Starting lines for story writing??
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1. Good story openings make us want more information
A strong story opening immediately makes you want to know more. The author tantalizes you with incomplete knowledge. Take the opening line of Donna Tartt’s The Secret History, for example:
The snow in the mountains was melting and Bunny had been dead for several weeks before we came to understand the gravity of our situation.
Referring to the death of a character with an unusual nickname makes us want answers to ‘who’ and ‘why’. Who’s Bunny and why’s he dead? Tartt’s use of past-perfect tense(‘Bunny had been dead for several weeks before…’) extends the sense of mystery to the events following on from Bunny’s death.
We intuit that we’ll find out not only how and why Bunny died but the aftermath, too. The first person plural in ‘our situation’ conjures a cast of shadowy characters in the background. This is a lot to compress into a first sentence. The opening teases us with unanswered questions, hinting at the narrator’s possible complicity (along with the involvement of other, not-yet-introduced characters).
2. Good opening sentences introduce a novel’s themes
Many great novels open with narration or description that doesn’t immediately suggest the themes that will run throughout. There is no absolute ‘rule’ for first lines (other than to craft a good sentence). Yet many celebrated novels do open with lines that establish theme.
The opening to Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities is one of the most famous first lines in fiction:
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way – in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.
Dickens’ first line is an excellent example of a catchy first sentence. The parallel construction contrasting extreme opposites is memorable due to its repetitive, poem-like structure. It also clearly establishes theme. It suggests the book’s preoccupation with historical processes (specifically the French Revolution). The societal extremes of poverty and wealth, power and powerlessness that Dickens examines are introduced by the polar opposites of his opening sentence.
3. Strong story beginnings make bold statements
The opening sentence of Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina (Constance Garnett translation) is another famous first line from classic fiction.
Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.
Tolstoy’s first line introduces the domestic strife that drives the story’s tragic events, using a bold, sweeping statement. The opening line is effective for two reasons. On one hand, it makes a claim we might argue with. ‘Happy families are just as diverse as unhappy ones,’ we might object.
Secondly, the opening sentence is well constructed. The opposition between happy and unhappy families has symmetry. The sentence structure draws our attention to this opposition. It’s clear structure makes us dwell on the statement and become curious about how this claim will be proven by the story.
4. An interesting story opening sets story development in motion
Interesting first lines of novels often begin with striking character actions that prepare the stage for further developments. The opening sentence of George Orwell’s famous novella about farm animals staging a revolt introduces the antagonist, the farmer who is the villain to the revolutionary animals:
Mr. Jones, of the Manor Farm, had locked the hen-houses for the night, but was too drunk to remember to shut the pop-holes.
Orwell shows his character making a mistake in the first line. Because Orwell mentions Jones’s oversight, it becomes significant – we surmise there will be consequences. Through this, an impending plot development (the animals managing to meet and organize rebellion) is shown from the start..
A strong story opening immediately makes you want to know more. The author tantalizes you with incomplete knowledge. Take the opening line of Donna Tartt’s The Secret History, for example:
The snow in the mountains was melting and Bunny had been dead for several weeks before we came to understand the gravity of our situation.
Referring to the death of a character with an unusual nickname makes us want answers to ‘who’ and ‘why’. Who’s Bunny and why’s he dead? Tartt’s use of past-perfect tense(‘Bunny had been dead for several weeks before…’) extends the sense of mystery to the events following on from Bunny’s death.
We intuit that we’ll find out not only how and why Bunny died but the aftermath, too. The first person plural in ‘our situation’ conjures a cast of shadowy characters in the background. This is a lot to compress into a first sentence. The opening teases us with unanswered questions, hinting at the narrator’s possible complicity (along with the involvement of other, not-yet-introduced characters).
2. Good opening sentences introduce a novel’s themes
Many great novels open with narration or description that doesn’t immediately suggest the themes that will run throughout. There is no absolute ‘rule’ for first lines (other than to craft a good sentence). Yet many celebrated novels do open with lines that establish theme.
The opening to Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities is one of the most famous first lines in fiction:
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way – in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.
Dickens’ first line is an excellent example of a catchy first sentence. The parallel construction contrasting extreme opposites is memorable due to its repetitive, poem-like structure. It also clearly establishes theme. It suggests the book’s preoccupation with historical processes (specifically the French Revolution). The societal extremes of poverty and wealth, power and powerlessness that Dickens examines are introduced by the polar opposites of his opening sentence.
3. Strong story beginnings make bold statements
The opening sentence of Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina (Constance Garnett translation) is another famous first line from classic fiction.
Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.
Tolstoy’s first line introduces the domestic strife that drives the story’s tragic events, using a bold, sweeping statement. The opening line is effective for two reasons. On one hand, it makes a claim we might argue with. ‘Happy families are just as diverse as unhappy ones,’ we might object.
Secondly, the opening sentence is well constructed. The opposition between happy and unhappy families has symmetry. The sentence structure draws our attention to this opposition. It’s clear structure makes us dwell on the statement and become curious about how this claim will be proven by the story.
4. An interesting story opening sets story development in motion
Interesting first lines of novels often begin with striking character actions that prepare the stage for further developments. The opening sentence of George Orwell’s famous novella about farm animals staging a revolt introduces the antagonist, the farmer who is the villain to the revolutionary animals:
Mr. Jones, of the Manor Farm, had locked the hen-houses for the night, but was too drunk to remember to shut the pop-holes.
Orwell shows his character making a mistake in the first line. Because Orwell mentions Jones’s oversight, it becomes significant – we surmise there will be consequences. Through this, an impending plot development (the animals managing to meet and organize rebellion) is shown from the start..
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start with a topic
the content should be good it carries 4 marks
check your fluency after the test
and the starting lines depends on the story
the content should be good it carries 4 marks
check your fluency after the test
and the starting lines depends on the story
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