novel you're in a fandom. Isn't there a character you'd love to meet? Why? Because you became so attached to them and their story they feel real.

Don't

1. Start with weather sequences. It's so typical and boring. Unless your story is about Meteorology then your book should not open with the weather.
2. Begin with a letter to the Reader. When your audience picks up your book they know who it's intended for. You don't need to say "Dear Reader, listen closely for I'm about to tell you a tale..." It sounds very cool and magical but in all honesty, unless you're writing for children, it's a bad approach because it sounds, well, childish. It almost promises you'll end with an "and they lived happily ever after..." Why do we need to read your story if we know what happens?
3. Open with dialogue. If we don't know who the characters are or what they want then how are we to know what to pay attention too or who is speaking? Aside from that it can give the Reader a bit of mental whiplash trying to follow the conversation that they've been haphazardly thrown into.
4. Quote other people. It just makes you sound like a know-it-all. (And yes I understand that I opened my comment with a quote but I think it was a rather good quote and it's relevant. Also, this isn't a novel- it's an essay of sorts! So there!)
5. Overwhelm your Reader with information that can wait. Kind of self explanatory. Don't give your Reader your character's entire family tree if those people aren't in the room right at that moment. And if they are in the room right at the beginning (say for a Thanksgiving dinner in which your main character is coming out as homosexual to their family) don't load info about the family onto the Reader for no reason. (Example of a good way to do this scene: The decision was made. My decision. If I didn't do it today then I didn't know when I'd be able to muster up the courage to say what I needed to without being bombarded with phone-game like rumors. "Lily! Got yourself a boyfriend yet?" My great-aunt Rita asked with a chuckle, smushing my body up against her stout, rotund one. "Not yet Aunt Rita, have you seen my dad?" "No not recently, sweetie. How is my nephew-in-law?" "Sorry gotta go see about- I have to ask my dad- um, see you later!" I called lamely, sidling away down the hall she'd cornered me in.) This way you've established your MC, a family member who is going to be a potential problem and her relation to your MC as well as developing your characters a little more.
6. Give your character/setting away. This means, don't explain your character's looks right away, (ex. she had blonde hair and blue eyes with a delicate nose and high cheek bones). It's boring and can be slipped in later more subtly, reducing the excessive sentences in your beginning. Also don't describe the setting immediately. Set the stage but don't waste your first most important paragraph on describing a room that isn't as important as the enemy that's pounding on the door.
7. Give your plot away. As in, don't reveal all you know to your Reader before they've had time to get invested in your story. If you give it all away in the first chapter there won't be any reason to come back.
8. Include a prologue. There are many reasons for why this is mostly a Don't but there are many reasons as to why it's a Do as well. See our discussion on the subject in the Lobby of our Club.
9. Introduce back-story right away. This one goes pretty hand in hand with the reasons why prologue is a no-no. However, you don't have to name it a prologue for it to still be a bad choice. If this back story was supposed to the focus of your story then it wouldn't be back-story. It would be it's own book. Besides, it can be saved for a big reveal that will make your Readers go, "WHAT?!?!" right along with your main character. The more you can put your Reader in your character's shoes the more invested they will be in finishing your book.
10. Reflect on your character's situation. Ever heard of "show don't tell"? well this is a prime example of what not to do. If your character is being tried for murder, show your Reader what the cell looks like as they view it for the last time before they are sentenced. Show your Reader the look of dread and disappointment on your character's mother's face as they walk into the courtroom.
11. Flashback.This is just another form of sneaking in back-story and reflecting on your character's situation.
12. Show your character's dreams to your Reader. Dreams are so over rated and over done. We get it, foreshadowing, and metaphors, and illusions, and all that jazz.
13. Write about a day in the life. It's so boring! When can we get to the action?!
14. Wake up with your character. It goes along with "a day in the life of..." Don't show your Reader a boring old day. Show them what happened when it all changed- when it all got interesting.

If you think I've forgotten anything please comment below. Or if you think one of these Do's is actually a Don't or vice versa, let us know!

Check out these links to blogs/articles that I've found on this topic!

http://www.natashalester.com.au/2014/11/05/write-beginning-novel-10-things-shouldnt/

https://www.wattpad.com/4667955-bad-ways-to-start-a-novel

Retrograde Heartbreak | October 13, 2015