Opening lines

As we're at the start of a new year, I thought the opening lines of books would be a good subject for this ramble.  Who says no thought goes into these blogs?!

It's something which has been on my mind of late, for a reason which will become apparent.

For me, the first line, or paragraph, is perhaps the most important part of a novel.  It's the one that sets the tone, tells you what kind of book you'll be reading, suggests what it's about, where it's going to take you, and all that in a matter of a few words.  Given that, it's not surprising it takes some getting right.

In the tvdetective books, of all the work that goes in, and all the rewriting and rejigging that gets done, it's the first line over which I agonise the most.  And I think that must come back to my journalistic instincts. 

As a hack, it's drilled into you early that the first line of your report must try to summarise the story, and be as interesting, attention grabbing, eye or ear catching as possible.  Otherwise, why would the reader, viewer or listener bother with the rest?

So I think it is with books. I try to imagine someone picking up one of mine, looking at the cover, the blurb on the back, then opening it to the first page and seeing how the novel starts. If that opening line doesn't make them read onto the second, then as a writer I think I've failed even before I've really begun.

I mention this now because I've been wrestling with the first line of the new book.  I've already written a fair few sections, got the plan mostly all sorted, the characters etc., but I still can't settle on the first line.  I was getting frustrated, but now I've reassured myself that's perfectly normal - I can't think of a tvdetective book where the opening line hasn't changed at least half a dozen times before the thing finally gets published.

A couple more things to mention in this post.  I'm often asked whether, if someone wants to book me for a talk or festival, it's better to get in touch with me or my agent.  The answer is just come straight to me - she's busy enough trying to straighten out my efforts at writing and make them into passable books!  If you do want to get in touch, you can do so via the contact page of the site - www.thetvdetective.com/contact.html  I'm always pleased to hear from you.

Finally, as we're on January the first, I'll leave you by wishing you a very fine 2011 and hoping it's a good one for you. Happy New Year!