 (printed in Romantic Times, August 2000)
Opening chapters sell books. Or so writers hope. When novelists were comparatively few, there were no movies, and television hadn't been invented, a writer could ramble on, start a book with the main characters' births perhaps, and take a hundred pages to get the story going.
Well folks, we've got movies, television, and the Internet. We want to know and we want to know now. We want action and we want it now. As a storyteller you may, like me, be driven by heart and gut before the head completely kicks in, but also like me, you could learn that it pays to remember a few key steps at each phase of your story. The following are my three rules for openings:
1. Start your story as close to the end as you can without leaving out anything vital.
2. Open with action. This doesn't have to be 'punch 'em up' action, but something must be going on to make the reader want to know all about it.
3. As soon as possible the reader needs to find out: Who? What? Where? When? Why?
Let's look at excerpts from the first chapter of my upcoming book.
GLASS HOUSES
The next sucker who told Aiden Flynn, detective NYPD, to get a life was dead meat.
Lightning crazed the night sky over Hell's Kitchen and kept a man praying for thunder . . . and rain, rain, rain. Why didn't it rain, dammit? And why had he agreed to babysit Ryan Hill's orchids? And why didn't he just quit now that Detective Hill had gone AWOL after his vacation with dear ol' Dad?
His cell phone beeped discreetly. What did it say about a man when he was grateful his phone rang? He flipped the instrument open, jabbed at it with his thumb, and said, "Yeah?"
"Vanni here."
"Finally. The junky computer you put together for me is on the fritz."
"So?"
"I've got things to do tonight--"
"Places to go?" Vanni said, dead flat. "Sure, I know. How's my dog?"
"Boss is just fine. And he's my dog. Don't change the subject. That damned computer keeps going Greek on me."
"Dammit, Aiden." Vanni's wasn't hard to provoke. "When are you goin' to quit living some sort of surreal existence with a bunch of virtual pals who make you feel safe because they'll never really need you? You're lonely, but you're scared of commitment."
Aiden felt his temper begin a burn. "You just stepped way over the line...."
*Aiden Flynn (who) is the hero in Glass Houses. He's a New York City (where) detective who lives in Hell's Kitchen. Aiden is strong, in his job he has to be. He's also a loner who shouldn't be quite so angry about a temperamental computer. Oh, and I couldn't have started any later in the story...
Aiden sat at Ryan's desk and morosely regarded the man's dark computer screen. From time to time an orange light blinked below and he heard a perfect life-form churning softly within the machine. Aiden wondered if he should check his own mail from here.
He tapped the mouse and jerked his hand away instantly. Too late. A faint snapping sounded, and a list appeared--Ryan's incoming mail.
OliviaFitz@bargain.uk was the first entry on Ryan's list. And there she was again. And again. A series of posts half an hour to an hour apart. Why wouldn't someone write just one long message instead?"
None of his damn business.
The top post on the e-mail list was highlighted. Aiden tapped the mouse and watched OliviaFitz's message unfold on the screen.
"Good to hear from you again, Sam."
Sam?
"I won't be too quick to accept the kill-fee for the London Style layout, but it's awfully strange for the magazine to change its mind. Cheerio, Olivia."
She must have the wrong address for her Sam. Maybe it would be kind to take a look at another post from her and see if he ought to let her know Sam wasn't reading what she wrote.
"Having a dog yourself, you'll understand how I felt about loosing Wilbur. Your Boss sounds a dear. How awful that those bad men hit his mouth with a bat. I'm sure it was very expensive to have some of his teeth capped with metal . . ."
Aiden's eyes glazed. Well, hell. That was it. Ryan Hill was Sam, had to be since he'd evidently claimed ownership of Aiden's Boss. Wait till Vanni got a load of this. Ryan Hill, alias Sam, and a dog-hater, trying to impress some Brit female with his generosity to animals.
Slowly, he clicked on Olivia's next post and felt an unfamiliar rush of remorse. He was snooping out of idle curiosity--and boredom.
"Sam: Thank you for responding so quickly."
Aiden fell back in the chair and stared. Ryan was communicating with Olivia from wherever he was right now.
"I'm frightened. I rang up London Style a little while ago. They don't know anything about the kill-fee that man called to offer me. I should try to explain myself better. As you know, I photographed a London house, a fabulous place in Notting Hill--and some of the shots were for an article. Today the London Style people told me they still expect to use the piece. So the call about someone coming here to see me and bringing money, the kill-fee, but wanting to have the pictures in case they could place them was a hoax, right? Which means my photographs are valuable to someone. I'm afraid they could be dangerous to me."
Aiden moved to the next piece of mail from Olivia. When had he started calling this stranger Olivia?
*In this second excerpt we have another major "who" and "what." Olivia is our heroine and something ominous is unfolding around her.
"All right, I'll come if you think it's best to put distance between me and London. I hope I can find you when I get there. Too bad you don't have a scanner."
Aiden looked not only at Ryan's scanner, but at the digital camera on the desk beside the keyboard. He had to stop her from coming, and find Ryan.
*And another "who," "where," and a "what." Seems that Detective Ryan Hill may mean trouble for Olivia who is talking about leaving London for the States.
The bell on the computer announced incoming mail. Olivia Fitz's name showed up together with, "That man just rang up again. He asked if I'd thought about the kill-fee and said he was on his way to talk to me in person. They obviously don't think I suspect anything. I'm getting out of here. I'll call from the airport with the flight number. See you in New York."
*The first chapter ends here. We can't know everything yet, but the stakes are going up. Looks as if Olivia is running from trouble . . . to trouble. What's really at stake? Why? We think Aiden and Olivia will get involved with each other, we want to see both of them, to know both of them well, but we'll have to read on first.
The writer hopes that's what her readers will want to do: Read on!
Stella Cameron
 
Read Chapter One
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