Interesting opening sentence techniques are used to draw in your reader. Introducing a character at the beginning of the blog post works as one method of making our blog post stand out. For example, ‘In 1935, Edgar Allan Poe a well-known writer and poet, obtained a license to marry his 13-year-old cousin, Virginia Clemm. They were happy, but she died 2 years into the marriage.’
There are many ways to structuring your opening sentences to make your blog posts more interesting.
I am in love with opening sentences. They are the reason I rush to read the beginning of any book, poem or blog posts. An opening sentence determines the style of the writer. Coming up with an introductory sentence when writing your blog is mandatory.
Often, I get trapped at my neighbors and on my third cup of tea I ask myself how have I been here for longer than an hour and no one understands. If you do not have such neighbors I suggest this easy task, move.
This is very similar to what you’re opening sentences will do, they invite your readers in and they immediately get comfortable reading your blog.
Here are some easy ways of writing opening sentences that I’d like to share, hope they provoke you to use them as much as I do.
- An action.
‘I love my mother’s cooking, but in all honesty what I love doing, is watching her cook. I love how she drives the cooking stick into the sufurias, I love how beads of sweat race down her visage when she cooks ‘Karo’, I love how she adds spices to her meals salting them with her fingers and thumb…’
Opening your sentence with an action is one of the most common ways of starting your blog post. It works for your writing. It has not become common enough for you to avoid using it. Using an action as an opener to your post lets the reader in on your point of view, your thoughts and emotions. It serves well for the imagination.
- A character.
Characters in a story take on the different voices that you want them to portray. They can be fictional or realistic. They determine the mood the post puts you in.
For example, ‘We grew up poor and in a dilapidated shack. My father always promised us he would one day buy us leather shoes and dress us in the finest of cotton. So when he earned his first salary of nearly half a million three years later, we were shocked he decided that leaving us was better for his image’.
Reading this introduction to the character makes you interested in the post. You want to know what could’ve compelled this father to ditch his children after so many promises of a better life.
- A setting
This is a very common way of doing movies but it also works for books. J.K Rowling, in writing Harry Potter, introduced us to the world of magic. She describes all the different locations that the story is set in enough for you to wish that you were there. With her descriptive style do we have the Harry Potter movies out and filmed to such detail. Write your post using this technique to have your readers experience a different fantasy world. It reaches out for a play with imagination where the reader puts you in their shoes. Be it the Favelas of Brazil or a tea plantation in Kericho. (Very often do people mistake this technique for world building described below)
- Dialogue.
Opening your sentences with dialogue gives the characters in your book a voice, immediately. They become active participants in the reader’s minds on the onset of reading.It also shows creativity in a piece of writing.
Here’s an example:
“Can… I… have some coins?” the old lady at the entrance of the mosque asked me in a shaky voice as she stretched out her brittle hands.’
This creates a scenario in your mind about the setting and the lady. You see her face, her actions and hear her words. This is what dialogue brings out.
- A thought.
This is giving spoilers to your story without giving out the whole plot. You can decide to mention a character indicating their thoughts and what action they wish to pursue.
For example,
‘ Every time I come here I am wracked by the same memory of her. I feel I needed to see her, to explain to her why I was coming back after 10 years. I hoped her husband would understand.’
- Statement.
Another technique used to open a sentence is using an opening statement.
For example
‘ It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.’
Extracted from Jane Austen’s Pride and the Prejudice. The statement can be a quote or a saying. It introduces the story in a way that lets you know the plot without spoilers.
- World building.
This is a common method of creating the image of a world that is maybe not similar to the one we are living or just trying to indulge the readers. If you are a blogger who likes to create fantasy worlds then this is the perfect technique for you. This method is common with science fiction writers. I am reading the Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien at the moment. One thing I have noticed is how he starts his book. He describes the hobbit hole and how this world is different from the reality we live.
If you’re having a problem coming up with opening sentences, the use these techniques to make your thought process easier.