![]() Though he had taken off his school sweater and trailed it now from one hand, his grey shirt stuck to him and his hair was plastered to his forehead.” “The boy with fair hair lowered himself down the last few feet of rock and began to pick his way toward the lagoon. If you go this route, you need to be sure your opening action is compelling enough that the reader is prepared to wait for character setup later. ![]() A classic example is Lord of the Flies, which starts with the boys on the island and then fills in the details of how they got there later. Novels that open in medias res (latin for "in the midst of action") are often really effective at immediately grabbing the reader and establishing stakes and tension. With the brass nozzle in his fists, with this great python spitting its venomous kerosene upon the world, the blood pounded in his head, and his hands were the hands of some amazing conductor playing all the symphonies of blazing and burning to bring down the tatters and charcoal ruins of history.” “It was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed. Context and background will come later, but a compelling image can be a fantastic hook. By focusing on sensory detail right at the start - sight, sound, taste, touch, smell - and by conveying a particular, defined setting, you can absorb readers immediately within the tangible world of your novel. One of the best ways to avoid this is to begin on an image. Many editors will tell you to avoid exposition - the dreaded info dump - at the start of your manuscript. “It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.” If you're in the mood to get some similarly twisty ideas, you can go here to see a list of 70+ plot twist examples. In other words: think of how people will be expecting the book to start, then take the plot in another direction. Think of the opening to Nineteen Eighty-Four, or Iain Banks’s, The Crow Road, “It was the day my grandmother exploded.” Of course, your opening doesn’t have to be as outrageous as these but always aim for the unusual. Try these exercises to add a touch of creativity to your writing.Click to tweet! 1. Learn how to inject creativity in any writing. Switching the point of view makes your voice more natural, and it allows you to control the pace, intimacy, and authority of your writing.ĭiscover how to switch the point of view … Get inspired by these examples of the rule of 3 … Pay attention to good writing, and you see threes popping up everywhere. Trios can create a sense of poetry and rhythm, making content more pleasurable to read, and adding stress to a statement. Contrast draws attention to our words and adds drama.ĭiscover how to use contrast in your writing … Without contrast, life would be pretty dull, and that’s true for writing, too. Get inspired by these examples of word repetition … Word repetition adds rhythm, strengthens your message, and helps shape your voice. No matter what you write, whether it’s a blog post, sales copy, or poetry, purposeful repetition can add power and pizzazz to your writing. Get inspired by these examples of “show, don’t tell” … ![]() Showing means using sensory details and describing actions to direct a mental movie in your reader’s mind. To let readers experience your story, show don’t tell. Learn how to use personification to make your writing sparkle … I call this the Winnie-the-Pooh technique because Pooh walks, talks, thinks, and drinks tea like a human. To make abstract sentences sparkle, imagine what would happen if an abstract idea or object had a human trait. But we can invite readers into our worlds, and make them feel like we’re together by using strong imagery. Get free writing tips in your inbox.Īs writers, we’re at a physical distance from our readers. Learn how to write better and find your voice. This article shows how to use analogies to structure your blog posts. Get inspired by over 10 simile examples by various authors …Īnalogies go a step further than metaphors and similes by explaining the comparison between two things. Similes compare two things by using the word like or as metaphors compare two things without using like or as. Learn how to use metaphors and get inspired by these examples … They add a dash of fun and personality to your writing. Metaphors compare a characteristic of something unknown to something known. Click the links below to go to a specific section:
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