5 Openers That Make Readers GROAN

http://www.bang2write.com/2011/12/5-openers-that-make-readers-groan.html

Quoted from vancety 5 Openers That Make Readers GROAN http://www.bang2write.com/2011/12/5-openers-that-make-readers-groan.html

Interesting - thanks for the link

I don't know about slow that definition can change from genre to genre, premise to premise. I'm much rather put emphasis on is this shit interesting by page 1, and do I want to turn the page. Of course once you've been proven to be capable you are given more leeway. But, anyway, my two cents.

BLB

I have zero experience writing feature scripts, but this is an interesting topic. Personally, I don't know of any movie I liked which started right with the action within the first 3-5 minutes. Those movies tend to feel artificial in a sense that they rely more on quantity of action/shocker scenes instead of quality of the plot.

I'm a big fan of a slow intro which shows the hero(s) in their initial, normal life. That way I've got enough time to decide if these are characters I can root for or not. Take Independence day for example, I believe an airforce pilot who is worried about marrying his stripper girlfriend because he fears to be denied as a space shuttle pilot is probably something which you would say is a boring intro for a scifi/action movie, though I felt it was a great character introduction and combined with Will Smith's acting skills instantly made this guy likeable. Had the movie started with an alien ship blowing up a major city I probably wouldn't have continued to watch it, because it would have felt like 'just another alien film'.

You're confusing a slow build-up with great writing. When you write well it takes longer to figure out if the story is worthy or not.

If you're not a very good writer, then some will not get past your first action block, or even logline. Sometimes your script doesn't even have to be opened to tell that it will not be very good.

I don't like it when people throw around titles of classic films when talking about writing in 2015. As far as I know, every script written during the Golden Age of Hollywood was written on assignment. TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD is no  exception. It was written on assignment by Horton Foote, who was the best screenwriter ever. (This is not up for debate.) It's also based on what would consider the perfect American novel.

What we forget that each story demands its own tone, pace, structure. No two characters are alike. Some stories have to start with a bang. Others need the build up. I'm not talking about a 20 page scene where nothing happens. The sign of a good writer is that he can keep us exciting. Either with foreshadowing, false starts, set ups, before anything big actually happens.

That all comes from character.

This is why so many films and TV shows start these days with an exciting scene with a cliff-hanger and then go.

SUPER – TWO WEEKS EARLIER

And then start the story proper.

I HATE THAT! OOOOHHH It annoys me SO MUCH!

-Mark

Quoted from MarkRenshaw This is why so many films and TV shows start these days with an exciting scene with a cliff-hanger and then go. SUPER – TWO WEEKS EARLIER And then start the story proper. I HATE THAT! OOOOHHH It annoys me SO MUCH! -Mark

Fully agree, I hate that too. I'm a fan of a linear narrative structure, feels much more realistic if you as a watcher don't get that super-view on events but 'live through' the events just like the characters do. Maybe that's oldschool but I can live with it...

Quoted from TonyDionisio Okay, fine. So, spec scripts = grab readers attention immediately. Get famous = do whatever you want.

That is exactly my opinion and the main reason why I put aside my most passionate and meaningful stories/ideas, at this point.

Top 100 earners from 2015 can easily be sorted in four or five type of movies and one thing is common for the vast majority of them, non-realistic/fantasy stories no matter the genre. People and very important kids/teenagers (they are big spenders in US) want to see something they can't experience in their lives from many reasons or they don't want to. Seeing a world that exist only in theater, escaping from everyday life, being allowed to root for a gangster and experience with him power and wealth for two hours and receive once again confirmation that everything he's doing is wrong and leads to misery or death, taking a journey with all of those heroes with superpowers and many other non existing worlds and people before getting back in real world. I am the fan of real life story telling because I love psychology and my curiosity awakes to find out how other people thinks, react, live etc. But I am still seeking for unusual and different stories, something I wouldn't like to experience for real or I possible couldn't for some reason. I love when I meet characters I never met in my real or fictional life before. I want to see difference but to understand them so I can experience same emotions as they.

I watched recently a movie named Cheap Thrills. What convinced me to watch it was premise that promise crazy excitement I don't want to experience. When film started I understood why hero is going to do that crazy things. But, just as title said, pretty much everything in the movie was very predictable and cheap. Lacking deeper character development, story dynamic and pace, lacking true thrills. With just a 2 or 3 scenes worth watching. Writer was lacking imagination and I was tempted to stop after slow, boring, total cliche setup. If I was reading script as reader, worst case scenario, I would be on a toilet bowl few hours later shitting paper I eat of torment in first not ten but more like 25 pages of that story. But, in more realistic scenario I wouldn't go further than page 3. Idea/premise was great but writer failed to deliver what he promised. If, for example, Tarantino got that idea, with his weird mind that would be a classic.

So, genre, title and premise is first that attracts but that just a beginning for you as writer and for the writer/audience. For aspiring writer well written, entertaining and captivating plot from first to last page is more important than story you write about because your goal should be to present your writing skills first. At the bottom line, you write for the reader.