forum Opening Scene
Started by Ashlee Seaton
tune

people_alt 16 followers

@cami

generally the rule of thumb is to start as close to the action as possible, with a starting sentence that will grab the reader's attention and keep them hooked. you'll want to introduce the characters and some kind of conflict in the first few pages at least

@CassNotCas

what i find helps is to pretend that the reader is in a really bad mood and you need to make them happy right away because you only have a page to catch their attention. i also try not to dump too many characters or facts right away so that the reader doesnt get confused. the conflict should be introduced quickly, or an exciting scene that really sets the tone for the rest of the book. you shouldnt start right in the middle of a fight scene or makeout session or whatever it is that youre writing about because then the reader doesnt know who theyre rooting for or even decided if they like the character and the relationship.

@@SlightlyZazzedPanda

For my novel-in-progress, the First Awakening, I always began with the future, though it seems like it is in the past. This is interesting for me because it leaves a few holes to be filled in either later chapters or later books.
@CassNotCas, I think that it's okay to begin with a fight scene (I am), as long as the author makes it crystally clear who his good and who is bad, or who is inbetween. It is important to make the reader understand you, but not necessarily start with something rather uninteresting–I have stopped reading books that don't begin with something exciting. Is it just me?

@CassNotCas

it's not just you, @@SLightlyZazzedPanda. I didn't read Harry Potter until 6th grade because every time i picked up the first book, I couldn't get past "Mr. and Mrs. Dursley were happy to say they were completely normal, thank you very much." because I didn't want to read about normal people and thought it'd be boring. I love HP now, though