Opening clichés & how to avoid them

Six novel opening clichés and how you can rewrite them.

Happy New Year, writers!

I hope you are having a great week.

We’re back to normal now with the multiple weekly posts and I’m hoping to run a writing challenge in February - more on that coming soon! I’d hoped to have something setup for January but the flu took me out completely and I’ve just not been writing at all… Until the last few days!

I’ve got a range of fresh content hitting your inbox in the next few weeks. So stay tuned to see what’s coming.

Today I wanted to write about common cliché openings in novels and how you can rewrite & improve them. Let’s get stuck in!

Cliché: The vague character dream sequence.

Rewrite: Avoid! Avoid! Avoid! At all possible costs. I don’t really know how you could do this and make it work. The fact is that by starting with a dream, it will feel as though you are cheating the reader out of something. A memory is fine, but a completely imagined dream is not.

I have never seen a writer make it work. And I have never enjoyed reading them. Even a dream sequence within a novel is tough to make work. A dream lacks any immediate stakes, can be confusing because what happens isn’t real and delays a reader from being able to connect with the characters and the plot. That’s something you want to avoid.

Cliché: The waking up scene.

Rewrite: Again, start with conflict. Throw us into the action straight away by doing something that shows us about their character or situation. This cliché often begins with a character waking up, describing their appearance, staring into a mirror or generally doing something that isn’t interesting.

This means that the opening lacks conflict or tension and you can lose your reader right at the start. Give people the reason to keep reading. Don’t tell us why their life is interesting, show us. Skip the mundane details and get right into the good stuff. You can add backstory as you go.

Cliché: The info dump.

Rewrite: Get straight to the action. It often feels as if we need to share as much information as possible with the reader, particularly if the world-building is a key aspect of the genre you’re writing in. But it’s better to resist this where possible. Bombarding a reader with lots of names, places and lore can be confusing and prevent them from engaging with the story.

Instead, anchor the opening within action of some kind. Introduce conflict and what is at stake. You can feed the rest of the information through gradually. Don’t spoon feed a reader, trust them to learn more about your world as you write. Let them work and wait for it a little. A lack of answers can help create the intrigue to keep them reading.

Cliché: The prologue info dump.

Rewrite: Ask yourself: do you really need a prologue at all? In many cases they are used to justify the above info dump style cliché. Except it can feel even more detached from the actual story.

You can probably skip a prologue unless it’s absolutely essential. Instead of explaining the history or context of the world, just show it to us through what happens to the characters.

One other quick note here: While it doesn’t mean you should never use one, prologues are generally out of fashion right now and I have spoken to multiple agents who don’t like them. Not for publishing modern novels. They have all made similar comments about prologues making work feel dated and that they are generally unnecessary.

Cliché: The weather report.

Rewrite: Use the weather to enhance the mood or the conflict, but it’s better to tie directly to what’s happening. Simply describing the weather is ultimately uninteresting and does little to hook the reader.

As much as we always want to set the scene as best as possible, you can link it in an interesting way. Daphne du Maurier does a superb job of this if you want to read how a successful author links the weather to the action.

If the weather is imperative, you can start with a character reacting to or struggling against the elements, rather than simply describing it. As always, give a reader something to engage with or somebody to root for.

Top tips for opening your novel

1. Hook the reader with immediate conflict.

2. Give a clear sense of your protagonist, where they are and what is at stake.

3. Show the protagonist’s voice or perspective.

4. Leave room for questions and don’t answer too much too soon. Give your reader room to invest in the story and unanswered problems or questions to keep them invested.

Sidestep the clichés and create a novel opening that is exciting, interesting and makes someone want to keep reading.

Have any questions or need any help with your opening? Leave a comment and I’ll see how I can help.