Story Starters Page 2

Artemis Fowl by Eoin Golfer

¶ 4.    Ho Chi Minh City in the summer.   Sweltering by anyone's standards.  Needless to say, Artemis Fowl would not have been willing to put up with such discomfort if something extremely important had not been at stake.  Important to the plan.

•  The first paragraph contains four sentences, three of which are sentence fragments.  The narrator uses the fragments to indicate something interesting or urgent.  At any rate it's probably enough to entice the reader to read further.

Sphere by Michael Crichton

For a long time the horizon had been a monotonous flat blue line separating the Pacific Ocean from the sky.  The Navy helicopter raced forward, flying low, near the waves.  Despite the noise and the thumping vibration of the blades, Norman Johnson fell asleep.  He was tired; he had been travelling on various military aircraft for more than 14 hours.  It was not the kind of thing a fifty-three-year old professor of psychology was used to.

• We learn that Norman Johnson's assignment is an urgent one.  The geographical description is rather stark so as to provide a quick understanding that this is not a travelogue. 

What have we learned?

• There is no one particular best way to start a story.
• A fragment of the theme of the story should be incorporated in the opening paragraph. 
• Successful writers realize that they have only one chance to make a first impression.

Strategies used to capture readers in the first paragraph

1.  Reveal that you have been asked to tell the story.  This suggests that you are competent and have the confidence of those who asked you. (Treasure Island)

2.  Confine your opening paragraph to the beauty and wonder of the natural world. (Obason)

Bibliography

Alcorn, Randy, Angela Alcorn, Karina Alcorn, The Ishbane Conspiracy, Multnomah Publishers, 2001.

Colfer, Eoin, Artemis Fowl, Hyperion Books, New York, 2002.

Crichton, Michael, Sphere, Wings Books, New York, 1994.

Kogawa, Joy, Obasan, Penguin Books, Toronto, 1983.

Stevenson, Robert Louis, Treasure Island, New American Library, New York, 1981.