Brilliant Beginnings
learn by analyzing great books
In this course we’ll be exploring the art and craft of brilliant beginnings in storytelling.
Storytellers write these opening words to draw readers across the threshold into the imaginary world of story.
For the reader, a brilliant beginning should…
Think about what happens to you as a reader, when you get hooked by the storyteller’s first few words?
When we—as humans—encounter something new, our limbic system’s “watchdog”—the amygdala—is designed to give us first impressions.
In the same way a dog is perpetually sniffing out associations, this instinctive brain function is constantly on the lookout, scanning for the new, the unexpected, the unexplained.
Whether it’s a new movie, a new novel, or the appearance of a sabre toothed tiger in our territory, our brains are hardwired to make snap judgments.
It’s a survival skill.
If you’re a storyteller, readers will judge your novel, your magazine article, your television script on that first impression, those opening words and the way they’re presented—
You want those first words to be intriguing, compelling—and authentically consistent with the rest of your story. Because if you don’t follow through on the rest of your story, your readers are going to be disappointed.
As storytellers we have a virtually unlimited number of talented mentors. If you’re writing the kind of stories you yourself would like to read, then you can’t do better than to study the authors of those books that fill you with anticipation with that first word … first sentence … first page.
I belong to a small writers group of multi-published authors called the pen warriors. 3 to 4 times a year we meet for weekend retreats to focus on the art and craft of storytelling. We’ve been meeting for 16 years!
During one of those retreats we decided that we would each analyze the beginning of a book we loved, and post it on our PenWarriors.com blog.
After we finished our first round, we decided to do it again. And then a third time.
These blogs are available on PenWarriors.com, and thanks to my fellow Pen Warriors, Bonnie Edwards, E. C. Sheedy, Laura Tobias, and Gail Whitiker, they’re also available as part of this course.
I invite you to join our journey, to share our exploration of brilliant beginnings.
Remember the role the reader’s amygdala plays in getting the reader to cross that threshold into story. I invite you, like a curious dog, to sniff the ground around those first words, sentences, and paragraphs in the beginnings we’ll study.
Look for power words and phrases that evoke images in your mind, questions in your brain, and emotions in your heart, words that stir the need to know more, the urge to shut out the world and turn the page, crossing the threshold into the magic of story.
Let’s have some fun together.
Vanessa Grant
Brilliant Beginnings for Storytellers - Preview
The Pen Warriors take on Brilliant Beginnings
Becoming a Writer of Brilliant Beginnings
Introducing E. C. Sheedy
The Impact of Opening Pages by E. C. Sheedy
1. The Gray and Guilty Sea analyzed by E. C. Sheedy
Introducing Gail Whitiker
2. And so we begin - the Midnight Witch by Gail Whitiker
Introducing Laura Tobias
3. A good beginning primes the palate - Madam Mirabou's School of Love analyzed by Laura Tobias
4. In the beginning, Gone Girl - analyzed by Vanessa Grant
Introducing Bonnie Edwards
5. The Call of the Wild analyzed by Bonnie Edwards
Practice Exercise 1 - In the Beginning
6. The Velvet Rope Beginning, Me Before You, analyzed by E. C. Sheedy
The Velvet Rope Beginning / Me Before You (PDF)
7. Dick Francis, Master of Mysterious Beginnings - analyzed and narrated by Vanessa Grant
Dick Francis, Master of Mysterious Beginnings (PDF)
8. A New Year and A Milestone / The Night Circus - Gail Whitiker (Narrated by Vanessa Grant)
A New Year and A Milestone / The Night Circus (PDF)
9. Running into ... or away from trouble - Laura Tobias (Narrated by Vanessa Grant)
Running into … or away from trouble / Angelfall (PDF)
10. The Rosie Project analyzed by Bonnie Edwards (Narrated by Vanessa Grant)
The Rosie Project Dissected by Bonnie Edwards (PDF)
Practice Exercise 2: Characters and Worldbuilding
11, Your Duke Awaits / Transporting Readers to Another Era - EC Sheedy (Narrated by Vanessa Grant)
Your Duke Awaits / Transporting Readers of another era (PDF)
12. In Praise of the Slow Beginning - Gail Whitiker (Narrated by Vanessa Grant)
In Praise of the Slow Beginning / The Shell Seekers (PDF)
13. When the Voice Calls / A Long Time Gone - Laura Tobias (Narrated by Vanessa Grant)
When the Voice Calls / A Long Time Gone (PDF)
14. Hooking me Softly / When I Found You - Vanessa Grant
Hooking me Softly / When I Found You (PDF)
15. And From my own beginnings - Bonnie Edwards (Narrated by Vanessa Grant)
Applying the lessons to my own beginnings - Bonnie Edwards (PDF)
Practice Exercise 3: Craft your own Beginning
Explain how different pricing options might be valuable to different segments of your audience.
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