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Opening Sentences

The document outlines techniques for crafting interesting opening sentences in writing, highlighting elements such as character introduction, setting, and unexpected details. It includes examples from various literary works, analyzing their effects on readers. Additionally, it provides tasks for creating original opening sentences across different genres and expanding one into a full paragraph.

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14 views3 pages

Opening Sentences

The document outlines techniques for crafting interesting opening sentences in writing, highlighting elements such as character introduction, setting, and unexpected details. It includes examples from various literary works, analyzing their effects on readers. Additionally, it provides tasks for creating original opening sentences across different genres and expanding one into a full paragraph.

Uploaded by

bold banana
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Opening Sentences

Interesting Openings will either:


a. Introduce a character, the setting (the place where the story
happens) and/or the date.
b. Hint at an interesting thing that has happened.
c. Give an unexpected detail which makes you want to read on.
d. Give a description of the surroundings.
e. Begin with very strong/punchy words.
f. Give ideas which don’t seem to fit well with each other, and
make you wonder
how they are related.

TASK 1: Sentence Openers. What makes these


sentences interesting? Write down a letter for each
sentence and explain the effect on the reader. Bonus
points if you can guess the book.

1. Call me Ishmael.
a - This intrigues the reader since it is short and unusual. It also makes the reader
wonder why they started off by their name instead of something else, like the setting.

2. A screaming comes across the sky.


b - This intrigues the reader since it starts off with a disastrous event which makes
them wonder what happened. There are elements of mystery and suspense which
hooks them in.

3. It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.
c – The clocks are hitting thirteen which is impossible and makes the reader wonder
how this happened and how it is related to the plot.

4. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was
the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it
was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it
was the winter of despair.
f – This pulls in the reader since, while this paragraph doesn’t make sense, it is
interesting.

5. The sun shone, having no alternative, on the nothing new.


d – This describes the setting and how the narrator portrays it. It also has a
pessimistic tone which makes the reader wonder why.

6. All this happened, more or less.


b – This is unexpected and hooks the reader since they aren’t sure what happened
and continues reading to find out. They also try to figure out how the narrator already
knows this.

7. In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've
been turning over in my mind ever since.
c – They wonder what this advice is and why the narrator keeps thinking of it. Also,
how it is related to the plot.

8. It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenbergs, and I
didn't know what I was doing in New York.
f – The reader tries to figure out how these three pieces of information come
together. It is mysterious and keeps the reader hooked.

9. He was an inch, perhaps two, under six feet, powerfully built, and he advanced
straight at you with a slight stoop of the shoulders, head forward, and a fixed from-
under stare which made you think of a charging bull.
a – This introduction to a new character is interesting and the reader tries to figure
out what part they play in the book and what their personality is.

10. In the town, there were two mutes and they were always together.
c – Again, the reader wonders who these two mutes are and why this fact was the
first thing to be introduced.
11. The cold passed reluctantly from the earth, and the retiring fogs revealed an army
stretched out on the hills, resting.
b – The reader wonders why there is an army and why they are resting. There is a
sense of mystery as the reader goes on to try to understand why.

Task 2: Write your own opening sentence.

A)Opening sentence for a detective genre.


The blood gushed out of the crippled man’s mouth as he silently pleaded for someone to come into
the dark alley and save him.

B)Opening sentence for a romance novel.


I loved him so much that sometimes I thought I existed solely for him.

C)Opening sentence for a sci-fi novel.


The stars glittered one last time before they exploded into a shimmering mess of mystery.

D) An opening sentence for a genre of your


choice.
Horror – It was winter last year when the Johnsons threw out their doll, an abandoned house in the
middle of nowhere burst into flames and I was packing up, getting ready to move halfway across the
world,

Task 3: Using one of your examples from task 2, write


your own opening paragraph. Continue in the
appropriate genre.
I loved him so much that sometimes I thought I existed solely for him. His grey eyes that glittered
when he laughed. His hair that curled up in summer sun. His smile that seemed to brighten my
world. He was my everything and without him, I was nothing. I loved him so much that I thought my
heart would burst... until one day it actually did.

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