ZOOM MEETING
GREAT OPENINGS
(Chairperson: SUMI)
It would be easy to say that it all started with the murders, but actually it began when Margaret Thatcher became prime minister.- Opening line from The List of Suspicious Things by Jennie Godfrey (2024).
Whether you’re writing a memoir, novel, short story, or flash fiction, the first few lines need to hook your reader. (Doesn't the above opener make you want to keep reading?) According to playwright and short-story writer, Jacob M. Appel, ‘An opening line should have a distinctive voice, a point-of-view, a rudimentary plot, and some hint of characterisation…. the entire course of a story or novel is largely defined within its first seconds.’
Great advice, but how do you put it into practice?
Please join us on Monday, 28 September on Zoom for an informal discussion about what makes a great (or meh) opening. You are invited to bring along the first few lines of original prose—brand new, work-in-progress, or from your archives—to have critiqued/dissected by the group. Word count: up to 100 words.
Alternatively, you may bring a sample of what you believe is a great (or terrible) opener from any work of modern fiction. (Written in the 21st century.) Word count: up to 100 words.
**Supplement ‘workshop’ material will be circulated w/c 21 September via weekly newsletter.
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We shall be setting the October writing competition on this night.
(Deadline for entries will be 16 October)