Back to Beginnings

We've touched on beginnings and opening lines in previous posts, but it's so important that I wanted to devote this post to that very same topic.

I've decided to put the opening paragraphs of my YA thriller, Lost in the Bayou, here as an example. I'd like you to include your opening in a comment so we can all benefit from the input each of us has to offer. So, with that said, here it is...


In Louisiana, summer wraps around you like molasses. Thick and sticky. July is hot and humid. Always. August is worse. And the summer of 1963 has been a record breaker so far.

This morning, the sky is cloudless. It's muggy, and there's no hint of a breeze to blow away the pestering flies or the lingering stench of whatever crawled under the porch and died a few days ago. The only possible relief in sight is a dark bank of clouds in the south over the bayou. If it holds together, we may get a storm later tonight to cool things off. I hope so.

The rhythmic buzz of locusts fills the air, but it stops suddenly as the deep rumble comes up the road. My heart races as the sound rolls across the terrace and toward the covered veranda where we're waiting.

There's an uncertain look in Andy's eyes when he glances up at me, and his voice is thin as water when he speaks. "He's coming."


In fiction, an arrival or a departure is a good way to start out. I decided to use the arrival of Uncle Conrad as a starting point in order to introduce him to the reader, along with Robin and her little brother, Andy.

As mentioned, I would love your comments, and I'm certain the rest of us would enjoy reading a sample of your opening if you'd like to share it with us. As always, keep writing.

Branding yourself and your product

Obviously, marketing is a huge subject and way too large to cover in one session. So, we're going to drill down a little and pick out one particular area of interest to discuss, i.e., branding.

Is it important to brand yourself or your products? That's like asking if it's important to have a period at the end of a sentence. Everything you do in your marketing program should be related to the image you're trying to create. But before doing anything, and perhaps having to undo it later, you need to decide what that image is, or will be.

The image you create may be centered around your main character (Harry Potter) or yourself as the creator of that character or work (Stephen King). Keep in mind that everything you do, every email, every Facebook post, every Tweet, every query—everything—is a reflection of your image or your brand. Keep in mind that, as your visibility grows, more and more people are watching and listening to what you say and do. Make sure your actions and words reflect the image you're trying to create.

Image retention is a product of words and graphics. And repetition. When you begin thinking about creating your brand, there are three things you need to consider in order to produce something that will be memorable. If you decide to produce a logo, keep those things in mind, and use that visual image at every opportunity. We could do a very lengthy post here on image creation and how the words, letters, typeface, arrangement, color, space, etc., all play a part in the feeling or mood that image creates. But this isn't the place for that much information. At least not today.

Let's continue and define the three primary elements required to create a unique brand or image. These are not the visual elements involved, but the base elements and essential parts that need to be included in the initial creation stage.

HONEST: First, the image or brand you create must be honest. It must be aligned with your beliefs about who you are or who your characters are.

MEANINGFUL: The brand or vision you create for yourself or your work must be relevant to the targeted customer, the reader of your works. If not, they will have difficulty relating and sales will not be as high as they could be if you build a bridge to connect.

DIFFERENT: There must be something uncommon, something significantly different between your image and all the others that are out there competing for attention. In business this is sometimes referred to as the USP or the Unique Selling Proposition.

So there you have a basic narrative on branding. It isn't a high-tech or an in-depth study by any means. But it may be enough to get you started in the right direction. As always, if you'd like to leave a comment on the subject, please feel free to do so. I like knowing there's someone out there reading this.

Finding your voice

Voice can be a stumbling block for many writers. It’s a concept that’s somewhat difficult to describe, but it’s easy to see when a piece of writing has it, or doesn’t. Voice is the way writing sounds on the page. It's comprised of several aspects: word choice, sentence structure, rhythm, etc. One of these aspects involves being able to connect with the reader's emotions through the words you write. Today we’re going to talk about this aspect of voice and practice injecting it into your writing.

We can’t all be Stephen King or Harper Lee, so don't try to be a carbon copy. You have your own voice. You just need to let it out. Here's one way to begin: Write something. Read it aloud. Listen to how it sounds. Can you feel the tone, the mood, the emotion in the words? Does it have a rhythm or a flow to it? If it seems wooden or stilted, try writing it again. Have someone else read it to you. Keep doing it until you find the right combination. Think about the feeling, the emotion you’re trying to convey. If you can find that aspect, the words will practically write themselves.

There's much more that can be said on this subject, but learning by doing may provide more value in this case. So, let's do an exercise. I’d like you to write a paragraph for the story I’m about to describe. One paragraph. Try to keep it under 150 words. Get that inner voice speaking and make your words powerful enough to convey what’s going on. I’m not going to play Big Brother on this one, so if you go over 150 words, well, you go over. But aim for 150 or less. Your first draft may contain a lot more than that. If so, pare it down to its essence. Start off with an attention-getting first sentence and go from there.

You will write your paragraph in first person POV. And just for kicks, let's write it in the present tense. If you're not certain about the conventions of that style, check out The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, or Lost in the Bayou, by Cornell DeVille (shameless plug). If you've never written in present tense, you might find it enjoyable and fun.

The setting is a small chapel. The sky is dark. Thunder is rumbling. It's raining. You are twelve years old, sitting on a wooden pew. At the front of the room is a casket containing the body of your mother. Or your father. Or your grandmother or grandfather. Or your brother or sister. Or your best friend. You decide.

What I'd like you to do is put us inside that twelve-year-old's head. What thoughts and emotions are filling your mind and heart? Memories? Sadness? Anger? Shock? Numbness? Confusion? Relief that the suffering is over? Are there other people in the chapel? What are they doing? Is your hair wet from the rain? Can you feel a water droplet trickling down your neck? Are you cold? Is someone playing the organ? Are there flowers? Can you smell them? Use whatever words you wish to convey the emotions you’re feeling, but keep in mind that a ten-year-old isn’t going to use the same words or speech patterns an adult would. And those questions above are just ideas to spark your imagination. You don't necessarily need to address those.

Your objective is to connect the reader to this situation by the words you choose and the way you arrange them. Draw the reader in so they’re experiencing it with you as they read it. The words should go into their head and straight down to their heart. Make them feel, really feel, what you’re feeling. Use your imagination on this one, and get that voice of yours into it. I know it’s inside you. Let it out. When you finish, if it doesn't make you cry when you read it, rewrite it. Keep revising until your heart breaks and your voice cracks when you try to read it aloud. When that happens, that's the voice you've been keeping inside. That's the voice that will connect with the reader.

In order to keep things organized, when you post your comment, start out with a TITLE. If you don’t wish to participate, feel free to comment on any of the other examples, and use the title so the writers will know which one you’re commenting on. This subject may be too emotional to get a lot of participants, but I hope you’ll give it a try. It's a great exercise, and you may be surprised by the results.

The best and most beautiful things cannot be seen or touched. They must be felt with the heart — Helen Keller.

New YouTube Channel for Writers

Hey, my faithful followers and fellow writers!

I have just completed and uploaded a Welcome Video for my new YouTube channel. As the video indicates, this is another outlet for informative information and commentary related to writing, editing, publishing, and promotion. I hope you will take a moment to view it, and I hope you will hit that "SUBSCRIBE" button so that you'll be alerted when I post another one of these videos on YouTube.

Also, if you like what you see, don't hesitate to click on that thumbs up "LIKE" button.

So, here it is. If you'd like to leave a comment, please do. I truly enjoy reading what you have to say. Spread the word, because when we get 50 subscribers, we're going to have a subscriber appreciation giveaway. Enjoy!

I Cut My Thumb Off Today

Not really, but I wanted to get your attention. Keep reading. It will all make sense by the time you finish this paragraph. This article is about opening lines, and how very important they are. When we’re looking for something to read, we want the words to fly off the page and grab our attention from that very first sentence. If they don’t do that, we may put the book down and continue our search for something else.

As writers, we sometimes don’t give our stories the best beginnings. Capturing a reader’s attention and creating an interest for the story we’re telling has to start early if we plan on keeping the reader with us until the end. The first page is important. The first paragraph is very important. The first sentence is critical. Either your opening line will impact the reader and hold their interest for several pages while they’re getting into the story, or it will leave them unimpressed enough to finish the first page.

A few examples can provide us with a better understanding, so I've listed below the opening lines from some familiar novels. I consider these to be extraordinary beginnings and more than sufficient to engage the reader.

Let’s begin with James Barrie’s opening line from Peter Pan: All children, except one, grow up. There’s no question that you have to keep reading to find out about this one, special child.

In 1984, George Orwell captures our attention by painting a strange picture with his opening line: It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. That line is going to put a question mark in the reader’s mind and force them to read on and find out what kind of strange world they’ve stepped into.

In The Graveyard Book, Neil Gaiman gives us a wonderful opening line and a beautifully written sentence that is simple, shocking and enticing: There was a hand in the darkness, and it held a knife. No reader is going to be able to close the cover on that sentence. They simply must continue reading.

Finally, Anthony Horowitz gives us a fabulous opening line in Stormbreaker: When the doorbell rings at three in the morning, it’s never good news. You can’t argue with that logic, and you can’t put the book down until you find out who’s ringing the doorbell and why they’re doing it at this hour.

And there you have a brief look at a few examples of really well written opening lines. Now that we’ve covered that, it’s time for you to take a look at your current WIP and read that first line once again. After you read it, ask yourself these questions:

1. Does it entice you to read on?

2. Does it place you in a curious situation that makes you want to know more?

3. If you close the book now, will you want to open it again to find out what happens next?

If your answer to those questions was no, then you need to take another look at that opening paragraph and, especially, your opening line. That’s your one and only chance to make a great first impression. You need to create a compelling sentence that will draw the reader in and make them want to know more about your story. It needs to be so powerful that there is no way the reader can put the book down without reading at least the following sentence, or the rest of the first paragraph. A good opening sentence that places a question in the reader’s head can hold them through the first hundred pages or more while you continue to work your magic and spin the tale around that perfect opening line.

So, there’s your assignment. Create the very best opening line for your story. When you come up with that absolutely perfect first sentence, share it with the rest of us by typing it into the comment section below. If you’re having some trouble getting it perfect, type it in and ask for suggestions on how to improve it.

And keep writing, because the story needs to be told.

Marketing and Promotion

A while back, I wrote a blog post regarding your author platform and your author press kit. One of things I failed to include in those articles was the importance of a unique graphic element or logo that can be associated with you, your writing, and your products. In today's iconic environment, it's important to create a consistent image for yourself.

So, with that idea in mind, I've created a simple icon for my writing endeavors. It's something I can use on my website, my blog, and my YouTube videos. It's something that's easily created, and something you might want to consider for your own image.

Feel free to leave a comment. We'd enjoy reading about your efforts in this regard and what you're doing to market your own writing.

Who is this Cordelia Dinsmore?

I keep running into her name. I did some research and learned that she is a new author at Musa Publishing. I've also noticed that she's been popping up and leaving comments at various blogs that I visit and read. More than a few times a day, her name comes up, either in a blogpost on Triberr or in a comment on another author's blog.

I don't know if she's an international spy, a figment of my imagination, or if there's some type of magnetic attraction that's moving us on a parallel path. What's going on?

HERE IS HER BLOG in case you want to read it. She is a very good writer, by the way. You should spend some time reading, because she has some really interesting posts.

Who is this Cordelia Dinsmore anyway?