SCENE 19: Special Scenes: Openings

30 Days to a Stronger Scene Table of Contents

I’ve written about opening scenes so many times that today, I’m going to send you off to read some of these:

1. Larger Than Life Character in Chapter 1.
   Maass suggests, for example, that you think of things your protagonist would never ever say, think or do; then find a situation in which they MUST say, think or do that very thing.
2. Improve Your Weak Opening
   But what’s missing in many openings is a character to care about.
3. Story Innocence
   Orson Scott Card says it a different way when he suggests that the only thing you withhold from a reader is what happens next.
4. Vivid Images: Sensory Details
   Everyone agrees that a writer’s ability to create an image in a reader’s head through their words is integral to fiction and effective novels. When writers and editors push toward imagery vivid enough to transport readers to new worlds, there are many options.
5. 10 Ways to Start a Novel: Opening Lines
   I’ve illustrated them with the “100 Best Lines from Novels,” as chosen by the editors of the American Book Review.
6. Opening Chapters of Novels MUST Accomplish These Goals
7. Prophetic Openings: Foreshadowing the Right Way
8. 5 Ways Openings Go Wrong