What’s the important part of the opening scene? MY father used to agonize about the opening line in his writing, to the point that he never was able to write a novel.
Here’s the secret. Forget your opening line. Write it at the very end of your book.
Here’s another secret. Write the opening scene at the very end of your book, just before you decide on your opening line.
Why?
I’m supposed to say something witty right now, or deliver some kind of cryptic information. Instead, I’m just going to tell you the honest truth.
This frees you up the time to write your opening scene, and give it the attention it deserves.
The opening scene of your book not only sets the scene for everything to follow, it must also have some element of the ending of the book present. Do this, and you effectively have told the reader what is coming. This creates a sense of the inevitable as the book pushes through act one into act two. You’ve already seen – without knowing it – a glimpse of the climax.
Here’s your first hint – if it involves a rooftop sword fight, you need to hint at the battle, the ineptitude of the protagonist at any kind of battle, or perhaps a fear of heights. Perhaps even just a hint at the enduring battle of good versus evil.
Justin shook the rain off him, and stepped into the room. A drip from the ceiling landed on the top of his head. “I never win.” He muttered.
“Never win” sets the stage for a battle between good or evil that has to culminate between the antagonist and the protagonist.
Scene settings are unimportant. I don’t need a room described in detail at this point. I also don’t need the “6’2, 236 pounds, wide shoulders, gray eyes and a cleft chin” descriptions. You know why? I might have a different picture in my head of what Justin looks like. What if he wears round glasses, looks like an enthusiastic nerd and keeps his shirts buttoned up to the top button? What if the reader wants to picture Justin as heroic, but not muscular? What if we want him to look like Schwartzeneggar? What if we don’t? I mean, I read “Man On Fire” years ago, and Schwartzeneggar was exactly who I’d have cast in that role if I were a director!
The point is, don’t clutter the opening scene with useless facts unless they are crucial to the story. Do I need to know what the room looks like? Only if it’s crucial to the setting.
Try this as a writing experiment. Watch a movie ending without seeing the beginning. Now, write a beginning for it.
