First lines
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times
“The first time I was chased by the police, I was fourteen…”
“It was a Tuesday morning in spring, when Death walked in our kitchen door.”
“Meat! She’d seen the server ladle it in, and had tried not to show her excitement at the tiny piece of meat and only slightly larger bit of potato. ”
“When Poule, the chicken, met Blatte, the cockroach, they fell in love…if you can believe it.”
The first example, about being chased by police, was a wonderful beginning to a personal story told by a participant at a workshop I conducted last week. Immediately, we all wanted to hear the rest of her story (she assured us that she was never chased by the police in a car, only on foot). This beginning made all of the listeners wonder.
The line about Death walking in the kitchen door is from “A Story about Death,” in the book A taste for quiet, and other disquieting tales by Judith Gorog. I told that story in schools early in my storytelling life, more than 35 years ago. The first line is firmly in my brain.
In my original story “The Siege of Leningrad,” I wanted to start right in on the action, in a slightly shocking way, without establishing people or place. It becomes clear in the next few lines that Lena is in a soup line in the winter, when there is barely food in the city.
The line about the chicken and the cockroach sets up major conflict right away, especially when I give a doubtful look in the pause, in my version of the Louisiana folktale, “Poule and Blatte.”
Not every story begins with a bang. Sometimes you ease the listeners in slowly, word by word. Some stories start with a question. Some with an assertion. Some with tradition, like our “Once upon a time…” [Hmm, maybe I’ll do a post on the ways different cultures start traditional stories.]
I’m just formulating this idea: I think the first line in the story is an invitation. The storyteller or writer is saying, “Here we are, at the beginning of this journey, I think you’ll like the rest. Come with me into this story.” Or maybe, “We’ve been waiting for you! Hop on!”
What do you think?
I like it! I've said that telling to high school students, the opening changes from "once upon a time" to "That reminds me of . . . " The snap to attention is the same. ;-)
A Taste for Quiet is one of my favorite storytelling books. I've told the Melinda Alice story "Those 3 Wishes" to middle and highschool students for many years, always citing the author. The first and last lines are what I spend the most time on crafting before I share a story.