Let’s Talk Books! – What Makes a Good Opening Image?

The opening image in a book is one of the most important parts of the story. It helps draw the reader into the story. For me personally, if an opening image doesn’t draw me in immediately, I don’t often end up reading the book. As a matter of fact, the books that have slower beginnings that I find myself liking were all recommended to me by other people who warned me the beginning was slow. However, I often find myself reading these books much slower or saving them for my audiobook list. But what exactly is an opening image? In Save the Cat! Writes a Novel, author Jessica Brody says, “In simplest terms, the Opening Image is a “before” snapshot. It’s a scene or chapter that depicts your hero’s life before you’ve gotten in there as the writer to shake things up. This beat helps the reader of your story understand exactly what kind of journey they’re about to go on and who they’re about to go on it with” (page 29). So, what makes a great opening image? In my opinion, there are at least three things that every opening image needs to draw me in: movement, location, and mood.

Before I continue, I should say that this is purely my personal viewpoint. There are many professional opinions as to what makes the best opening image. If you are writing a book or just curious about how it is done, Save the Cat! Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody, is a great resource to check out. But for today’s post, I will focus on the three things that I have found most interesting and have put to use in my own writing.

Movement

While this is not a steadfast rule for me, I like the opening scene to have some description of movement. While in many cases, I prefer an action-packed opening scene, a basic depiction of movement is great as well. Sometimes the movement is more passive, like in this sentence I just made up, “Warm bodies swarmed around me as I made my way through the crowded streets of downtown New York.” Other times the movement is more subtle, only briefly being mentioned, such as in this line from a famous Star Wars Legends novel.

“Captain Pallaeon?" a voice called down the portside crew pit through the hum of background conversation, "Message from the sentry line: the scoutships have just come out of the lightspeed." Pallaeon, leaning over the shoulder of the man at the Chimaera’s bridge engineering monitory, ignored the shout.

Quote from page one of Heir to Empire by Timothy Zahn

Both of these examples offer an immediate grounding in a movement that the reader can latch onto. Most people know what it feels like to walk down a crowded sidewalk or bend over slightly to get a better look at something or listen more closely. Just this simple inclusion of movement brings up a whole collection of things in the mind of the reader that might help explain what the character is feeling and thinking about. Maybe if the character is in a still and quiet place, he is also trying to remain still and quiet and not disturb anyone. Or if he is in a crowded place, he is paying close attention to who is touching him and keeping an eye out for pickpockets. This type of movement or action helps immediately get the reader into the feel of what is happening and what world the main character is dealing with.

Mood

The book’s mood should be hinted at in the opening scene (the opening image doesn't necessarily need to be one scene). It doesn’t necessarily need to be included in the first sentence for it to draw me in, but it does need to be in the first scene. While Jessica Brody wasn’t referring directly to mood in this sentence, I think this quote from Save the Cat! Writes a Novel is very relevant. She says, “After reading the Opening Image, the reader should be gripping your book, thinking Aha! So that’s how it’s going to be, huh? I’m in!” (page 30). In reference to mood, I think the main character’s initial feelings toward the world around him or her should be clear early on. The audience should be able to understand how the character feels about the world they live in and even how they respond and react to it at this point in their story. I love it when the mood is depicted in a sentence like, “his words triggered a nearly uncontrollable bristle of irritation within me. How could he just say that without a second thought?” Or how about a line I didn’t invent on the spot, like this line that describes the mood of a character seeing land after a long sea voyage.

Kit Tayler had been on the forecastle deck since daybreak, standing close to the rail, staring hungrily at the first sight of land for five weeks.

Quote from page one of The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare

If you have ever read this book, you know that Kit is looking for something this whole book, specifically who she is and how to be herself in a new land. The moods of urgency and seeking are moods that seems to sit within Kit throughout most of the book.

Location

Location is an excellent world-building tool. The mentioned location can be anything from a city to a flower-filled field. But whatever the location is, I think giving one upfront helps build the moment even more, as it offers the reader something physical to latch onto. Something like, “I listened to my steps echo as I ascended the enclosed stairwell. The stupid elevator was out again, and I only had three out of twenty-four floors to climb.” This sentence is not from any book but, just as an example, it gives the reader a location that brings about a certain feeling or experience. If you have never been in a stairwell in a tall building, this sentence offers enough information to give some of that feeling. If you have been in a stairwell like this, you know exactly what that echo sounds like and how it feels to be in that environment. Some authors will even use the location of a story to show a struggle the main character faces. Maybe the main character is claustrophobic. The stairwell would be a great place for the writer to show that without spending a long time explaining the problem.

Another way a location can be included is to use a readily recognizable real-life site. Monuments are great for this, or famous cities. This is harder in fantasy novels and the like, but for novels that take place in real locations, this one can do the audience a huge favor by placing them somewhere at least relatively familiar. A great example of a location used in an opening image is one of my favorite political thrillers by Vince Flynn.

A fine mist fell from the darkening spring sky as the black limousine turned off of E Street. The armor-plated car weaved through the concrete-and-steel barricades at a speed suggesting urgency. As the limousine turned onto West Executive Drive, it slowed briefly for the heavy black gate to open and then sped forward. After splashing through several puddles, the limo came to an abrupt stop in from of the ground-floor entrance to the West Wing of the White House.

Quote from page one of Transfer of Power by Vince Flynn

As a matter of fact, this example not only includes a great example of using a recognizable location but also includes movement and pinpoints the mood of the entire book! I think this is my favorite opening image so far.

There are many great books out there with some great opening images. Which is your favorite? Comment and let me know!

References

Save the Cat Writes a Novel – Page 29 -31

Heir to the Empire (page 1)

The Witch of Blackbird Pond (page 1)

Transfer of Power (page 1).

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Children’s Book of the Month – Piglet is Entirely Surrounded by Water

The children’s book of August is a classic. Winnie the Pooh stories have been around for a long time, and there are some who love these books and some who don’t find them as interesting as other options. For me, Winnie the Pooh stories played a big part in my childhood, so I am definitely biased. But I love to share these stories, so for this month, I decided to review Piglet is Entirely Surrounded by Water by A. A. Milne. This story is part of a classic collection of children’s stories, usually included in a single book with all the short stories. But this little story also comes as a single, telling of Piglets run-in the bad weather.

There have been so many fun stories that blossomed from A. A. Milnes’ original tails of Pooh Bear and his friends, both in book and movie format. The stories have such a great cast of characters who each have some great personalities that offer an avenue for teaching children to overcome personal obstacles without trying to be comfortable with who they are by finding friends who come to their aid rather than trying to change them. One of these characters is Piglet.

As you may know, Piglet deals with fear-based personal struggles. But thankfully, he has his friends around him to help him through the moments he faces overwhelming odds. In this little story, Piglet finds himself trapped in his home in a horrendous rainstorm. The waters are coming up too high for such a small animal to handle, and he needs his friends to help. Thankfully, they are willing.

Book Information

Book Title: Piglet is Entirely Surrounded by Water

Author: A. A. Milne

Illustrator: Ernest H. Shepard

Theme: Friends helping friends

Plot: Piglet is trapped, and his friends come to the rescue

Page Count: 10 Pages

My Review

This quick little book tells the tale of Piglet’s friends coming to his rescue. The story is very simple but contains some charming lines (my favorite being “It’s a message…I must find Christopher Robin or one of those Clever Readers.”), and some adorable art that makes it that much more special. This short story starts off getting right to the point, showing Piglet and his struggle to stay above the water line. It then moves briskly to the lighthearted solution found by Pooh and Christopher Robin. Put simply, this book is adorable, both in length and in content. It portrays wonderful comradery and willingness to help a friend in need while also inviting creativity and a lighthearted approach to the whole situation. With its cute story and great examples of friends helping those in need, I give this little book about a very little piglet a five-star rating. But not everyone is as big a fan of Winnie the Pooh as I am. Let’s take a look at what some families thought about this book.

Family Reviews

Alyssa and Chandler

Alyssa gave this book a five-star rating saying, “The classic is simplified for little ones and yet holds all the tone and presentation of the original story!” Chandler, on the other hand, didn’t seem to be as impressed as her mom, rating it with a sad face. However, she did say that her favorite part was “Piglet!”

Kate and Josiah

Kate rated this book with three out of five stars, saying, “I appreciate how each Winnie the Pooh character represents a different psychological disorder in a relatable way.” Josiah seemed to hold a similar view of the book to Chandler, rating it with a sad face as well. But nevertheless, his favorite part was “Pooh.”

Have you read this book? Leave a comment and let me know what you liked about this book. I would love to hear from you!

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Let’s Talk Books! – Books into Movies

What makes a book’s movie adaptation work? This is purely my opinion, but I think there are two key elements in movie adaptations of books that make them successful. What are they? Accuracy and anchor elements. Today, I will discuss these two elements and why I think they help the transition between books and movies.

Accuracy

If you are a big book fan, you probably have your favorite series, one you read over and over and over again. Each time you love it just as much as before! Within this series, or book, you probably have a favorite character and a favorite scene, maybe more than one. Then one day, you wake up and discover that your favorite book is being adapted into a movie. This is great! Unless they change too much, right? Sometimes what translates in a book doesn’t translate well on screen. For example, it can be challenging in fantasy movies to make someone or something look exactly as everyone has imagined it, especially if the book leaves room for the imagination. Books are designed to spark the imagination; movies are designed to bring the imagined to life.

Because we all have our favorite scenes, not everyone can be satisfied. We all imagine things differently, and some of us are more attached to our imaginations than others. So, what can people do when trying to bring a beloved book to life on the big screen? They can be as accurate to the book as possible. This rule is not steadfast; I’m sure plenty of book adaptations didn’t follow the books exactly and turned out great. But many times, movies that don’t work out seem to be those movies where the writers change entire characters, sometimes just changing how they look or even getting rid of them entirely. But what I think really messes up movie adaptations is when a character’s “vibe” is not right. We all know why this one is hard to put up on screen. The character’s “vibe” is not always attached to one thing that can be seen or heard. Instead, a character’s vibe is often a combination of how the author portrayed the character and what the reader’s imagination creates based on that information. One such character is Mitch Rapp in American Assassin.

Close, But No Cigar

I love spy novels, and Vynce Flynn is one of my favorite spy novelists. When the movie came out, I was hesitant about it. See, for me, the vibe of Mitch Rapp is very particular. I am not even sure how to explain it here. He is a driver with years of experience and a specific protective personality. But his motivations are not usually based on revenge, but rather a sense of duty and an understanding that he can prevent disasters such as those who took his high school sweetheart from him. The movie, from what I remember, actually wasn’t bad. However, as a Mitch Rapp movie, it didn’t quite hit the mark. My main problem with the movie was the portrayal of Mitch Rapp as seeking revenge. I don’t know if it was just me, but it seems that, in the books, while Rapp is capable of a revenge-style retaliation, his motivations seem distinctly lacking in the revenge area until later on. Even later, when he is sufficiently motivated, he chooses to refrain from following through on his desire for revenge due to the moral implications. I think they tried to do this in the movies but didn’t quite get it right. In my opinion, the subtle but important change in his character made him less mysterious and intreguing in the movies. As in the books, he doesn’t join the fight to get revenge. But then again, as mentioned before, some character traits are a figment of the reader’s imagination. Have you read Vince Flynn’s novels? What did you think of the movie?

Anchor Elements

Anchor elements are elements in a story, often physical objects, that anchor the audience emotionally and sometimes geographically. Sometimes, getting these elements right in movies can be challenging because books don’t always clarify their anchor elements. Sometimes they are very subtle, maybe not noticeable until the end of the book, or they are never truly revealed without someone taking a very close look. However, a movie that gets an important anchor element right is The Chronicles of Narnia, The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe.

I know not everyone liked the movie adaptations of the Chronicles of Narnia, but the lamp and the first time it is shown in the movie, in my opinion, was spot on! The lamp helps plant the viewer’s mind directly into the iconic moment where Lucy finds Narnia. You immediately feel like you are right there with her, and the lamp’s familiarity brings about a nostalgic feeling that takes the audience back to their childhood, into the land of Narnia!

The lamp of Narnia is an excellent anchor element that stands out clearly in both the books and the movies. I recently dove deeper into why this lamp is such a great anchor element in a recent article. Check it out here!

So many books have been adapted into movies, some well and some not. I would love to hear about the books whose movie adaptations you loved! Which is your favorite? Post a comment and let me know!

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