how to write effective beginnings

8/3/2019 How to Write Effective Beginnings

1/19

How to WriteHow to Write

EffectiveEffective

BeginningsBeginnings

How to WriteHow to Write

EffectiveEffective

BeginningsBeginnings


2/19

Effective BeginningStrategies

Ask questions

State a fact Use dialogue or quote Invite reader into the scene

Explain a problem Use five senses to entice reader


3/19

Once upona time..

My name i

s

and Im going to

write about


4/19

Ask questions Where's Papa going with that ax?

said Fern to her mother as they weresetting the table for breakfast.(from E.B. Whites Charlottes Web)


5/19

State a fact

There is no lake at Camp Green Lake.(from Louis Sachars Holes)

Its a funny thing about mothers andfathers. Even when their own child isthe most disgusting little blister youcould ever imagine, they still think thathe or she is wonderful. (from RoaldDahls Matilda)


6/19

Use dialogue orquote

I am not a pest, Ramona Quimbytold her big sister Beezus. Thenstop acting like a pest, said Beezus,whose real name was Beatrice. (from

Beverly Clearys Ramona the Pest)


7/19

Invite reader into thescene

The road that led to Treegap had been trod outlong before by a herd of cows who were, to saythe least, relaxed. (from Natalie Babbitts TuckEverlasting)

A sailing ship with two great sidewheels went splashing out

of Boston harbor on a voyage around the Horn to SanFrancisco. Below decks, in the creaking darkness of hercargo hold, there sat eighteen barrels of potatoes. Insidetwo barrels, side by side, there squatted two stowaways. Itwas not once upon a time it was precisely the twenty-seventh day of January in the year 1849. Gold had been

discovered in California some twelve months before an now,in a rush, the Gold Rush was on. (from Sid Fleischmans Bythe Great Horn Spoon)


8/19

Explain a problem And they lived happily ever after.

Not the Tillermans. Dicey thought.

That wasnt the way things went forthe Tillermans, ever. She wasntabout to let that get her down. Shecouldnt let it get her down- that was

what had happened to Momma. (fromCynthia Voights Diceys Song)


9/19

Use five senses to entice

reader In the city of Ember, the sky was always

dark. The only light came from great flood

lamps mounted on the buildings and at thetops of poles in the middle of the largersquares. When the lights were on, theycast a yellowish glow over the streets;

(from Jeanne Dupraus The City of Ember)


10/19

Grab your readers

attention If you are interested in stories withhappy endings, you would be better offreading some other book. (from LemonySnickets The Bad Beginning: A Series ofUnfortunate Events, Book 1)

My name is India Opal Buloni, and lastsummer my daddy, the preacher, sent meto the store for a box of macaroni-and-

cheese, some white rice, and two tomatoesand I came back with a dog. (from KateDiCamillos Because of Winn Dixie)


11/19

How will YOU

begin YOUR

writing?


12/19

Your assignment:Choose two of the following

topics to practice writing. Usetwo different effectivebeginning strategies.


13/19

Lake Tahoe


14/19

Disneyland


15/19

Marine World


16/19

In-n-Out


17/19

A Famous Person


18/19

Outdoor Education


19/19

Effective Beginnings:

Ask questions State a fact

Use dialogue or

quote Invite reader intothe scene

Explain a problem

Use five senses toentice reader

Writing Topics:

Lake Tahoe Disneyland

Marine World

In-n-Out A Famous Person

Outdoor Education

how to write effective beginnings

Documents