Story Beginnings: Slow Burn or Big Bang?

Episode 9

How to begin? That is the question. Should a novel open slowly by building an interesting protagonist surrounded by memorable characters? Or should it open with a big bang, an exciting hook to entice the reader to keep turning the page?

There is no perfect answer, of course. It depends on the story, the genre, and goal. Slow burning openings can work. Or fail. So, too, can stories that begin with an exciting scene that grabs the reader.

There are many authors using each strategy. Bestselling authors like John Grisham, David Baldacci, and Michael Connelly, to name just a few, make a living with fast openings. Grisham has sold millions of legal thrillers, many of which start with an enticing hook. Take his latest work. In The French Illusion, a young couple on their honeymoon are kidnapped in Paris, creating a mystery for the duration of the novel. Baldacci thrives on political thrillers that start with a bang to catch the reader’s attention. His first novel, Absolute Power opens with a burglar trapped behind a two-way mirror, where he witnesses a crime and conspiracy at the highest levels of American government. The novel was the first in an impressive string of bestsellers that continues to this day with his new two-book set, Nash Falls and Hope Rises. And Michael Connelly’s thrillers have used jaw-dropping openings to present an impressive list of thrillers in his Harry Bosch series.

The use of more measured beginnings has been the key to Toni Morrison and Margaret Atwood’s successes. These award-winning authors build their structures on interesting characters that grow from the beginning of their stories to endings that satisfy. Morrison’s Beloved won a Pulitzer Prize, and her other classic works include international hits such as Song of Soloman, Sula, and Paradise. Among Atwood’s most popular novels are The Handmaid’s Tale and The Testaments while her nationally acclaimed short stories include My Evil Mother and Cut and Thirst.

To make a generalization, big bang openings are more common in commercial fiction, whereas the slow burn opening is more prevalent in literary fiction. But that is by no means a rule. Debut authors are almost always faced with the dilemma of choosing one approach over the other. They must listen to advice from other authors, editors, and agents who don’t share the same opinion. Some in the literary world will say they want to see something of significance happen immediately in the story, or they might lose interest. Others want to see character-building more than action to start a novel. What the first gatekeepers (agents) want often makes the decision for the author.