So how do I write the perfect opening line? I know it has to be great. I know it has to grab the reader and pique their interest from the get go, but I haven’t been able to locate a magic formula.

To be honest, I don’t think there is one. What I’ve observed, is great opening lines come in all shapes and sizes, but they all have one thing in common. They get your attention or leave you wanting to know more.

Strategies for writing the perfect opening line:

Get an emotional response from your reader. Use strong words that elicit surprise, laughter, anger, shock….

• “They say when trouble comes close ranks, and so the white people did.” Jean Rhys, Wide Sargasso Sea
• “It was the day my grandmother exploded.” Iain Banks, The Crow Road

Leave the reader wanting to know more…

• I have lived more than a thousand years. Ann…

People are sometimes surprised to find out that I never studied writing formally. Instead, I majored in history – both for my undergraduate and graduate degrees. Why? Because history is nothing but stories. And you know the saying: truth is stranger than fiction.

So it is that while researching mountain men for one of my freelance projects I came upon the story of an amazing woman in the Old West: Stagecoach Mary. This 6 foot tall, 200-lb woman picked up and moved into Montana at the age of 52 years. There, she first worked for the Jesuits and next for a convent, where she chopped wood, dug holes, tended as many as 400 chickens, and grew vegetables for the nuns. Though she was devoted to the nuns and their Indian students at the mission, she was well known to have “the temperament of a grizzly bear.” She smoked, swore, and…

Writing Links…4/24/17

Traci Kenworth

Fantasy/Dystopian/UF/Paranormal/SF:

1. http://www.fantasybookcafe.com/2017/04/women-in-sff-month-sylvia-izzo-hunter/ Fanfiction helped her get her start. I dabbled in this as well when I was eighteen-nineteen.

MG/YA:

1. http://www.adventuresinyapublishing.com/2017/04/ya-sunday-morning-news-this-week-for_16.html Best articles last week and what’s coming up next.
2. http://www.adventuresinyapublishing.com/2017/04/sticking-with-story-you-love-against.html When an idea won’t let go.
3. http://avajae.blogspot.com/2017/04/vlog-why-didnt-i-self-publish.html One writer’s choice to go traditional.

Romance/Women’s Fiction:

1. http://www.superauthors.com/2017/04/spring-is-here-authorkristina-knight.html Spring in OH. I look forward to it as well.
2. http://www.superauthors.com/2017/04/do-one-thing-day-that-scares-you-by.html Life is about risk.

Christian:

1. http://www.novelrocket.com/2017/04/when-writing-is-like-riding-horse.html The Big Yes.
2. https://stevelaube.com/how-do-i-grow-my-market/ Use your blog to bring readers. Blog regularly. It doesn’t have to be every day. Once a week is fine.
3. http://www.novelrocket.com/2017/04/there-really-is-nothing-new-under-sun.html A fresh way to tell the story.
4. http://www.booksandsuch.com/blog/the-multi-tasking-editor/ An editor’s many roles.
5. http://www.booksandsuch.com/blog/publishing-contract/ What’s in a contract.
6. https://writerofftheleash.blogspot.com/2017/04/mid-week-inspiration.html

Historicals:

1. http://englishhistoryauthors.blogspot.com/2017/04/augustus-pugin-architect-of-victorian.html The architectural design of many well-known places in Great Britain. The Elizabeth tower or Big Ben. Palace of Westminster. Scarisbrick Hall.

Scary:

Mystery/Thrillers/Suspense:

1. http://annerallen.com/how-to-give-a-book-reading/ Reading your book aloud can be good for sales.

Short Stories/Anthologies/Novella/Comics:

1. https://coldhandboyack.wordpress.com/2017/04/19/hello-writing-cabin/ A new…

So I find a lovely-looking review blog. The posts are thoughtful, fair and seriously considered. I look up the review policy and … it says ‘no self-published books’.

Today I want to open a dialogue with reviewers. If you have that policy, might you be persuaded to change it? Or to approach the problem in a different way?

I used the word ‘problem’. Because I appreciate – very well – that in making this policy you are trying to tackle a major problem. Your time as a reviewer is precious – and let me say your efforts are enormously appreciated by readers and authors alike. You get pitches for many more books than you can read and you need a way to fillet out the ones that are seriously worth your reading hours. A blanket ban is a way to fend off a lot of substandard material and save you…