Five Ways to Open a Composition That Are Not “It Was a Sunny Day”
A marker reads a great many compositions. Yours is either the one they read with interest or the one they read with patience. That is usually decided in the first two lines.
Stop using these three
- “It was a sunny day.”
- “I woke up and got ready for school.”
- “One fine day, my family and I decided to go to the beach.”
None of them is wrong. All of them start before the story does.
1. Start with an action
Something is already happening.
“I was still running when the gate closed.”
2. Start with a sound
Sound puts the reader in the place immediately.
“The glass broke before anyone shouted.”
3. Start with speech
Use it when the words matter. Not for “Hello, how are you?”
““Do not tell your mother,” my brother said.”
4. Start with an object
One small thing, described exactly. It can return at the end.
“The envelope had been on the table for three days.”
5. Start with a short sentence
Very short. Then explain.
“I lied. I did not mean to, and by lunchtime it was too late to take it back.”
The test
Read your first line. Ask: has something happened yet?
If the answer is no, delete it and start with your second paragraph. Nine times out of ten, that was where the story really began.
Read next
- Cohesion: The One Thing That Moves You Up a Language Band
- Tense Control: The Commonest Reason Scripts Sit at 11 or 12
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