Story Openings

Many short stories are really about one idea, or one situation, and that's what the opening sentences establish. The first sentence of a short story doesn't just "hook" readers, it also sets the tone and launches the plot.

Read the pieces of text and decide whether they use dialogue, action or description.

Three common ways to start a story are with:

Dialogue

Action

Description

“I’m going to let go slowly and you are not going to scream. Do you understand?”

He moved his hands away from my mouth.

I screamed.

The shriek pierced the night air. I leapt to my feet. I stood frozen, totally immobile. All was silent….and then it came again, only this time closer to us.

The swell was gently lifting and lowering my boat. My breathing slowed, mimicking the rhythm of the creaking of the hull. Soon, I was unable to tell the difference between the faint pulsing motion of the sea and the sensation of filling and emptying my lungs.

What do you think are the benefits to starting a story with each of these techniques?

Story Openings

Spilt into teams. You have thirty seconds to write a story opening that matches the technique on the card at the bottom of the screen. If you do it right, then you can put a nought or a cross in the grid (using the pen tool). The turn then passes to the other team.

Timer

Notepad

Story Openings

These story openings can be improved. Think about word choices, careful use of verbs, precise vocab, sentence structure, punctuation of speech and spelling.

Choose a story opening to improve.