Opening paragraphs #002: Add a bit of mystery!

          Let’s jump right into today’s opening paragraph by taking a look at the start of Allegra Goodman’s “La Vita Nuova”:

The day her fiance left, Amanda went walking in the Colonial cemetery off Garden Street. The gravestones were so worn that she could hardly read them. They were melting away into the weedy grass. You are a very dark person, her fiance had said.

          Look at the mystery created in a few sentences. We don’t know why her fiance left, or even what that means. Did he ditch her for someone more positive? Did he get caught cheating? Is he fighting overseas? Did he move? Is he dead? And it seems like his comment about her is on the mark since she’s spending her time “walking in the Colonial cemetery.” Notice how the scenery matches her mood; the writing on the gravestones is “melting away.”

Try this:

          Reverse it. Write about a person who’s super positive and perky, someone like Aimee Pilz, @awakeningAimee on Twitter. But end your description with “But that was all about to change…” and show the person taking a step into a VERY different environment, one that’s not sunshine and bunnies at all.

Coming tomorrow: Shake it up with a three-line frame for your beginning!