In Search Of The First Paragraph

IN SEARCH OF THE FIRST PARAGRAPH In his immortal Tao te Ching, Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu wrote, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” It might be said, too, that even 100-thousand word novel begins with a single . . . letter? Word? Sentence? I’ve considered what contains the first step of a novel, and truly started penning this in regards to the first sentence, but quickly modified direction. It could be truthful to say that the first line is crucial to a short story, however I sincerely doubt readers start judging the comparative value of a full-size novel by a single sentence. That’s to not say that the first line doesn’t matter. The sooner and extra totally you'll be able to hook your readers within the higher. But should you’re setting out on the lengthy journey of writing a novel, you should begin with a paragraph. Let’s begin by wanting at the first paragraph of three books that appeared on my listing of favorite fantasy novels of all time, and three from of my all-time fav ourite works of science fiction. In no explicit order . . . The Stolen Child by Keith Donohue Don’t name me a fairy. We don’t like to be referred to as fairies anymore. Once upon a time, fairy was a perfectly acceptable catchall for a variety of creatures, but now it has taken on too many associations. Etymologically speaking, a fairy is one thing quite particular, related in type to the naiads, or water nymphs, and whereas of the genus, we're sui generis. The word fairy is drawn from fay (Old French fee), which itself comes from the Latin Fata, the goddess of destiny. The fay lived in teams called the faerie, between the heavenly and earthly realms. So what does this primary paragraph inform us about The Stolen Child? What’s established here? Just on the floor, we get that the book is written in first particular person, which is uncommon for up to date fantasy novels however de rigueur in classics by previous masters like Burroughs and Lovecraft. The intelligent, well-read, a rticulate, easy, and opinionated narrator identifies himself as one thing akin to a fairyâ€"anyway, he isn’t human, or doesn’t assume he’s human. And apparently he’s considered one of a group of such creatures: We don’t wish to be known as fairies anymore. From the first paragraph we get that The Stolen Child is, at least at first (and as we mentioned as regards to cowl copy, preliminary assumptions may be turned on their heads by the top of the guide), a novel a couple of neighborhood on the fringe of actuality. That ought to mesh properly with the data we’ve already acquired from the quilt copy (and evaluations, and so on.) that we’ve bought a guide a few boy kidnapped by hobgoblins and replaced by a changeling. Not bad for ninety eight phrases. Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke Some years ago there was within the metropolis of York a society of magicians. They met upon the third Wednesday of every month and read one another lengthy, dull papers upon t he history of English magic. Here, in only 36 words, Ms. Clarke establishes this enormous work’s setting, and hints that there's a kind of magic peculiar to England. She judges the examine of English magic as “dull,” or at least that “some years go” it was dull. As was true in the first paragraph of The Stolen Child, no characters are named and there is no dialog. Still, from these three dozen words we can inform that we’ve begun to learn a e-book a couple of historic England by which magic is real. I could also be jumping to the conclusion that it’s historic, however I get that vibe from the truth that she informed us this was “some years in the past” and that the magicians are reading papers. The urban fantasy version would have had them blogging. And once more, from the duvet copy, critiques and suchlike, we know we’ve purchased a guide about a private feud between powerful wizards, so immediately have the anticipation that English magic isn’t going to be un interesting for much longer. I won’t whine about the word upon appearing twice in the same sentence. She’s English. Maybe they get to do that Over There. Last Dragon by J.M. McDermott My fingers are like spiders drifting over memories in my webbed mind. The husks of the useless gaze up at me, and my tooth sink in and I communicate their ghosts. But it’s all combined up in my head. I can’t separate traces from lines, or folks from folks. Everything is in this web, Esumi. Even you. Even me. Slowly the meat falls from the bones until solely sunken cheeks and empty space between the filaments remind me that an individual was there, in my head. The ghosts all fade the identical way. They fade together. Your face fades into the face of my husband and the dying screams of my daughter. Esumi, your face is Seth’s face, and the face of the golem. These 124 words grabbed me immediately and mentioned in no uncertain terms that this was not your backyard selection fantasy novel. Though the editor in me (I acquired this e-book for the painfully quick-lived imprint Wizards of the Coast Discoveries) was skeptical that this beforehand unpublished author might maintain the risky selection of second particular person, present tense, a lot much less the extremely metaphorical language of the unreliable narrator, it kept me reading, and floored me once I found that he could chew each bit of what he’d bitten off with these choices. Factually, we all know that the narrator is a woman (she refers to her husband, nonetheless an inexpensive assumption that this is a hetero relationship), and she or he’s chatting with or writing to someone named Esumi. We know she had a daughter who died, there’s mention of mythological creatures both metaphorical (ghosts) and perhaps actual (golem). From this one paragraph it might be cheap to assume that Last Dragon is a guide about the unreliability of painful reminiscences, and certainly I suppose the center of the guide is the close to-futility of efforts to reconcile past and current, and stay with a sequence of difficult choices. But most of all of the paragraph units a tone, and a rhythm to the language that's this book’s peculiar genius. Dune by Frank Herbert In the week earlier than their departure to Arrakis, when all the final scurrying about had reached a nearly unbearable frenzy, an old crone came over the mom of the boy, Paul. It’s interesting that this short, 32-word paragraph, like Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell’s 36, introduce a huge, sweeping epic. It could be fair to say that this is a credit to the finely considered core themes that each Herbert and Clarke preserved on the centers of their masterpieces. Dune’s first paragraph assigns particular significance to at least one specific place (Arrakis), and one explicit person (Paul). Though two other individuals are talked about (the old crone, and Paul’s mother), the fact that they aren't but given names, shifts the emphasis to Paul. It could seem as though this is a easy, quickie set-up, but a glance slightly below the floor reveals that these 32 words are a press release of purpose. Dune is a e-book about a younger man challenged by the old order. The boy Paul grows up to be the man Muad’dib and challenges each assumption of the older folks and even older customs and institutions round him. That’s the emotional core of a narrative that performs out as a pastiche on the risks of a single-useful resource economy. Emotional core? I’ll get back to that. Gateway by Frederick Pohl My name is Robinette Broadhead, despite which I am male. My analyst (whom I name Sigfrid von Shrink, although that isn’t his name; he hasn’t obtained a name, being a machine) has plenty of electronic fun with this truth. If I give Susanna Clarke a pass for two upons, I’ll forgive Pohl for the semi-colon within parentheses. I know copy editors who would be moved to physical violence by that one, but Pohl is a Grand Master, and long ago earned a cross from the likes of me. Anyway, this paragraph instantly introduces us to the primary-person narrator’s underlying insecurities. He’s a man with a lady’s name and if for no different reason (in fact we study over the course of this good e-book that there’s an excellent, very tragic reason) it’s why he’s in therapy. This is a science fiction novel we’ve began studying. I received that from the truth that Robinette lives in a world of computerized psychoanalysts. But there is no point out of the Gateway asteroid. It’s virtually as though all that stuff about historic starships doesn’t matter compared to the POV character’s internal neuroses. This is a book a couple of future man struggling along with his own insecurities, and solely from the quilt copy do we all know that it’s additionally a narrative about exploring the galaxy in dangerous pre-programmed starships. It’s nearly as though Frederick Pohl is no less than slightly extra involved w ith the Who of his story than the Whatâ€"and that in a piece of hard science fiction. Hmm. And last however not least: The Runaway Robot by Lester Del Rey It was an thrilling day. A rocket was due from Earth, and I guess nothing extra thrilling than that ever occurs on Ganymede. Well, possibly when a manned spaceship is available in, it's more exciting, however a rocket is fairly important too. I guess I like books written in first individual. This time our narrator lives on the Jovian moon Ganymede, and Ganymede is a fairly uninteresting place. We should be so far sooner or later that residing that far out within the photo voltaic system is taken into account routine, but there’s nonetheless a frontier quality to life there in that not too many people come and go. For a e-book called The Runaway Robot, it’s attention-grabbing that there’s no point out of a robot in the first paragraph. Instead, we learn the distinction between a rocket and a manned spaceship. But it isn’t t ill the seventh paragraph that we notice that the narrator is the robot. This isn’t just a computer with legs. This is a “living” “individual” able to advanced emotional responses. What we’ve discovered. I can’t inform you what number of times I’ve sat in a circle with different editors bemoaning the low high quality of the writing we were getting in the slush pile. I think it was Mark Sehestedt who finally identified the inevitable elements of the bad first paragraph: weather report/fashion report. The first paragraph of so many properly-intentioned manuscripts begins with the author both lovingly describing the weather or other physical conditions of the setting, or describing in equally loving element what the hero is wearing. Truly bad makes an attempt managed both a climate report and fashion report in a single opening paragraph. Note that none of those six books do this. Not a single one of them tells you it was a dark and stormy eveningâ€"and believe me I’ve learn each variation of climate situations and times of day. The Runaway Robot tells you it was an thrilling dayâ€"and there is a actually huge difference between a physical description and an emotional response. And none of those six first paragraphs let you know that the hero’s lengthy blond hair fluttered in the dead of night, stormy wind, and that he’s sporting a forest inexperienced tabard with thread-of-gold trim. Only half of these six (Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, Dune, and The Runaway Robot) specify locales at all. And solely half (Last Dragon, Dune, and Gateway) mention even one character by name. Obviously all of those books feature detailed settings and totally realized characters, however all six personalize the story up entrance. They all make emotional appeals: The Stolen Child: We don’t prefer to be referred to as fairies anymore. Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell: lengthy, boring papers . . . Last Dragon: But it’s all mixed up in my head. Dune: . . . the ul timate scurrying about had reached a virtually insufferable frenzy . . . Gateway: . . . has plenty of electronic enjoyable . . . The Runaway Robot: It was an exciting day. In a large, sprawling epic like Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, all we all know within the first paragraph is that English magic used to be boring. From there we find out simply how exciting it will get, just as we learn how universe-altering Paul’s move to Arrakis shall be, how the sui generis fairy came to know all this in regards to the fey people, and so forth. Where is your character (and for Clarke, English magic was as a lot a personality as Strange or Norrell) firstly of your storyâ€"not physically, however emotionally? Details may be sprinkled in, but all of these paragraphs are about feelings. â€"Philip Athans Where Story Meets Worldâ„¢ Look to Athans & Associates Creative Consulting for story/line/developmental modifying at 3 ¢ per word. About Philip Athans This is actually one of the most useful posts on openings I have ever read. I shall be referring to it the future, belief me. Thank you! Great comparisons! This is an especially useful submit. I’ll be linking again to you. Thanks!