Analog SFF, July-August 2008 by Dell Magazine Authors

Author:Dell Magazine Authors
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Science Fiction
Publisher: Dell Magazines
Published: 2010-12-15T07:08:06.416000+00:00

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Special Feature: HOOK, LURE, AND NARRATIVE: THE ART OF WRITING STORY LEADS

by Richard A. Lovett

The most difficult part of any writing project is the opening. That's hard enough for articles like this, but it's vastly worse in fiction.

Beginners are often taught that the opening's job is to hook readers and draw them into the story. The reality is it's more like advertising. Yes, you'd like to catch the undecided, but you also need to let them know what you're selling. To push the metaphor, if it's used cars you're selling, there's no sense trying to hook computer shoppers.

Reporters have a concept called the five Ws (who, what, where, when, and why) that they're trained to include in every article. A good news lead incorporates as many as possible. For example: “Yesterday, President Bush broke his collarbone mountain-biking on his ranch in Crawford, Texas.”

The purpose is to let readers know what the story is about so they can decide whether to read further. (And in case you're wondering, Bush mountain-bikes but, as far as I know, has never broken a collarbone.) In fiction, the opening serves a similar purpose: if you're writing experimental mainstream, you really don't want an intro designed to hook fans of action/adventure. That gives us:

Rule 1 of fiction intros: make sure the intro matches the tone of the rest of the story. In other words, if you aspire to crisp conciseness, don't begin with a baroque flourish. Consider the start to Ed McBain's 1955 short, “First Offense":

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