From my ‘author’ blog.
Andrew Carnegie who funded libraries much frequented by me in my youth. (Image: Project Gutenberg)
Here follows the opening paragraph of a novel:
The day was hot. An August sun, with the sky to itself and its zenith passed, loitered lazily along its timeless tract towards the towering contours of the Cromdale Hills, already purple with heather, their feet in the hurrying waters of the River Carglas, new-born in the shrinking snows of Ben Macdhui.
From that sample, what genre would you say it belongs to? What is the target audience? Would it stand any chance of success with a publisher? Would you class that ‘The day was hot’ with the famous Snoopy ‘It was a dark and stormy night’?
In these times one is constantly told that the opening paragraph of a story is vital in grabbing the attention of the reader. One is urged to produce something like:
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I love Carnegie libraries! Such a gift…ok, now I’ll read the rest (but such grand buildings full of books – architecture impressive – showed the importance of reading and treasuring of bound pages – kids don’t get that from ebooks)
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The libraries were certainly one of the most inspired methods for gaining posterity! For the wellbeing of modern kids, regular attendance should be rewarded with something more apparent than the incalculable benefits which will accrue from the reading habit.
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Ha, I echo the ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ comment in reference to the second example 🙂 Judging from their choice of violent TV shows and games, the likelihood of my grandsons preferring it to the first is sadly rather high.
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That is what I am afraid of – but although I wrote it I still can’t bring myself to thinking of continuing in that vein. It simply isn’t my style. I have, though, moderated my adoption of the more od-fashioned one.
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Personally I prefer this paragraph here, the other one shown is too much like Bonnie & Clyde.
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I wonder how many youth would say that? They like lurid.
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