Happy New Year! I wish you all a great year of writing, discovering, and creating.
With the start of a new year, it seems fitting to talk about openings. I just started reading The Subtle Knife, the second book in Philip Pullman's trilogy His Dark Materials. Here's the opening to The Subtle Knife:
Will tugged at his mother's hand and said, "Come on, come on..."
But his mother hung back. She was still afraid. Will looked up and down the narrow street in the evening light, along the little terrace of houses, each behind its tiny garden and its box hedge, with the sun glaring off the windows of one side and leaving the other in shadow. There wasn't much time. People would be having their meal about now, and soon there would be other children around, to stare and comment and notice. It was dangerous to wait, but all he could do was persuade her, as usual.
"Mum, let's go in and see Mrs. Cooper," he said. "Look, we're nearly there."
"Mrs. Cooper?" she said doubtfully.
But he was already ringing the bell. He had to put down the bag to do it, because his other hand still held his mother's. It might have bothered him at twelve years of age to be seen holding his mother's hand, but he knew what would happen to her if he didn't.
Could you stop reading a novel with an opening that great? I couldn't! I want to know exactly what will happen to Will. In that short passage, Philip Pullman has told us that Will is 12 years old, his mother has something wrong with her, he's in danger, and he's running out of time.
As if that isn't enough, Pullman slips in a hint about the theme of the trilogy, Light vs. Darkness, in this wonderful description: with the sun glaring off the windows of one side and leaving the other in shadow.
I want to drop everything and read!
How about your own openings? Do you give your reader information (Will is 12 and his mother has something wrong with her), a problem (Will is in danger), tension (he's running out of time), and a hint about the theme (sun vs. shadow/light vs. darkness)? Few of us are masters like Philip Pullman, but we can still work on our openings.
Try writing an opening scene. Introduce your main character, a problem, and tension. (At this point you probably don't know what your theme will be; writers usually work in hints about theme in later revisions.)
Have fun "opening" the new year with a great opening!
