Day 1 Go through the entire Powerpoint, reading each slide. Follow any prompts you come to. Stop only when you see a stop sign.

Opening Lines First lines can touch a nerve. A well-written first line is like the front door on an intriguing old house. It invites us to pass through to the unique experience that's on the other side. So what goes into the creation of killer first lines?

A powerful first line will set the tone for your entire piece. It doesn't always have to be an explosive line, but it should get your readers' attention and entice them to read on.

The first line sets the MOOD (feeling) and the SETTING (time and place).

Like opening a front door, the first line brings your reader through a door into the world you've created for them.

That line can greet with a smile, a snarl, a shout or perhaps an awful truth…

Everyone is born, but not everyone is born the same. Some will grow to be butchers, or bakers, or candlestick makers. Some will only be really good at making Jell-O salad. One way or another, though, every human being is unique, for better or for worse. Matilda

My name is India Opal Buloni, and last summer my daddy, the preacher, sent me to the store for a box of macaroni-and-cheese, some white rice, and two tomatoes and I came back with a dog. Because of Winn-Dixie

When the doorbell rings at three in the morning, it's never good news. Alex Rider was woken by the first chime. Stormbreaker

I come from a family with a lot of dead people. Each Little Bird that Sings

Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

If you are interested in stories with happy endings, you would be better off reading some other book. In this book, not only is there no happy ending, there is no happy beginning and very few happy things in the middle. Series of Unfortunate Events

"Where's Papa going with that axe?" said Fern to her mother as they were setting the table for breakfast. Charlotte’s Web

In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort. THE HOBBIT

It was a pleasure to burn. Fahrenheit 451

It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. 1984

Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the riverbank, and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, 'and what is the use of a book', thought Alice, 'without pictures or conversation?' Alice in Wonderland

All children, except one, grow up. Peter Pan

The boy with fair hair lowered himself down the last few feet of rock and began to pick his way towards the lagoon. Lord of the Flies

"Christmas won't be Christmas without any presents," grumbled Jo, lying on the rug. Little Women

Marley was dead, to begin with. A Christmas Carol

Did you hear that? They've shut down the main reactor. We'll be destroyed for sure. This is madness! Star Wars

The Mole had been working very hard all the morning, spring-cleaning his little home. The Wind in the Willows

PART II: Analyzing and Application

Next Steps: 1. Go back to the PowerPoint and choose your favorite opening line. 2. Start a new page in your Writer’s Notebook. Title it Narrative Leads. Then, write down your favorite opening line from the PPT.

Next Steps: 4. Grab four or five of the many books that are in our classroom library and your Acceptance Club Book. Any of the books you choose from our library can be ones you have read before or new books. (Just make sure they are not non-fiction!) 5. Read their first lines (narrative leads). 6. Choose three that you like. Write them down on this same page in your WN. Don’t forget to include the title of the book along with the whole lead.

Go through the rest of the Powerpoint following the prompts/directions as you read them. Only stop again when you see the next stop sign. Day 2

Next Steps: 7. Using the examples in the PowerPoint and the narrative leads you found in books from our library, what are some of the ways that author’s choose to use to HOOK their readers? For example, in Little Women, the author, Louisa May Alcott, uses DIALOGUE to hook her readers. THINK: What strategies are used to HOOK the reader (or grab their attention and make them want to read more)?

No, I mean REALLY think about it. Get at least three ideas in your head before you move forward to the next slide….

Okay, you are ready for the answers… Take notes in your Writer’s Notebook!

1. Action: A main character doing something I gulped my milk, pushed away from the table, and bolted out of the kitchen, slamming the broken screen door behind me. I ran down to our dock as fast as my legs could carry me. my feet pounded on the old wood, hurrying my toward my dad’s voice. “Scott!” he bellowed again. “Coming, Dad!” I gasped. I couldn’t see him yet – just the sails of the boats that had already put out into the lake for the day. ANSWERS: Techniques That Will Hook Your Readers

2. Dialogue: A character or characters speaking “Scott!” Get down here on the double!” Dad bellowed. His voice sounded far away. “Dad?” I hollered. “Where are you?” I squinted through the screen door but couldn’t see him. “I’m down on the dock. MOVE IT! You are not going to believe this,” he replied. ANSWERS: Techniques That Will Hook Your Readers

3. Reaction: A character thinking I couldn’t imagine why my father was hollering at me at 7:00 in the morning. I thought fast about what I might have done to get him so riled. Had he found out about the way I talked to my mother the night before, when we got to camp and she asked me to help unpack the car? Did he discover the fishing reel I broke last week? Before I could consider a third possibility, Dad’s voice shattered my thoughts. “Scott! Move it! You’re not going to believe this!” ANSWERS: Techniques That Will Hook Your Readers

Okay, smarty… Now that you know so much, let’s put it to good use!

PART III: PRACTICE TIME!

DIRECTIONS: Revise each story beginning. Put the main character in the setting, and have the character do something relevant to the story. EXAMPLE: One rainy day I went to the mall. REVISION: I splashed across the parking lot, yanked open the tall glass door, and, dripping wet, stepped into the mall. DO THIS IN YOUR WRITER’S NOTEBOOK FOR HW. 1. Hi. My name is Kate. This is a story about the time I went to the zoo. Put Kate (main character) at the zoo (setting) doing something (action). 2. This is a story about the time I built a robot in my basement. Put yourself (main character) in the basement (setting) doing something (action). 3. I will tell you about my adventure swimming at the lake. Put yourself (main character) at the lake (setting) doing something (action).

Now that you have practiced, it’s time to apply that practice to something YOU wrote. Keep reading…. Only stop when you see Porky Pig! Day 3

PART IV: Application and Revision!

Final Steps: A. Now, go back to your DWA. Write down YOUR opening lines/lead in your WN.

Most of us have a TYPICAL LEAD such as… It was a day at the end of June. My mom, dad, and brother, and I were at our camp on Rangerley Lake. We arrived the night before at 10:00, so it was dark when we got there and unpacked. We went straight to bed. The next morning, when I was eating breakfast, my dad started yelling for me from down at the doc at the top of his lungs. He said there was a car in the lake. But we can do better than this!

Final Steps: B. Revise your opening lines (narrative leads) the three different ways … 1. Action 2. Dialogue 3. Reaction

You will eventually pick your favorite out of the three to use as your narrative lead. So far you have revised for SHOW NOT TELL, now a narrative lead, and one more thing is yet to come. That is ALL I will be grading….. More on that later! For now, you just concentrate on revising your lead. Good luck!