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- Openings, endings and story structure
Openings, endings and story structure
Strong imaginative writing grabs the reader at the start, holds them in the middle and leaves them with something to think about at the end.
Ways to open
In the middle of the action: 'The ice cracked.'
Dialogue: 'Don't look down,' said Mia.
A striking detail: 'The clock in the hallway had stopped at 3.17.'
A question or mystery: 'Nobody knew where the letters came from.'
Avoid 'One day I woke up...' and long scene-setting before anything happens.
Dialogue: 'Don't look down,' said Mia.
A striking detail: 'The clock in the hallway had stopped at 3.17.'
A question or mystery: 'Nobody knew where the letters came from.'
Avoid 'One day I woke up...' and long scene-setting before anything happens.
Structural techniques
Ways to end
Echo the opening (cyclical).
A short, quiet final line after the climax.
A hint of what comes next.
Avoid 'and then I woke up, it was all a dream': it cancels everything that happened.
A short, quiet final line after the climax.
A hint of what comes next.
Avoid 'and then I woke up, it was all a dream': it cancels everything that happened.
Improve this opening: 'One day I went to the beach with my friends and it was sunny.'
- Start closer to the action or with a vivid detail.
- Use a sense other than sight.
- 'Salt stung my lips as the four of us raced the tide to the rocks.'
Answer: Salt stung my lips as the four of us raced the tide to the rocks.
Open with action, dialogue, a striking detail or a mystery. Use one or two structural techniques on purpose. End with control: echo the opening or close on a strong final line, never 'it was all a dream'.
The interactive lesson includes the diagrams for this topic.
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