Comments on: What Killed it For Me #6: Action Too Early

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By: Leslie Watts

Leslie Watts — Tue, 22 Apr 2014 03:01:09 +0000

I will carry this line with me forever: “start your story just before the protagonist’s life intersects with the antagonist’s agenda.” Thank you!

By: Erik Samdahl

Erik Samdahl — Tue, 22 Apr 2014 02:24:01 +0000

In reply to Jefferson Smith.

Well said. Opening with a bang simply means hooking the reader with something interesting; it doesn’t have to be physical action.

That being said I like to have someone die in my first chapters… 😉

By: Jefferson Smith

Jefferson Smith — Mon, 21 Apr 2014 22:16:37 +0000

The problem here is that the advice everyone is quoting is actually being interpreted incorrectly. “Open with a bang” does not mean open with an explosion, or a kidnapping, or a death-defying leap from a cliff. It means, “open with something that immediately arrests and engages your reader.”

What shape this will take depends, to some degree, on the genre. As others have said, some genres seem fine with the “imminent danger happening to people I don’t care about” opening. While others expect a bit more empathy to be developed before all the life and limb threatening comes into it.

But if you put your mind to it, you should be able to come up with something that’s just damned curious, regardless of what genre you’re working in. Consider this opening line: “There was something unusual about the man lying face down in the puddle.” See, an opening like that immediately engages a reader’s internal question-asker.

And that’s all the hook you need to pull them into the rest of the paragraph.

By: BECCA PUGLISI

BECCA PUGLISI — Sat, 19 Apr 2014 18:53:54 +0000

In reply to Robyn Campbell. Yay! I'm so glad the post helped. Beginnings suck, lol. I may be able to verbalize this stuff, but applying it is something else. Best of luck with your opening :).

By: Debbie Erickson

Debbie Erickson — Sat, 19 Apr 2014 17:06:51 +0000

I think we, or at least I, try to “open with a bang” because everything I’ve read has been exactly this advice. But, I do understand what this post is explaining. I’ll have to go back and check my opening now! Thanks for the post!

By: Robyn Campbell

Robyn Campbell — Sat, 19 Apr 2014 00:53:51 +0000

Heyya Becca! *waves* I have been soul searching my inner self to decide where to start my adventure novel and this post plops into my inbox. I guess you know I made my decision to stick with my beginning as written and not begin with the storm and the horse throwing a character and racing away because of the storm. THANKS SO MUCH! This could NOT have been timelier. YaY YOU!

By: Angela Watt

Angela Watt — Fri, 18 Apr 2014 07:29:05 +0000

Enjoyed reading this post and definitely food for thought. Must come back and read some of your earlier posts to pick up some other tips.

By: LD Masterson

LD Masterson — Fri, 18 Apr 2014 03:55:49 +0000

As a reader, I think of this as “Why should I care?” If I haven’t had a chance to connect with a character before all the bad stuff starts happening, it won’t matter to me, and I’ll stop reading. Something I try to be very aware of when I’m writing.

By: :Donna Marie

:Donna Marie — Fri, 18 Apr 2014 03:54:07 +0000

Great stuff, as usual, Becca 🙂 Funny you should mention your “hide and seek” scene. I actually did a very similar thing when I wrote a novel a while back. That one’s never going to see the light of day, but when I had several people read it, I got similar reactions to the “you tricked me!” kind of thing. I’ve since realized it’s not good to start out with that much tension, then “pop the balloon.”

And I really love “start your story just before the protagonist’s life intersects with the antagonist’s agenda.” Great way to explain, concisely, the way to think! 😀 Thanks!