You may fall in love with a line you've written, and if it happens to be the first one that opens into your story, you fall twice as hard. This hook is like your first kiss, your first acceptance, your first step toward the best story you've ever written... making it all that much harder to let it go when you discover it doesn't quite fit.
The opening sentences to your story should accomplish three things:
- Character
- Plot
- Tone
It's entirely possible that you may write a fantastic first, second, and third sentence to start your story, but as the story unfolds, you may start to have a nagging feeling that something is off. Going back to the hook, you may find it just doesn't fit. But you love that hook so much you don't want to give up on it. So you battle on, adjusting the story, writing it to the end. Or you may find yourself unable to write another word until you start again, capturing it in a new light that matches where you want to go with the story.
Can you let that hook go, moving forward to finish the story?
Can you let that hook go, and rewrite a new opening?
When I find myself in this uncomfortable spot, I put aside my writing and browse my bookshelf, reading the opening lines of many stories, and that is where I find myself inspired all over again. I can breathe in that space of great literary minds. I'll get it right, if not right now, then later.
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