When I put it like that, it probably sounds strange to many new writers. After all, a story starts at the beginning, right? But what is that?
A step back to someone who is planning to buy a book (or e-book). More and more people read on the internet what the book is about before they buy it or borrow it from a library. Many people also still enter the bookstore. Most of them will only read the description on the back. A writer must pay a lot of attention to that text. A publisher does that too, by the way. For my books, the publisher writes the text on the back, in consultation with me. But there are also potential buyers who open the book and read the beginning of the story. Their attention must be immediately drawn to the story. Below are two examples.
“It was certainly not a special day, the eleventh of May 1980, at least not for most people in Ochten, a village near Wageningen in the Betuwe. But for Elisabet Francken it was different. That day she gave birth to a sturdy son, her first. It had not been a difficult birth and before she knew it, she heard her son loudly announcing himself as if he wanted to claim his place in this world now.”
Well, that may be true. Not exactly an inspiring start to a story. Rather boring and many people will neatly put the book back in the row. Compare that with this beginning of a story:
“‘I want to make one thing very clear: the operation I am about to discuss with you is of the highest degree of secrecy. None of you can call on the United States during the operation. You will receive instructions via a cryptophone and a confidant. There are reasons why Í am presenting the operation to you. Everyone is free to resign now if they do not see anything in it. The provost will escort him outside the camp. That has consequences.’ The colonel speaks the last words softly and he looks at the six men intently.”
A thriller can also start like this. It stimulates something. What is it about? Why is the mission so secret? Who are the six men sitting in front of the colonel?
What I mean by this is that you should try to interest a reader in the story from the first line, to make them curious, to stimulate them. Start your story with something that invites them to read on.
Think about it.
More next time.