1. Experimenting with beginnings

2. Techniques for writing leads/beginnings
Dialogue
Vivid Detail
Inner Thoughts
Precise Actions

3. My first beginning
One time when I was a kid, my best friend and I got into some trouble. We had done something bad and gotten punished by her mom. We had to clean up their backyard. We really didn’t want to do it, but we had to.

4. Dialogue
“I can’t believe you two did that! Get the rakes and get out to the backyard now! And don’t come back in until that yard is spotless!” We knew we were in serious trouble when Linda was yelling. She rarely did, so we went out back quietly and without a fight.

5. Vivid detail
The smell of the sizzling bacon in the kitchen was intoxicating. I was starting to drift away from the conversation. My mind was following my nose’s lead. I could almost feel the salty crunch in my mouth, but the yelling tore through my dreamlike state and brought me back to reality.

6. Inner thoughts
I shouldn’t have listened to Anna. I knew we would get caught. Now her mom is so angry. She will probably tell my mom…great. I’m going to be in so much trouble. Linda stopped her work at the stove and began to yell at us to get into the backyard to make up for what we had done.

7. Precise actions
Linda called us into the kitchen. She expertly flipped over the sizzling bacon. Once they were all flipped, she put down her greasy tongs and picked up one perfect looking egg and cracked it in one swift motion. Linda’s fingers acted as if they knew what to do on their own, independent of the rest of her body.

8. You try…
Using your seed idea: Write 3 beginnings or leads for your narrative story, using 3 of these techniques for writing leads/beginnings