Day 08 – Write Your Opening

Write the opening of your story

We’re only going to write the opening today, just up until you’ve shown us the character in the midst of dealing with their problem (possibly the way they always have).

Here’s a little video lesson for you:

Don’t try to make this perfect. We’re just creating something that we can build on (and change later!)

Set a timer for 10 minutes and abandon your writing when it ends.

Remember:
“In the eyes of those who anxiously seek perfection, a work is never truly completed—a word that for them has no sense—but abandoned;”
-Paul Valery

Leave a comment to say how your task went, today.

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Mastering The Magic of Opening Lines

Get the full report here

Opening lines are hard to write because they have to do so much:

Ask the story question; establish the voice; set the tone of the story; establish the scene

What Opening Lines Must Do:

  • Set up the main question the reader is going to be asking all the way through
  • Establish the voice of the protagonist/narrator
  • Set the tone
  • Ground the reader in a time or place

That’s why I advocate writing the first lines last—or at least tweaking them after you’ve finished the story, when you know what it’s about.

So, how do you make your first line reflect all these things?

Let’s look at some examples.  Continue reading “Mastering The Magic of Opening Lines”