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IWW
Practice-W Exercise Archives
Exercise: Jump Start
These exercises were written
by IWW members and administrators to provide structured practice opportunities for its members. You are welcome to use them for practice as well. Please mention that you found them at the Internet Writers Workshop(http://www.internetwritingworkshop.org/).
Prepared by: Alice Folkart
Posted on: Sun, April 14, 2013
Re-posted on: Sun, January 13, 2015
Re-posted on: Sun, December 9, 2018
Re-posted on: Sun, May 24, 2020
Re-posted on: Sun, Jan 30, 2022
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The way a story opens will often determine whether or not the
reader will continue reading. Grab us with three story
openings that would make any reader simply have to read on.
You have 400 words to divide among the three opening paragraphs.
The words needn’t be divided equally, nor do you need to use them
all. If you can write a start of six words that would pull us
irrevocably into your story, good for you. You may write openings
to three different stories or three possible openings for one story.
Your choice.
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A gripping opening should hook the reader. It may set the
scene, define character, establish situations, or present
challenges or obstacles in the way of the plot. We should
want to know, in fact, need to know, what happens next. Take
a look at the opening lines of some books you’ve enjoyed,
fiction or non-fiction. How did they hook you? What did they
promise? Did they keep their promise? What attracted you--
landscape, action, character? Did the story open with the
narrator in the midst of a situation? Did you plunge directly
into the action with him or her? For example: "They’re closing
in. I don’t know how much longer I can keep running in this
mud. They don’t have to see in the dark, they’ve got dogs,
hungry dogs." And then, there is always, "It was a dark and
stormy night..." But you can probably do better than either of
these.
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In your critique tell the writer whether or not you would have
read on from any or all of the three openings and why. If any
of them hooked you, was it because they scared you, amused you,
or appalled you? If so, what particular vocabulary, character,
description, phrasing, pace drew you in? If not, what
improvement could you suggest?
Web site created by
Rhéal Nadeau and
the administrators of the Internet Writing Workshop.
Modified by Gayle Surrette.
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