Beginnings and Endings in Fiction

Every novel needs to have a beginning, middle, and end. Elementary, my dear Watson! But what are the functions of each of these components, and how do you make them work best for you?

The beginning of your story or novel is crucial. You must catch your reader’s attention, do it well and do it quickly, or he or she will just put the book down. There are three standard methods authors use to catch the reader’s attention, to “hook” the reader into wanting to read more:

• action

• character

• style

1) The action opening: Essentially, something exciting and unexpected happens within the first few paragraphs or pages that makes the reader sit up and take notice.

“The first thing the groundskeeper saw when he went to tend to the small cemetery behind St. Sebastian’s was the body that someone had forgotten to bury.” (Jodi Picoult, Picture Perfect)

2) The character opening: There is something so interesting — in either a positive or a negative sense — about the first character introduced (often but not always the protagonist) that the reader wants to hear more from/about him or her.

“He did not have the look of a man who frightened easily. But what made him afraid, in a way no bar bully or snarling dog could, was…