Another Thought on Openings

[queenoftheskies]

Do you think there are different requirements for the openings of novels and short stories?

Do you think that the two forms require different types of hooks to entice your reader to continue reading?

Or do you think the openings of the two forms have basically the same requirements?

Comments

[merebrillante.livejournal.com]

Speaking as a reader, it's not the opening line of either form that compels me to read on. I read the first few paragraphs. In those paragraphs I can usually determine if the subject matter and the writer's style are to my liking. If not, I move on. A hook-y opening line will, in my opinion, only carry you so far. Ditto cute titles.

[spaceoperadiva.livejournal.com]

If the opening line is too obviously "hooky" and/or the title is too cute, it sets my back up and I become hyper-critical of the rest of the story. I guess I'm very contrary.

[spaceoperadiva.livejournal.com]

Do you think there are different requirements for the openings of novels and short stories?

Yikes, I hope not. I make openings based on the mood of the piece and that gives me enough trouble. Trying to calculate in differences due to length might just kill me dead.

[arkiewriter.livejournal.com]

I don't find any difference. Openings need to read as if they were more interesting than an encyclopedia, but other than that, I tend to give them the benefit of the doubt. I've read more than a few stories (novels or shorts) where I was bored to tears for the first few paragraphs, but then something jumped up to bite me and gain my attention.

Depends on your readership. A flat opening will lose some, but others will march on through.

[dragonmyst.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure, when I write I don't think in terms of a hook I simply try to figure out the best place to start the story. For instance in the story The Magic Maker the opening line had been beating around in my head for nearly three years. I just sorta went from there. I had no clue what would happen after I wrote that line. :/

I think that the diversity of our society makes nearly any kind of opening acceptable. And I try to read the first three chapters of a novel to decide if I like it, or the first few paragraphs of a short story.

[dsgood.livejournal.com]

Note that for me, the opening is the first words-on-paper I encounter after the front matter. Which means that the novelist who has a really great opening line -- preceded by an infodump from The Encyclopedia of Boring History -- has lost me before I get to the story itself.

That aside, the short story has to get going earlier. A 5,000 word short story usually can't begin with 4,500 words explaining the history of the conflict between striped evil chaos and plaid good order.

[roseyniswitrin.livejournal.com]

Thanks for these links! Both look intriguing to me...I'll have to read some more when I have more time.

[jsgbits.livejournal.com]

I'm more forgiving of novel openings that aren't immediately smacking me in the head. It's like dipping toe-by-toe into a hot bath. Short stories, otoh, have less room to be so subtle, perhaps. Some stories just require an immediate head dunking to get the reader immersed. And other stories have other ways of folding around the reader until the reader realizes the story has gotten into their head.

Um... does this make any sense?

I like short story openings to grab me by my lapels. I don't necessarily need that for a novel to hook me. But having a good **solid** novel opening establishes a lot for the reader and can lure the reader further in--it helps to encourage the reader to turn the next page in a linear fashion rather than encouraging them to skip ahead to the end. I assume. *g*

[magicnoire.livejournal.com]

For me as a reader, I give short stories less leeway than novels. You don't have a lot of room in short stories so you need to be propelling into the meat pretty quickly. It doesn't necessarily have to be hooky, but it needs to get the point across. For novels, I'm more forgiving and for novels in particular, I'm looking for voice and character and style. If it's not talking to me in some way or drawing me in, it's going to be a long 300+ pages. *wry grin*

[madwriter.livejournal.com]

Sorry if someone's already said this (I don't really have time to scan all the comments yet), but the best advice about openings I ever heard was to make sure the whole book is like the opening. There can be numerous different ways to interpret this--maybe even different interpretations for different types of books--but oddly enough it makes sense when you put it into practive.

[java-fiend.livejournal.com]

For me, I think that the first sentences in either a novel or a short have to be compelling. I'm not saying that it's the end all, be all, but I think the first few sentences can generally tell you a lot about the coming story. If the first few lines fall flat, chances are, the rest of the piece will as well. There's obvious exceptions, but that's just my 2 cents. And I don't think there is a difference between shorts and longs.