The Weekly Post’s weekly feature supporting local writers, in conjunction with Writers' Ink
WELCOME to our Writers’ Ink group’s weekly words. We provide news, views, tips and examples of writing by authors and poets, local and beyond.
Founded in 2010 by WordPlay, our purpose is to encourage writers to write and get them published and read. Keep writing! Greetings,
More especially, to members of Writers’ Ink, Ink Spot, and writers everywhere. WHAT NOT TO WRITE…
This brings me neatly, once again, to the importance of the opening sentence of a book. The brain really needs to be functioning well for this teaser. Methinks it had a malfunction with the following two howlers: - The first, written by one, Howie McLennon, stated: ‘Before they met, his heart was a frozen block of ice scarred by the skate-blades of broken relationships, then she came along, who – like the beautiful Zamboni, flooded his heart with warmth, scraped away the ugly, slushy bits, and dumped them into the empty parking lot of his soul.’ (?!) and; By Mary E. Patrick. ‘As I gardened, gazing towards an autumnal sky. I longed to run my finger through the trail of mucus left by the speckled slug – innocuously thrusting past my rhododendrons, and in feeling that warm slime, be swept back to the planet Alderon, back into the tentacles of the alien who loved me.’ Pass me a SICK-BAG, quick.
While confusing, but on a totally other level, Ray Bradbury started Fahrenheit 451 with the words ‘It was a pleasure to burn.’ And in The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien, the author wrote ‘In a hole in the ground lived a Hobbit.’ I bet a few people exclaimed ‘what?’ Like wot I did… Research informed me: ‘Hobbits are Halflings – relatives of men.’ I humbly admit to not having read the book, or seen it on television.
On the other hand, opening sentences/ paragraphs can be as effective and graphic written in simpler language, as in Robert Crais’ L.A. Requiem: ‘That Sunday, the sun floated bright and hot over the Los Angeles basin, pushing people to the beaches and the parks and in to backyard pools to escape the heat.’ Nothing mind-blowing, but it sets the scene and atmosphere nicely.
And, equally effective: ‘Somewhere on the outskirts of the sprawling seaside town, a man waited. It was late evening, a cold damp mist seeped through the deserted streets, giving the view from his car window a melodramatic Victorian atmosphere.’ From Jaye Marie’s Silent Payback, which also has an intriguing book cover. An added lure!
So much, that is both positive and negative, seems to have happened in this first month of a new year… What with Brexit, another virus variant, and the inauguration of a new President in the United States; it’s a lot to digest! At least the latter augurs well for the inhabitants, as Joe Biden is an experienced politician with a sensible head and caring heart, which is streets away from the last excuse for a man.
Take care everyone.
Sincerely, Joy Lennick