This article is one of a series about story beginnings. I use the beginning of my Award-winning Suspense novel, Down to the Needle, as an example. These articles can be found in my mega writing reference, Write It Right – Tips for Authors.
Magnetic Beginnings
I use the word magnetic because your story beginning should pull a reader in much like metal to a magnet.
Readers look at the start of the first chapter as more than just a glimmer of what’s to come. Your first words, first sentence and first paragraph should give your prospective buyer a feeling of sinking deep into the story and being a part of the plot.
You cannot create this reaction with dead words, lackluster writing and non-descriptive verbiage that says little about the promise of the story.
You can avoid the above pitfalls by jumping smack into the middle of your plot right there at the beginning. Don’t tell how the weather was warm and breezy and no rain was expected. For mystery or adventure writers….
Open your story at a crime scene.
Have the characters talk right away, or very soon. Have the main characters present and taking part of the dialogue.
In Down to the Needle, the story starts with the reader plunged into the middle a raging arson scene. The main characters show up after a few brief bits of desperate dialogue by firemen and police.
1st Chapter Beginning of
Down to the Needle
A fireman waved an arm to catch a police officer’s attention and then pointed toward the flames. He shouted to be heard over the clamor. “The perp torched himself!”
Angry red and orange flames from the still burning back half of the warehouse licked at the night sky. Glowing yellow embers, blown by April’s night breezes off the nearby ocean, took flight. Fire trucks encircled the building. Firefighters scrambled over strewn equipment. Men wearing Army camouflage uniforms darted about. Two ambulances waited for the injured.
An officer cupped a hand around the side of his mouth and also yelled. “The perp’s inside?”
Abigail Fisher and Joe Arno nudged in closer to hear the conversation between firefighters and the police. The roar and crackling of the fire drowned out most other sounds.
A fireman pointed to the front section of the building where the flames had been doused. “Burned himself into a corner.” He shook his head. “Still got the gas can in his hand.”
The officer took a step toward the building, trying to see. “How soon can we get in there?”
“You aren’t going to ID this one right away. He melted like wax.”
Abi carried some of Joe’s peripheral filming equipment though only to make her look acceptable so she could tag along. Doing this was not new to her. Joe was a part-time stringer for Seaport’s major TV station and could be called out at any hour of the day or night to cover breaking news. Abi stayed on his heels. She would indeed help now that they were there.
The work they did when called out to cover a story was meaningful, if not demanding. Yet, these events paled in comparison to what Abi envisioned should happen for her when the greatest personal predicament in her life would be solved. It was a calamity with effects lasting for decades and was taking a toll on her health. While anticipating a happy and momentous culmination to a personal tragedy, she always helped others when called upon. The hope she held inside never dimmed but seemed detached from her everyday life. Presently, she worried about the reason for the numerous fires. Seaport and neighboring Creighton had an average number of fires greater than most same-sized cities.
Back to the Tips
You know who are the main characters—and they’re not the firemen and police who speak first—because when the main characters show up after the scant dialogues on the first page, I go on to describe the two main characters’ actions and insert bits of back-story about their experiences with fires, and also describe what they look like.
When your main characters first appear, include some detail to show these people are more important than others in the scene.
You can also hide your villain or the antagonist (if not a character) in plain sight by bringing them into the story and keeping their actions benign for as long as possible before your readers begin to suspect something afoul.
For your story beginning, make the opening scenes as exciting as possible, but make them apropos to the plot.
In Down to the Needle, several more unexpected fires happen throughout the story. A fire scene is a great beginning. A person’s senses go on high alert. Adrenaline rushes as if the reader is present at the scene. You want your reader to sense those emotions, and feel the fright and also to share in what all of the characters experience.
In a romance, perhaps, you want your readers to feel the loneliness and longing of your character for the person they love. Or the reader might be made to feel the rejection of someone experiencing a broken relationship. Whatever that romance has to offer, the opening scene must get into the readers’ hearts with hints of what the plot has to offer.
In all genres, not only must your written word be magnetic, beyond being simply appealing, the setting in which the action takes place must grab immediate interest. Write the setting well. Write it to suit the action as well as the dialogue of the characters in the scene.
Beginnings must offer what the potential reader of that genre searches for. Understanding the genre in which you choose to write is the only way to make your openings work.
