JoHoTo #3 The WOW!!! Opening, Part Two
A WOW!!! opening does one or more of the following:
-leaves the reader curious for an explanation or reason
-catches the reader's attention
-sets the tone for the story
-reveals something about the main character
-is out of the ordinary (either for the reader or the main character)
When you're writing your opening, see how many, if any, of these things you accomplish.
Let's dissect those opening lines from Part One, shall we?
1. From Millicent Min, Girl Genius by Lisa Yee: We get that the tone of the story is going to be lighthearted and humorous and that
the main character perceives the world a bit differently than we do. We also wonder why the main character thinks being called anal retentive,
etc wouldn't be a bad thing, and we wonder what she has done to earn such descriptions of her character.
2. From Skin Hunger by Kathleen Duey: The description of the opening character's breathing alone catches our attention and lets us know that
he's in a bad situation, as it scrapes in and out of his lungs. We can also tell this won't be a simple romp around the garden and that perhaps he
comes from a simpler time/life(with the mention of road-mud versus highway dust).
3. From Savvy by Ingrid Law: The name of the main character's brother (Fish) alone is entertaining, not to mention the fact that he caused
a hurricane. How? Why? And the main character says it so factually, as if this strangeness is something she's accustomed to. Interesting...
4. From Pride & Prejudice & Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith: The smart-aleck tone of the book is obvious, especially to those familiar
with Jane Austen's work. They'll know this is a parody and wonder how zombies came to be in this pristine Victorian environment. Very Shaun of
the Dead. Very out of the ordinary.
5. From The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman: Again, you realize this is not going to be a lighthearted tale. Who's holding the knife? Has the knife
been used to kill someone, or is it about to kill someone?
6. From The Girl Who Could Fly by Victoria Forester: It catches our attention with bluntness and matter-of-factness. Piper wasn't crying
(indicating possible suicide), wasn't laughing (indicating drunkenness), wasn't displaying any sort of emotion. She just decided to jump off the roof.
Why?? Why the roof? Why not a stump? Why not the Eiffel Tower? It's not normal for people to just jump off the roof.
7. From The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale: Just the pomp and circumstance behind the name lets you know this character is special. We see that
the environment will most likely be some form of fantasy, and we wonder why it's so important to state that the character was BORN with that name.
Did she not keep that full name? We also see that she did not open her eyes for three days. Again, something not normal for the average person.
Why didn't she? Was it by choice? Was it because of an illness?
8. From Little Brother by Cory Doctorow: Again, we're dealing with a narrator that is so matter-of-fact about something so odd. Why is the
narrator so carefully monitored and not at all surprised by it? We assume, based on the description of the main character's location, that this will
be a modern story set in a tech-savvy world (with mention of surveillance).
9. From Bones of Faerie by Janni Lee Simner: Again, we are hit with past tense. She had a sister once? What happened to her? The narrator
describes her sister in such poetic terms we get a feeling this might be fantasy. We can also assume this isn't some big city girl since she can
describe what the moonlight looks like off of a river. We can also hear a hint of wistfulness in the narrator's voice. She must be a caring person.
10. From Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins: We get the impression that the narrator does not sleep alone and takes great notice when it happens. The
phrasing and bluntness of the sentence also indicates this story will have a more serious tone. The author could just as easily have said, "the other
side of the bed was as cold as a frozen bra at a slumber party", but then we wouldn't get the same vibe, would we?
Move on to JoHoTo #4!
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