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Although I have yet to commit a word of it to paper, I decided many years ago to follow the advice of a long since forgotten (by me) novelist, and start my story with a sentence that grabs the reader’s attention.
With that in mind, I have spent the bigger part of twenty years polishing and finessing the opening line of the novel I have yet to write or even develop a plot for. Whatever it turns out to be about, the story will start with something I consider different enough to grab the attention of the casual book store browser and make that person stop and read more.
”Uncle Horace wants to know what he should do with the Moose’s head?”
Now, I’ve been happy with this basic introductory line, with minor variations over the years, as fashions change, and have been content in the knowledge that when I finally get my arse into gear and start writing the Great …er… British novel, that I have a sound beginning.
Today I find out that no less a person than James Clavell advises that one should always start a story with a man riding into town. Presumably, this is a hangover from the days of the American West. The point is, that despite twenty years of development, my opening line doesn’t conform to this advise; men riding in to town are conspicuously absent from the sentence, and who am I to gainsay the author of Shogun?
So, as of today, the opening line of my novel reads, Horace rode into town with a moose’s head; leaning down from the horse he said, “Go get my nephew, and ask him what I should do with this…”
The man’s right, you know. Just adding that context has turned my opening line from an interesting hook to a work of genius.
With that in mind, I have spent the bigger part of twenty years polishing and finessing the opening line of the novel I have yet to write or even develop a plot for. Whatever it turns out to be about, the story will start with something I consider different enough to grab the attention of the casual book store browser and make that person stop and read more.
”Uncle Horace wants to know what he should do with the Moose’s head?”
Now, I’ve been happy with this basic introductory line, with minor variations over the years, as fashions change, and have been content in the knowledge that when I finally get my arse into gear and start writing the Great …er… British novel, that I have a sound beginning.
Today I find out that no less a person than James Clavell advises that one should always start a story with a man riding into town. Presumably, this is a hangover from the days of the American West. The point is, that despite twenty years of development, my opening line doesn’t conform to this advise; men riding in to town are conspicuously absent from the sentence, and who am I to gainsay the author of Shogun?
So, as of today, the opening line of my novel reads, Horace rode into town with a moose’s head; leaning down from the horse he said, “Go get my nephew, and ask him what I should do with this…”
The man’s right, you know. Just adding that context has turned my opening line from an interesting hook to a work of genius.
