How do we draw readers into our story, making them want more?
With setting, description, or mood.
- Rain pelted heavily against the narrow, glazed window. (Birdwing by Rafe Martin)
With a problem.
- I'm a sweating fat kid standing on the edge of the subway platform staring at the tracks. (Fat Kid Rules the World by K.L. Going)
With the introduction of the main character.
- My name is Elizabeth but no one's ever called me that. (How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff)
With a mystery.
- In the beginning there were thirty-six of them, thirty-six droplets of life so tiny that Eduardo could see them only under a microscope. (The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer)
With dialogue.
- "Movies don't count," Cooper says. (Swim the Fly by Don Calame)
With an unusual format.
- Transcript of a microcassette recording:
- Demi: Is it on?
- Sadye: That red light is supposed to glow. (Dramarama by E. Lockhart)
With a killer opening.
This category defies categories because the openings are so awesomely wonderful.
- We went to the moon to have fun, but the moon turned out to completely suck. (Feed by M.T. Anderson)
- It is my first morning of high school. I have seven new notebooks, a skirt I hate, and a stomachache. (Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson)
These openings are all different, but all make me want to read more.
Your turn! Reread an opening to a story you've written. Does it draw the reader in?
With the same story, try writing a different opening, using the above examples as a guide. There's no right way or wrong way--there's only making your readers say, "More, please!"
