Something About Doors

Newspapers use AP Style and fiction/non-fiction use the Chicago Manual of Style, but they have one very important thing in common—the opening.

Starting out as journalist, this was hammered into my thick head from the get-go. Competing against many, many stories, I had 25 to 30 words to capture the reader's attention, giving the basics of who, did what, when, and where? The rest of the story explained the how and why. In fiction and non-fiction the lead or hook is a bit different, but must capture the reader's interest.

There are no dogmatic rules for openings, only good, basic principles, and one of those principles is to capture the most important, most dramatic, and most interesting scene. However, it isn't important to start writing that way. After finishing the first draft, crafting the story comes into play with numerous edits, one of the first being the lead. Checking the delete files or trash can will reveal that I will write at least 20 to 25 variations. Here's an example. (No, not the 25. Just the first draft and most recent consideration.)

Leaving El Hierro and returning home in Nebraska after the first summer on that island was like stepping into a room and turning off the lights. The glitz, glamor, and celebrity status hadn’t made it that far. However, as word of our exploits came to the surface my popularity index increased markedly, something not especially welcomed. Still somewhat socially retarded, anonymity continued to be a preference, but all of a sudden, strangers wanted to be best buds, which made me nervous. Despite the risk of being labeled a snob, I was selective about making friends, and didn’t especially like crowds trying to schmooze their way into my sphere of comfort. Then they showed up – the paparazzi. At least I guessed that’s what they were, guys lurking about at the darndest times and unsuspecting places to take my picture.

*    *    *    *
I learned a painful lesson while on El Hierro in the Canary Islands. When the back of my neck began to itch there was danger nearby. The stronger the itch, the closer the danger. Sitting on a towel looking out over the west side of Branch Oak Lake not far from my home in Lincoln, Nebraska, I began rubbing my neck and looking in both directions of the grassy shore. The girls were some distance away, returning from the outhouse. There were no others on our side and the area was fairly open so no one could sneak up on us.

For each lead-in it is important to ask, “Is this going to cause the reader to be interested enough to continue?”

I look at a lot of books, especially those written by best selling authors. I am not always impressed. Truthfully? Too many have boring leads and the only draw is knowing a pretty good story is hidden somewhere further on. Serious and new authors struggling for an audience need to work harder, and this is one place to start.

That brings me to the place a number of authors start their story—a prologue. These generally amount to background information—sometimes valuable, sometimes not. I've seen it done well when written with a grabbing lead just as done in Chapter 1.

A well-known adventure writer wrote a novel a few years ago about the recovery of an important and valuable religious artifact found beneath the water near an island. How this artifact came to rest there was an exciting and intriguing short story used as his prologue. Another author more or less laid out the future world he was about to place his story. (z-z-z-z).

Remember, you, the author, are competing with over 200,000 other authors a year for the attention of a fickle audience. Whether you start with a prologue or Chapter 1, that is the first thing your potential audience is going to see. While promotion is important, promotion can not do much for an uninteresting beginning. Your lead or hook is the door that presents the handle. Will the visitor be interested enough to turn the knob and enter, or move to the next door?