Years ago, when I was a kid, I remember my dad going off on intro lines to books. He made a big deal about the fact the first line of your book had to be perfect, or nobody would read it.
Now, my dad read a lot, often more than I did – and I went from one book to another. So, I took his word for it.
And so I wasted countless hours in front of a Remington typewriter, trying to think of the perfect first line to my novels. And then I’d waste countless hours trying to think of the perfect first line to every scene and chapter.
To the point that I never, ever finished a novel until the 2000’s. That’s 30 years of writing, and never being able to finish!
Things are different now. I’ve written and finished several novels, and several screenplays. Now I’ve got a foolproof way to write and get it done, and the first thing I did was ditch my father’s advice. Anything that stops you from writing is nonsense and dead weight.
When I’m writing, I’ve usually got a certain amount of pre-novel work done. I know the goal of the chapter and the scene. So very often, I’ll just write location and name in the beginning of the scene. “Carpenter and McKinney stood in the clearing, outside the shelter.”
Who: carpenter and McKinney.
What: They’re standing, obviously having a conversation or they’d be doing something. What it is they’re conversing about, we’re about to find out.
When: Obviously, immediately after the other scene. How do I say “Obviously?” because there’s no statement about when it’s taking place. The Next Day is missing. Later That evening is missing. So it must be immediately following the other scene. What you don’t say is often as valid as what you do say.
Where: outside the shelter.
Why: This is again an obvious one. They’re either going to talk about the shelter, plans for it – or they’re going to talk about something they don’t want anyone else to here. How can you derive that? It’s simple. They’re outside, and nobody else is. again, you don’t need to say everything.
how: There’s no how in this intro. They’re standing, which means they’re capable of it. But if your introduction was, “Carpenter was suspended twelve stories in the air, wondering how he was going to get himself out of this”… You’re going to need to explain how he got there, and what’s got him suspended!
The point here is, I try to write to-the-quick intro lines. I’m trying to write a scene! Get INTO the scene as quickly as possible. PLEASE don’t waste the intro to your scene with, “the glittering drops slowly rolled off the flower petals as Carpenter and McKinney stared off into the distance, each affected by the sound of the soothing rain as they struggled with their…”
Yeah, that’s good writing. Except for the fact that it’s such a compound sentence it looks more like plumbing than writing!
Setup. dialog. Response. gesture. objection. Confident answer. Lull.
NOW glittering raindrops!
Got it? Scenes breathe. They have life. If you load up the front end of the scene with baggage, the scene seems winded, like it’s got a weight on its chest.
If your intro is TOO terse – that’s why there’s re-writes. Get the scene written. There’s some essential part of that you’re itching to write, and you’re staring off into the distance, waiting for the starting gun to fire. BANG! Write that. Don’t worry about the perfect starting line. Just for now WWWWWH, in one sentence. If you don’t need to explain why, don’t!
Conclusion
It’s a sentence. Write it, and move on to the real focus of the scene!
