Five Tips to Make You a Better Writer

TIP 5

Open with Your Strongest Point

I've always had a weakness for pulp fiction and one of my favorite writers is the late John D. MacDonald.  He wrote over 2 dozen "Travis McGee" books -- each with a color in the title.  He broke ground for most of the current mystery writers who use a continuing character as their protagonist and/or a gimmick in the naming of their books (Sue Grafton's alphabet titles, "A is for Alibi", "B is for Burglar"; James Patterson's nursery rhymes, "Along Came a Spider", "Kiss the Girls", etc.)

The theory with pulp fiction and novels in general is often a potential buyer will pick up a book and read the first page before deciding whether to reach for their wallet.  MacDonald was a master of the opening "grabber."  Here is the first sentence of his novel "Darker than Amber."

"We were just about to call it a night when somebody dropped the girl off the bridge."

If that doesn't make you want to read the next sentence, then you may want to check your pulse and see if you are still among us. 

Pulp fiction not your cup of tea?  Try these great opening sentences:

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."

            Charles Dickens "A Tale of Two Cities"

"Call me Ismael."

            Herman Melville "Moby Dick"

"This is a tale of a meeting of two lonesome, skinny, fairly old white men on a planet which was dying fast."

            Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.  "Breakfast of Champions"

"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife."

            Jane Austen, “Pride and Prejudice”  

"Lot ninety-seven," the auctioneer announced.  "A boy."

            Robert Heinlein, “Citizen of the Galaxy”

What's the first line of your novel or screenplay?