I ran across this excellent post about writing short stories. I really think it offers solid, real world advice for fantasy, science fiction, and speculative fiction writers. My favorite bit, as it can never be said too much:
"3. Get your best ammunition on the first page. Put whatever makes this science fiction or fantasy up front. Also, don't start with an extended scene that only functions as an info dump. If you think you need a prologue, try breaking the information up instead and salting it throughout the story. Prologues can slow down a reader's immersion in the story."
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2 comments:
I like to think that the opening of a story makes a promise to the reader as to what sort of tale they are getting into. Pretty much the getting the best ammo on the first page.
Always a tightrope walk, those sff openings. Don't want to tilt too far either way. And thanks for the link to that article.
Yeah, you want to wow them, but without sounding cliche, contrived, or well, lame. It's really hard. I am working on a new piece right now and I've already reworked the opening 3 times (it's only 800 words).
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