Beginnings

Boo! Scared you, didn t I? But I also got you to read on to this second sentence. So, even though it was only four characters long, that first line did its job: it served as a hook to bring you into this piece of writing. In that sense, it was a great... More

Boo! Scared you, didn t I? But I also got you to read on to this second sentence. So, even though it was only four characters long, that first line did its job: it served as a hook to bring you into this piece of writing. In that sense, it was a great beginning -- and "great beginnings" are the topic of this, the first installment of the "On Writing" column that I will be contributing to each issue of On Spec. A Canadian horror writer I know said something very intriguing recently: he was looking forward to the day when he was well known, so that he wouldn t have to start off with a grabby first sentence. He wanted to be able to begin subtly, with the reader trusting that the story would be worth his or her time just on the strength of the author s name. But even the lions of literature still go for the snappy start. Consider this opening line from Robertson Davies s Murther & Walking Spirits: "I was never so amazed in my life as when the Sniffer drew his concealed weapon from it Less