When I saw this photo, I thought, "What a great opening sentence for a novel." Immediately, where does your mind go... right, who has that other 1 % ? Mystery... intrigue, secrets right off the bat.
This is one of the reasons that I write mysteries - I plant those first seeds of intrigue and water them as I go. Sometimes I encourage a secret weed or two of to grow until they begin to get wild and interfere with the growth of my mystery. Then they have to be pulled out and composted... :-) But they have still added to the story in many ways - wrong turn, wrong person, another dangerous person.
The draft of my new "Oyster Point Mystery" has my signature opening... the commitment of the dastardly deed in graphic detail. You, the reader, are there, see it, feel it and more importantly see who did it. Why do I do that? Good question... maybe because I want the reader to know more than the characters; maybe because then the reader can see the right or wrong track that the characters are taking; and maybe because the reader still doesn't know how to catch the deed doer. That's my job as a writer to figure out. For some reason, this has become my style - most call it unorthodox, but it works for me and has become my signature opening.
That style doesn't work for everyone, so each of you has to find your own signature or voice - maybe your story starts with "It was a dark and stormy night...." I was advised a few times by other writers and professors not to have the dastardly deed open the story and I tried moving it. When I did it, I felt that I had lost the powerful opening that I love. So back it went.
My time-travel and romance novels usually don't open this way. But, that said, the other draft manuscript that I'm working on does have a mysterious opening. Now that I think of it, it's both a mystery and a time-travel. Is there such a genre? :-)
So my advice to all is to write your style, find your voice, mix genres if it works for you and have fun. Give your reader something that they love and and can't put down. Make them want more!!
Happy Valentine's Day if that's your thing... just enjoy the day with whoever or whatever is the love of your life.
Judi
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