Four ways to start a story! As Ani lay in the cemetery, she listened to the church bells merrily ringing. Graveyard, she mentally corrected herself; a cemetery wasn’t attached to a church whereas graveyards were. She smiled to herself as she remembered her dad sharing this random, seemingly inconsequential fact. The dog barked wildly,...
Four ways to start a story
October 9, 2022by atadmin
Four ways to start a story!
- As Ani lay in the cemetery, she listened to the church bells merrily ringing. Graveyard, she mentally corrected herself; a cemetery wasn’t attached to a church whereas graveyards were. She smiled to herself as she remembered her dad sharing this random, seemingly inconsequential fact.
- The dog barked wildly, relentlessly. Seth cowered under the window ledge hoping he hadn’t been spotted. He hadn’t banked on there being additional security in the form of a canine, particularly one with such a good sense of smell. Seth had done his homework; he knew where the security cameras were, when the guards were on patrol, and which spots to avoid if he didn’t want to trigger the security lights. The dog was a problem.
- Ravi watched the clock as it ticked. He could have sworn that the minute hand was going backwards. Letting out a quiet sigh, his shoulders slumped, and he slipped a little further down his chair. Thankfully he was sat at the back of the classroom so Ms Reeves couldn’t see that he was resolutely not doing his classwork. It’s not that he didn’t enjoy history, it was just that he had something far more important that required his attention. In precisely 24 minutes, the bell signalling the end of the day would reverberate through the corridors and he would be free to embark on his secret mission.
- Maya raced down the side-line, hockey stick clutched in her hand, eyes on her teammate who was currently dribbling the ball with impressive skill. Knowing that Shari would pass the ball to her in the next few meters, Maya readied herself for the pass. They had been practising this play for weeks and had it honed to perfection. Right on cue, Shari dodged the defender in front her of her and hit the ball to Maya with pinpoint accuracy.
Questions to consider
Which story opening did you prefer?
What hooked you in? Highlight words and phrases that you thought made it exciting.
Which character did you prefer? Why? How were they described?
Could you find any powerful verbs which enhanced the action? Did they help you to picture the action?
Choose one of the story openings to continue writing and pick a challenge below to help you add depth to your story.
Challenge 1: See you if you can include a simile, metaphor and fronted adverbial
Challenge 2: See if you can include personification, a short sentence and an ellipsis