In the beginning...
The first few paragraphs, if not the first sentence, of a novel have to grab the reader instantly if they are to continue reading. If they're not hooked immediately, then the book they've picked out will go back on the shelf with its competition. And let's face it - there is one hell of a lot of competition to run against. So do you go for a quirky opening, drama, or perhaps a philosophical comment? Here are two of my favourite openers. A headless corpse was floating on the ornamental pond. It troubled the view and it troubled the ducks and it troubled the two park rangers. taken from ' The Da-Da De-Da-Da Code' by Robert Rankin What a killer (if you'll excuse the pun) of a start - brilliant! It grabs your attention and hints at the humour and quirkiness that is to follow and a mystery to be solved. It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. taken from ' Pride and Prejud...