Hemingway said that once you have your first sentence you've got your piece. All he needed was his first sentence and he had his short story. It's not so easy for the rest of us mere mortal writers.
The importance of a great opening goes beyond its ability to keep the reader turning the pages. The opening is the book's soul in miniature. Within those first few paragraphs, sometimes artfully disguised and sometimes clearly signposted, are the seeds of theme, style, and the voice of the writer. It's as if you're whispering in the reader's ear as he or she opens your book and turns to pristine page one, "This is the world I created for you. This is what I want to tell you. You won't understand it all until you're finished, but this is a hint, a taste, of what I have in store for you."
Honestly, I ponder a long time before I start a new piece. Even with deep pondering, I still sometimes stare at a blank page. How to get started hasn't come to me yet. I know I can't move forward with the story richocheting around in my brain until I find just the right key to unlock what is to come. So, I sit and ponder some more, staring at my blank page, knowing that if I can make my beginning the promise of a great story, everything else will follow. That's what a great opening is to me: a promise to my readers that I'm about to give them something that's worth their time, something they haven't seen before, something that will touch them,
something that is a glimpse into me.
Yes, the first sentences are hard. Everything is going to flow out of that first sentence. When you add the second sentence, your options are gone. Your first one is a gesture, the second a commitment of direction. It's good to get the journey underway as you build that beginning and segue into the plot and character development.
Oh, and the last sentence of a story is another adventure. It should open the piece up to the readers' reflections and ponderings. It should feel satisfying, that the story ended well, but make the reader want to go back and reread the beginning. That's how it should be, but it doesn't always work. Writing is really a tightwire act. The minute you start putting words on paper, you're balancing all the components of the story and praying you don't fall flat on your face.
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