A STORY IS A PROMISE

In A STORY IS A PROMISE, Bill Johnson examines the right way to open a story. And that’s important information to have. But as a PitchWars mentor, I’ve read hundreds of opening chapters and find that the same kinds of mistakes show up time and time again. With that in mind, I’ve put together a handy checklist of several ways to avoid writing the wrong opening. Ready? Let’s go!

The story starts in the wrong place

Occasionally, the story starts too late. When this occurs, the reader doesn’t have enough information to understand what is happening and/or they don’t have enough information to care about the main character. Most often, stories start too early, burdening the reader with pages and pages of material that don’t signal where the story is going or drive it forward in a meaningful way. (The best way to know if you’ve started in the right place? Share your work with critique partners and beta readers.)

The story lacks emotional resonance

There may be all sorts of exciting, dangerous, or even sad things happening in your story. But if we don’t know how these plot points impact the main character on a personal level, it makes it hard for us to buy into their journey. Give us a reason to care.

The story lacks tension

It’s easy to mistake tension for drama or action. Consequently, readers who are writing quiet (character-driven) stories sometimes mistakenly believe that their stories don’t need tension. But tension is what drives a story. Tension doesn’t have to mean running from bad guys or a storm brewing on the horizon. Tension means that there is some type of conflict—which can be internal, external, or both––driving the story forward. Otherwise, there is no reason for the reader to keep turning the pages.

The writer tries to play coy

Writers often try to hook the reader by dangling a carrot in front of them—referring to an incident that they assume will pique the reader’s curiosity and make them want to continue turning the pages. But often, these carrots confuse the reader and they end up setting the book aside. The line between hooking the reader and confusing them can be a very difficult one to walk, and CPs and beta readers play a crucial role in helping the writer get it right.

Too much backstory

If you’ve followed the PitchWars hashtag for any length of time, this is one that you’ve undoubtedly seen come up again and again. Don’t make the mistake of bogging down your opening pages with tons of information that the reader “has to have” to understand the story—if they really, truly have to have all of that information, then you’ve probably opened your story in the wrong place. But the chances are, the reader doesn’t need nearly all the information you’ve stuffed into your opening. Cut most of it, and leave only that which the reader absolutely cannot move forward without. (How do you know if you have the right balance? CPs and beta readers, of course. Noticing a theme here?)

First Day of School Syndrome

Stories that open on the first day of school are extremely common. As such, it’s exceptionally difficult to write a scene that feels fresh and engaging. The same goes for opening with dreams (in addition to signaling that you are a new writer, this technique causes the reader to feel like the writer has pulled a bait and switch, and they lose trust in the writer. Don’t take that risk). Another opening mistake along these lines—having the character gaze into a mirror. Find a more original way to convey the MC’s appearance.

Make sure your story doesn’t fall into any of the common opening traps, and you’ll be several steps closer to writing a solid opening that delivers on its promise to the reader. (Hopefully you’ve also walked away from this with a sense of how important critique partners are to the writing process. More about that here.)

Happy writing!

Posted by: Jessica Vitalis

A jack of all trades, JESSICA VITALIS worked for a private investigator, owned a modeling and talent agency, dabbled in television production, and obtained her MBA at Columbia Business School before embracing her passion for middle grade literature. She now lives in Atlanta, Georgia, where she divides her time between chasing children and wrangling words. Her debut novel, NOTHING LIKE LENNON, is currently out on submission. She’s represented by Saba Sulaiman at Talcott Notch and would love to connect on Twitter or at www.jessicavitalis.com

Polish Your Opening Lines with 8 on Eight!

Today’s magic number is … 34. 

Why?

Because that, my friends, is the number of days until the Pitch Wars submission window goes live!

*insert long, dramatic pause to let that reality sink in*

Hopefully, right now you’re feeling like this:

And like this:

But if you are human, the idea of entering your manuscript in Pitch Wars probably makes you feel something more like this:

And when you start thinking about what a huge opportunity it is, the pressure only increases. Over 40% of the 2015 mentees have signed with agents and new contracts are being inked all the time. With over 1600 entries last year, the competition is fierce. And writing a killer opening is more important than ever.

Fortunately, the good folks over at The Winged Pen (including yours truly) are hosting a contest on July 1^st to help one lucky kidlit writer (PB, MG, or YA) polish his or her opening eight lines*.

To enter 8 on Eight, simply keep an eye on The Winged Pen blog and leave a comment when the contest goes live. If your name is randomly drawn from the Triwizard cup at 8pm on July 1st, at least 8 Winged Pen members will provide feedback on your first eight lines. For more information, read about the contest here.

Good luck!

*Winning this contest is no guarantee that you'll be selected for Pitch Wars, but getting feedback from 8 serious writers surely can't hurt. And please remember that even if you don't win 8 on Eight or go on to become a 2016 mentee, Pitch Wars can still be a powerful––and enjoyable––opportunity to build a community and support your fellow writers.

Jessica Vitalis is represented by Saba Sulaiman at Talcott Notch. An active member of the literary community, she volunteers as a Pitch Wars mentor, with the We Need Diverse Books campaign, and contributes to two blogs: Writing With The Mentors and The Winged Pen. When she’s not pursuing her literary interests, Jessica can be found chasing her two precocious daughters around Atlanta, Georgia (or eating copious amounts of chocolate). She’d love to connect on Twitter at @jessicavitalis

Writing an opening scene is like juggling (only harder)

By Susan Gray Foster

New Clubs by jayniebell

Much has been said about opening chapters, opening pages, opening lines. And it’s no wonder. If the opening of a novel doesn’t entice the reader (whether that reader is an agent, an editor, or a member of the general public browsing through books at Barnes and Noble), they will likely read no further. This doesn’t necessarily mean that the opening needs to blow readers away with its awesomeness and leave them gasping, but it must catch readers' interest and compel them to spend hours of their lives reading the story that’s been introduced.

Although there are no hard and fast rules, generally speaking, opening chapters must introduce the reader to a main character they will care about, ground the reader in a setting, and establish conflict and tension, and the writer must do all this with an engaging voice, using a tone that is appropriate to the novel, without resorting to exposition, info dumps, or chunks of back-story.

It’s kind of like juggling: To open a novel, a writer must throw a lot of balls into the air at once and keep them there.

Openings that hook

Some writing advice suggests that openings must show the main character in their “normal world” before an inciting incident occurs. Others suggest that a novel should begin when something changes for the main character. The opening scenes of two of my favorite YA novels, ELEANOR AND PARK and ALL THE BRIGHT PLACES, do both of these things at once:

Rainbow Rowell’s ELEANOR AND PARK opens with Park’s normal life; he’s on a bus, heading for high school in 1980s middle-America. Within the opening paragraphs we learn that Park tries to “keep his head down” to avoid unwanted attention from the mean-spirited “popular” teens who sit at the back of the bus. Tension and conflict occur immediately as the popular kids pester him and make ignorant, demeaning comments about Park and his Korean mother, but Park is adept at navigating the high school cliques, and at tuning them out by listening to the era’s edgy new music on his headphones.

Then change happens: Eleanor gets on the bus. We empathize with Park as he desperately avoids offering a seat to the awkward, attracts-attention-in-all-the-wrong-ways new girl, and then does it anyway, setting the story in motion.

ALL THE BRIGHT PLACES, by Jennifer Niven, opens with the male protagonist, Theo, asking, “Is today a good day to die?” This opening line hits with an unexpected punch, and it hooks, compelling the reader to find out what sort of person would ask this question and why. In the next few sentences, we learn that Theo asks himself this question continually within the context of his day-to-day life as a high school student. And we discover that he is asking himself that question now, as he stands on the ledge of a tall building at his high school. We have a main character with a unique, engaging voice, we have a setting, and we have tension and conflict as Theo struggles with suicidal urges, all within a couple hundred words.

As Theo teeters on the ledge of the bell tower, we learn that his classmates refer to him as, “Theodore Freak,” and that they have become so desensitized to his strange, reckless behavior, they virtually ignore his precarious situation. This is Theo’s normal life. Information and back-story are woven seamlessly into a compelling scene taking place at present.

A few pages in, Theo discovers that he is not alone on the ledge of the tower. This will lead him to take action in a way that sets the story in motion. For Theo, something has changed.

Where to begin

When writing a first draft, trying to create a great opening scene with all the right elements, like the ones in these examples, would probably drive most writers insane and they would never get words down on paper. Everyone’s writing process is unique, but many find it works best to just start somewhere and write. Later, when the writer has a better handle on the important aspects of their novel, they can go back and rework the opening scene (usually, multiple times(!), with the help of good beta readers and critique partners.

… Or you can just throw everything in the air and try to juggle! ;)

For some other takes on openings, check out Where to Start Your Story, by #Pitch Wars mentor, Kes Trester, and How to Write a First Line that Hooks, by #Pitch Wars mentor, Stephanie Scott.

Thoughts on strong openings and how to write them? Please share in the comments below!

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