Once Upon a Time

We all like a good story.

Recall a time when you sat on the sofa with a parent or grandparent reading you a story, and it provokes an emotional image.

Just the words "Once upon a time..." conjure up wonderful memories. And during this holiday season we find ourselves watching fresh those favorite stories that charmed us when we were young (A Christmas Carol, Miracle on 34th Street, and It's a Wonderful Life), or that bring back a special time with loved ones (in my case, Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas and The Bishop's Wife).

I've done a fair amount of theatre in my life, and I worked with one director who kept reminding us actors, "Tell the story." I often chuckle as I think of Mrs. Lovett's line to Sweeney Todd, when, in her cockney accent she says, "You do like a good story don't ya?"

In addition to the bazillion other things we writers have to remember, we must "tell the story." It's easy right? Draw the reader in with a catchy opening line. Let's see... "Once upon a time" has been taken, along with "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." Wait, I have it, "It was a dark and stormy night." Maybe not. But we have to be creative. One word next to another until we've gotten our hooks into the reader. Easy! Yeah, right.

Perhaps the mystery writer has it easier than most. After all, we can dangle mystery, murder, and mayhem in those early lines to draw our readers in. In my first mystery, UNFORGIVING SHADOWS, the opening line is, "In ninety minutes Wilkie would die." Not a bad combination of six words for an opening line. There's only one problem: I had to come up with 64,994 more words.

Do you have a favorite opening line for a story you've read? Or one you've written? Please share in the comments section and join the conversation.