tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post6587225144704511663..comments2024-03-27T23:53:59.771-04:00Comments on SleuthSayers: More about Opening LinesLeigh Lundinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921276795499571578noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-6161231435771195002020-02-24T13:58:04.944-05:002020-02-24T13:58:04.944-05:00Great post, O'Neil. I think readers often deci...Great post, O'Neil. I think readers often decide to dig into a book or a story based on its first line alone, and I'm one of them. I'm a big fan of starting with a bang ("His face hit the pavement hard.") or with a bit of intrigue ("For a sweet house, right on Santa Monica Beach, it was unbelievably easy to break into."). However you do it, you've got to provide narrative drive to make the reader want to know what happens next.Craig Faustus Buckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10977748649878766205noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-44674312759629483772020-02-22T10:19:48.259-05:002020-02-22T10:19:48.259-05:00Not only useful but thoughtful advice. But I reall...Not only useful but thoughtful advice. But I really wanted examples (really, really). Maybe in your next post? So sorry about Charley; sometimes our cats and dogs are like second souls. P.Anahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01990781340258274787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-17241759340536350332020-02-21T18:28:53.090-05:002020-02-21T18:28:53.090-05:00Thanks for the comments. I did not know if this po...Thanks for the comments. I did not know if this posting would sink or sail because many of those who read SleuthSayers are not beginning writers but I'm trying to do more posts about writing than some of my others, like the one about the woodpecker (although I did write an essay about the dead woodpecker). I prefer the more enteraining posts put up here, but hell, everything is good. Many are heartwrenching. More people should read SleuthSayers.O'Neil De Nouxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03142721824657611738noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-29076416852610983582020-02-21T11:58:33.764-05:002020-02-21T11:58:33.764-05:00Great advice. I find myself jotting down first lin...Great advice. I find myself jotting down first lines all the time. When I return to them, if they don’t grab me, they surely won’t grab a reader so I either tweak them or let them die alone. You and I are quoting many of the same great authors in workshops. Thanks for today’s read. I really enjoyed it. Deborah Elliott-Uptonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00847049319243268520noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-26279014123914700142020-02-21T11:24:34.067-05:002020-02-21T11:24:34.067-05:00Excellent and thorough advice regarding the openin...Excellent and thorough advice regarding the opening lines. Not every story or book needs to start explosively. However, as you observe, there does need to be a form of narrative hook that draws and intrigues the reader into the story.Jacqueline Seewaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09177500620940251009noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-84812726597622279092020-02-21T10:15:15.795-05:002020-02-21T10:15:15.795-05:00Thanks for the post, O'Neil. I agree openings...Thanks for the post, O'Neil. I agree openings are important, and I have spent a lot of time writing and rewriting the opening paragraph of many a short story. <br />And to some extent, John, that's true - 19th century (and before) audiences didn't have a lot of other stuff to be reading and nothing to watch, so the ramble was fine. But then, we've been carefully trained by television to have an attention span of what, 15 minutes? Maybe an hour? And our children and grandchildren are down to what, 7 seconds thanks to Vine and YouTube? <br />Eve Fisherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03015761600962360110noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-29085301772626091422020-02-21T09:23:27.129-05:002020-02-21T09:23:27.129-05:00Good points, O'Neil. I often find myself, dur...Good points, O'Neil. I often find myself, during the writing of a story, going back to the opening again and again and changing it and tweaking it, because--as Janet said--that opening really has to tie into everything that follows. Openings are fun to write, I think, but they're always hard too (at least the good ones are).<br /><br />If anything, I believe openings are even more important than they used to be, because I believe the reader is harder to "hook" than he/she used to be. Someone told me he thought Daniel Defoe and Edgar Rice Burroughs and authors back then could afford to ramble and go on and on (as I am, here) in an opening because back then, the reader probably didn't have a whole lot of other things to be reading.<br /><br />Again, a great post--and thanks for the mention!John Floydhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04001712728130488485noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-71489108346461537982020-02-21T08:31:20.412-05:002020-02-21T08:31:20.412-05:00Excellent advice, O'Neil. I often see what loo...Excellent advice, O'Neil. I often see what looks like an intriguing hook for a story...that turns out to have nothing to do with what comes after. That's cheating.<br /><br />I tell my writing workshops that just because the opening comes first doesn't mean you have to write it first. I suggest starting anywhere to get into the story. When you have a first draft done and know where you're going, that may tell you how to polish, hone, sharpen, and re-polish that opening. If it makes the reader ask a question, you're on the right track because it implies that you will answer it later. <br /><br />Ideally, the opening sets up the ending, too, but that's not as scary as it sounds. For example, if your story is a mystery, you're simply implying that there will be a solution. In other words, answering that question I mentioned above. Steve Liskowhttp://www.steveliskow.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-9347359071405735862020-02-21T08:12:52.661-05:002020-02-21T08:12:52.661-05:00A fine tutorial on openings.
I am sure you must m...A fine tutorial on openings.<br /><br />I am sure you must miss the very appealing Charley. It's always hard to lose a beloved pet.janice lawnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-73885441793394086252020-02-21T03:22:25.437-05:002020-02-21T03:22:25.437-05:00All good points here, O’Neil. And always good to h...All good points here, O’Neil. And always good to have a refresher course. At least I know I need them from time to time.<br /><br />I particularly like what Stephen King said about voice. So true. And what Janet said about how the opening should serve everything that follows. Also so true. And sometimes it takes a little more than just an opening line to achieve that.<br /><br />And then Charley. Love that shot. Love the way he’s looking over the rim of the trash can with those intense green eyes. I’m sorry for your loss, O’Neil. I know what you said the other day and I know it hit you hard. But at least in some ways he’ll always be with you and they’ll always be with us.<br /><br />P<br />Paul D. Markshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15466234708772287399noreply@blogger.com