Hey all, I am back from a small break and have a question to pose to the community. In writing I myself have read and from what the world has read I feel a general trend has appeared in writing. As someone who plans to be something within the writing world I feel I must ask a question to this community as well as other friends of mine. Does the first sentence or first paragraph in a writing piece make or break the writing piece by either pushing you away or drawing you in? Now, I have come prepared with my own answer as I did some research from books that drew me in from the get go. My answer is this: moderately, as I am drawn in by a good beginning to a story and the first sentence and or paragraph allows us to see inside the writers styling method. It also projects the general tone of the story. Finally and most importantly if a stories beginning is strong and well worded it practically draws the reader into the world and makes him want to know what is happening and who it is happening to. This is in my opinion on strong factor to the story. From R.A. Salvatore, " He glided through the noonday sunshines oppressive heat, moving as if always cloaked in shadows, though the place had few, and as if even the ever-present dust could not touch him." - Servant of the Shard This presents an up front and very descriptive portion of the first paragraph and makes the reader ask the question, who is this and why is he acting like this. It draws you in and make you want to understand this scene more and more. R.A. is a strong writer in that he makes you want to know what is happening. Another example is Stephen King. He has masterfully created a simple sentence here that gives us a summary of what is occurring and makes us draw more into the story to understand why this is happening. The imagery is simply masterful. From Stephen King, "The man in black fled into the desert, and the gunslinger followed." - The Gunslinger This example gives us little to no information and yet can draw you making you want to know more about the man in black and the gunslinger. I would say more about this but I cannot without giving away knowledge of the series to the reader. My last example is from an author named Mitchell Graham. His sentence gives away more knowledge but has the same effect. From Mitchell Graham, "Karas Duren strode down the halls of his palace, passing servants and guards alike." - The Fifth Ring In this he gives away the name of the character and where the setting is, but sets the mood to a pace where the reader wants to know who this is, why he is like this, and furthermore what does this have to do with the story. Well.. my examples show reasons to support why I feel the first part of a sentence can draw a reader in and can also make or break some stories (albeit I provided no real proof of that) for a reader. So now I ask, what does the community think on this as I know in my stories I am going to focus on that "first impression" for my reader. 8) Its good to be back.
