Hook the reader from the start

I've written mostly shorter pieces recently, but whether you are writing a short piece or something longer, the opening is arguably the most important part. If you can't hook your reader at the beginning, then they aren't going to keep reading, and then it doesn't matter what great writing you have in the piece because the reader will never get there.

Each year, the International Thriller Writers organization holds their annual conference called ThrillerFest, which consists of presentations, panels, pitch opportunities, book signings, etc. I wasn't able to attend this year, but they provide the opportunity after the conference for people to purchase recordings of the sessions. I purchased quite a few of them, which have all been great, but there were a few that were particularly good that were on writing a great opening.

The first session on openings that I listened to was one by Wanda Morris, the author of All Her Little Secrets and Anywhere You Run. She stated that if you start strong, you are indicating to the reader that you know what you are doing and that they should continue to follow along with you. You can do this in the first sentence, the first paragraph, or the first few pages, and there are components you can include in each that will help you.

Morris refers to the first sentence as "the door to the house of your manuscript." To write a solid first line, you need to know your genre, your characters, and the story you are setting up. Then, there are five elements to a great first line: the inherent question, characters, setting, a sweeping declaration, and tone. The more of these you can include the better, but it is essential that you introduce a character that the reader can connect to. Now, character, setting, and tone are pretty self-explanatory, but what are those other two things? The Inherent question is the question that you raise at the beginning of the book that you answer by the end of the book, such as, "will the hero save the day?" And, a sweeping declaration is a broad, life-changing statement, such as, "All men like football." As you may have noticed, sweeping declarations don't have to be true, but they set up the story and the views of the narrator or protagonist. Lastly, don't forget that your first sentence can include movement of some kind, like walking, running, and riding on a train. This starts the pacing off in the right direction.

Once you have a great first sentence, what do you do with the next few paragraphs? Morris had another great quote in the session, which was, "The first page sells the book; the last page sells the next book." The first page is what people will read in a bookstore to see if they want to buy the book. It is your chance to pique the curiosity of your reader and start posing questions that you will answer throughout the book. Every sentence leads to the next, causing the reader to ask, "Why?," continuing to read in order to get an answer. Get the reader to start thinking about what they would do in the given situation that presents itself on the first page.

Another session I listened to was a panel lead by Tessa Wegert, author of the Shana Merchant series of mysteries. The panel spoke about how to craft the very best first page. First, they mentioned making the first page or pages succinct. This is something I have heard in other sessions as well. You want to get to the point. Generally, especially in thrillers or mysteries, you want to make the first chapter short so that the reader can get right into it. The group outlined several things that are key to include in the first page:

• show the reader that what is happening is a big deal for the protagonist

• put the reader into the genre

• create immediate tension

• ground the reader in the setting

• give the reader a character to hold onto

• start the action right away or drop the reader right into the middle of the action

• include something the reader can relate to

• elicit questions and emotions

• set the tone

Of those, the two most important from my perspective are to create immediate tension and to drop the reader right into the action. To start the tension-building immediately, you need to build suspense, which we will cover in a separate blog post. Dropping the reader right into the story mid-action sets off the quick pacing that can be found in action genres, like thrillers. Per Lee Child, it doesn't matter exactly where you drop the reader into the action as long as you, "pose a question that doesn't get answered until the very end." Get the reader wondering right off the bat. Now this isn't to say that you need an explosion on the first page. You can start the reader off with something small to ground them and show them what they should care about.

Suspense needs to be right there from the beginning. Just like Morris's comment about the first page selling the book, one of the panelists in Wegert's session mentioned a formula he likes to remember: 14-40-400. These represent the first 14 words, or the first sentence, the firs 40 words, or the first paragraph, and 400 words, or the first page. If you haven't hooked the reader by then, then you haven't sold the book.

When you write your first sentence or paragraph, do you pay attention to the components you are including, or do you just let it evolve naturally? Let me know in the comments!