Writing - Opening Lines

Writing - Opening Lines

I love opening lines of books. Sometimes it's difficult to have just one line that pulls a reader in so you have your opening paragraph. If you've followed me on Twitter lately you'll notice I've been posting one line opening lines. Most of these are things that would pull me into a book at least enough to read the rest of the page, or perhaps the first chapter. In today's fast paced world of writing and marketing, sometimes all you have is ONE WORD to catch the attention of potential readers and buyers. That word has to either invoke or evoke an emotion or enough curiosity to capture the imagination in a way that makes them want to read more. Professional marketing executives know that you have to use power words or a one-line powerful sentence to sell your product. Amazing, Attention, Authentic, Bargain, Cheap, Daring, Destiny, Excellent, Free, Huge, Hottest, Incredible, Limited, Magic, Monumental, Noted, Outstanding, Powerful, Quality, Rare, Shocking, Tremendous, Unbelievable, Unparalleled, Unusual, Unsurpassed - for just a few. We've all seen these words in advertising and, yes, they catch our attention.

I used the word Destiny as my one-word opening line for Sacred Secrets, A Jacody Ives Mystery. Hopefully that word implies to the reader that something major is going to happen somewhere along the line. Some of my one-liners from yesterday were:

They called us acceptable losses.

For me this opens the door to my imagination for a group of people that have been set up. It could be soldiers in the war sent on an impossible mission. It could a group of kids in high school singled out because they're different. It could be two lovers. It could be anything the imagination wants to conjure up. It could be much like the movie The Expendables. Same thing, different word - Expendable a one word line that says a lot or - They called us acceptable losses.

Today I killed a man.

Okay, that gets the imagination juices flowing. Why? Ooh, I have to know why. Was he a good man, a bad man, an accident?

A one-word line I truly love to play with is - Click.

Simple, right? Not really all that simple. Click could be a thriller as you hear the sound of the gun being cocked behind you. Click could be a horror story as the lights suddenly go out in the old house. Click could be a romance as the guy at the end of the bar lights a cigarette, his sultry brown eyes gazing into yours. Click could be a comedy as the camera snatches one of those pictures you just can't have up on facebook. One word, but a powerful word.

These are things I wished I'd known when I first started writing. The old KISS syndrome. And valuable tools for marketing. Alas, I wasted a lot of time writing long blogs, wimpy releases and wordy sales ads. It doesn't take a lot to tell your potential readers something fantastic about your books. Sometimes it takes only one short word. Let's take the Jacody Ives Mysteries - Chilling! Shocking! Cheap! (only .99 on Amazon Kindle and B & N).

And you can buy them with just one - CLICK!

The Gifts, A Jacody Ives Mystery
Sacred Secrets, A Jacody Ives Mystery

Happy writing and happy reading.

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