Posted by Morgan Staub, GD Creative Nonfiction Reader for 5.1
“Not a wasted word. This has been a main point to my literary thinking all my life.”
—Hunter S. Thompson
“Call me Ishmael.” “124 was spiteful.” “Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself.” The literary nerds out there, such as myself, recognize that these opening sentences set the tone of the story to follow. Used to express tension, style, or character, these opening lines raise the bar of expectations for the narrative. While these lines are novel openings, the same can be said for short story openings, with the difference being that in the latter medium, there is less room to expand. When we write short stories, it is even more vital to use the first few lines of the story to set the tone for what will follow. Continue reading