AUTHORS GOTTA WRITE - OPENING YOUR BOOK

AUTHORS GOTTA WRITE – OPENING YOUR BOOK

The sun was high in the autumn sky; though the air was warm, the wind was crisp, and the clouds that drifted by often covered the bright, beautiful, shining sun. It was truly a beautiful day; the perfect day for anything, with the clouds as white as freshly washed sheets and the leaves drifting off the branches of trees and hastening to the ground below. It was truly, truly, a most remarkable afternoon, and the cold breeze blowing wouldn't have fazed many; the incredibility of the rest of the surroundings outshone the zephyr . . .

Tell me honestly: are you interested about hearing the rest of the weather report, or would you rather I get on with the story?

When readers read a book, they aren't reading the book for the descriptions of the day. They're reading the book because of the plot and the characters, which is why I believe it is never a good idea to begin your book the way I began this post: with a long description of the weather.

"But I like writing about the weather!" Well, your readers won't enjoy reading about the weather if it has nothing to do with the rest of the story.

It's easy to start a book on the state of the weather; I, too, sometimes find myself doing the same thing. Sometimes, it's hard to find another alternative to the opening of the book.

But I've learned from experience as an avid reader that I don't want to hear about the weather when I first open the book. When I first open the book, I want my attention to be grasped; I want to find reason to continue reading. You'll have plenty of time to describe the state of the day later on, but beginning with the weather is never a good place to start.

I was talking to my older brother a few days ago. He, like myself, reads and writes like mad. He told me that one thing he used to do all the time was starting his book with an alarmclock beeping. While there is nothing wrong with using an alarmclock to begin your book, once again, it makes a poor attention grabber.

Consider this:

BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, my annoying alarm clock blares, and I smack it with a drowsy, half-asleep arm. My alarm always wakes me up too early; I don't understand why I need to use one at all . . .

And now, compare it with this:

"You hanging on back there, boy?" the man calls to me, and I nod instantly, fearing what would happen if I don't. "Yeah, I'm hanging on!" I call back. Letting go has never once crossed my mind; if I let go, the drop would probably kill me. Who knew dragon riding could be so challenging?

Tell me honestly. I could be totally wrong, but in my opinion, the second opening is more exciting than the first one.

You don't have open your book with an alarm, just like you don't have to open your book with the weather; you can pick an opening to your book that will make readers want to read more.

SOMETHING ELSE TO CONSIDER:

Do you put a lot of important, crucial plot information in a prologue? While there is nothing wrong with prologues, not all readers are interested in reading a prologue; they want to go straight to chapter one, straight to the "action", so to say.

KEY POINT: If you have important plot information that your readers MUST read in order to understand, DO NOT put it in a prologue if you can avoid it; put it in your book as CHAPTER 1, and put your normal Chapter 1 as CHAPTER 2, and so on.

CONSIDER THIS AS WELL: If it sounds boring to you, it will be boring to your readers.

If you read over the opening lines from your book and think, "Man, this is so boring!" then think of how your readers will see it. If you are thouroughly bored with the opening of your book, my advice is this: change it. Bored readers will rarely keep reading.

The openings of your book are crucial, because the opening is, obviously, the first thing your readers will read. A poorly-written opening will disappoint your readers, and if they become bored, they will miss out on the rest of the story you have to tell.

(Once again, everyone, let me know what you think. Give me your opinions, whether you think I'm righ or wrong, or even something I can do for my next post! I'd love to hear from you guys, honestly! :D)

-Beyond