WRITING OPENINGS TO GRAB A READER, AGENT, EDITOR

You’ve got the first sentence to make someone want to read your first paragraph (and the first paragraph to make them read the first page, and the first page to make them read opening chapters).

Actually, you have the book or story title to get them to read the book/story description, then that description to get them to read the first line, but that’s a whole other discussion.

So what is the common wisdom on ways to a write story opening that grabs and engages your readers?

1)  Writing an Opening Hook

  • Your opening hook needs to flow naturally into the rest of the story, be true to it, match its tone and style, and not feel like a gimmick or a standalone bit of cleverness just to get the reader’s attention.  It perfectly sets up the reader for the journey to follow.
  • Ways to “hook” your readers include:
    • Open with a shocking or funny statement or fact;
    • Setting up a situation that leaves the reader with a question that they feel they just have to keep reading in order to get answered;
    • Show the main character with a problem the reader wants to keep reading to find out more about and see resolved (more on this below);
    • In general, connecting with the reader, grabbing their interest, and then rewarding that with an interesting and satisfying second sentence, then paragraph, etc. that flows naturally from that first hook.

Sometimes an opening line may be the thing that inspires the rest of your story to begin with.

If not, consider waiting until you’ve written your full first draft to go back and start massaging the opening line, as your entire opening may change to fit what you end up actually writing for your ending.

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RPG-Inspired Laughs: Brief Awakenings

BEHOLD! A short, funny fantasy story about a gelatinous cube named Rümba!

As a fan of Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams I promise it’s as good as every book shelved just below theirs at the Thrift Store!

Buy it now! Rate it when you’re happy, or possibly drunk!Please and thank you 🙂

This story was inspired by the adventures of the Dungeon Scrawlers (and just because I needed a fun and silly palate cleanser between larger projects).

Enjoy! And thank you.

Book cover for the short story "Brief Awkenings - a gelatinish cube story" by Randy Henderson

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Adventures in DnD Streaming!

I am excited to be playing in an “actual play” DnD livestream on GenCon’s Twitch channel as a member of the Dungeon Scrawlers!

Our group is called The Dungeon Scrawlers because we are a group of professional fantasy authors, and DnD game and novel writers.

A lot of my time the past couple of months was happily consumed by learning to create images (like the ones here) in Photoshop, as well as building out our website and Social Media presence etcetera. All good skills to hone in general, and it scratched that creative itch at the same time.

Randy Henderson DnD Player

I hope you’ll check out www.dungeonscrawlers.com to see info on the players, the characters, NPCs, setting and more!

And of course I hope folks will tune into the live show, currently on twitch.tv/gencontv every Wednesday at 6:30PM PST!

I am currently playing a Dwarf Cleric named Rogar Battlebairn.

Having never played a dwarf nor a cleric before, it has been fun digging into the lore and history around them, and coming up with a character background that I hope will be both entertaining, and provide lots of opportunity for some rich character arcs.

And now, I hope to turn the bulk of my focus back to my fiction (in between the games). 🙂

Rogar Battlebairn


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THE VALUE OF BOOKSTORES AND DISCOVERY PART 1: READER EDITION

In celebration of Independent Bookstore Day and inspired by a recent debate on the interwebs, I’ve compiled some thoughts on the role of bookstores: how they are (and aren’t) changing, the conflicts between profit and discovery, physical versus online sales, and their future.

STOCKING WHAT SELLS VS PROMOTING NEW VOICES

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Tips for Writers doing a Reading

Here are some things I’ve learned as an author giving readings of my work:

Do not select a piece that fills your entire reading time. If your reading slot is 30 minutes, PREPARE A 15 MINUTE PIECE (with a 5 minute extension prepared in case you end up rush-reading it and are left with extra time). If your reading time is 1 hour, select at most 30 minutes of reading material with a 10 minute buffer (though that much time just sitting quietly and listening to you read can be a bit much to put an audience through).

What about the rest of the time?

You will need a few minutes to say hi and do intros and get started.

If the piece you are reading needs some setup and context, you will need time for that.

And you may want some time for questions and answers after the reading, to engage with your audience and increase their interest in you and your work. Be prepared with a few example questions to help prime the pump and get the Q&A rolling as the audience may be shy at first in asking questions. Or loosen up the audience with some trivia questions, anecdotes or jokes.

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Easter as Opportunity

Easter.  There is a real chance for celebration and creating a modern miracle here by not forgetting where this day comes from, and by celebrating that in a very real way.

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Why I am Not Paneling at Norwescon This Year


Norwescon is awesome.  Let’s just make that clear right up front.  This is not about them.  I was invited to be a panelist this year and I politely declined for “me” reasons.  I want to talk about those, I guess in case it is helpful for others.

I have been blessed to participate in Norwescon for a number of years.  And every time, it has been a joy and an honor.  I do not view it primarily as a promotional opportunity (though I do not ignore that benefit).  I also do not view it as some earned and expected acknowledgment of my status as a published author, because that is not what it should be (and because I began paneling before I was professionally published).

So why am I not participating this year? 

I guess first because of Imposter Syndrome, and a bunch of deeper weird feelings I am working through and will probably write posts about someday, that comes in part from being “Between books.” 

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What Being a Convention Panelist Means to Me


Genre Cons like Norwescon have to me always been a celebration of fandom, of the genres and content we love.  You do not have to be a “pro” or PhD or celebrity to do that, on or off panels. 

I do see participating as a “pro” to be a humbling responsibility, and to be taken seriously. 

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Pretty in Pink Original Ending

I made a thing, just for fun.  I got a copy of the book for Pretty in Pink that has the original Duckie Wins ending, and provide some commentary, analysis and trivia on the movie, the pros and cons of the possible endings, and then read the original ending.  Enjoy!

 

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A Foundational Fantasy Reading List

Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan

I was recently asked for recommendations for “entry books to fantasy.”

 

Well, different people like different things of course, and there are many subgenres of fantasy so for this list to be of manageable size I will limit myself to the more classic second-world sword and magic type fantasy (and we will just assume Lord of the Rings is somewhere in there).

The list is also, naturally, limited by the books I’ve actually read (which may not be the books others have read).

I will start with a few modern fantasy series, then dig into the more classic series that I think are broadly popular and would form a pretty solid foundation in fantasy for a reader.

 

My recommendation would be to alternate between reading one of the modern fantasy series recommendations, then a classic series, then another modern series, etc.

 

RECENT FANTASY:

I will get into the most trouble here for omissions probably, but that is just because nobody can have read all the books that everyone else has read, and I can’t even remember all the books *I* have read and LIKED, there are just too many.  And again, tastes vary, and I am not covering things like Urban Fantasy here.  But off the top of my head:

 

  1. The Fifth Season by NK Jemisin. An example of the best of what modern second-world fantasy can be.

The Fifth Season by NK Jemisin

  1. Farseer: Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb. A great series for well-developed characters and emotional rollercoaster plots.

Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb

  1. Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi. An Avatar Last Airbender/ Korra homage done right, that swaps in West African culture for the Asian culture and is deeply impactful in the world it depicts and the story it tells.  I think this is a good example of how to make readers feel impacted by an issue you care about without it being preachy or an essay.

Children of Blood and Bone

  1. City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett. A nice break from McEuropean worldbuilding. Starts slow then you can’t stop turning the pages.

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