I’ve been tweaking the opening scene of my WIP. Openings are tricky. One wants to start with something that will grab the reader’s attention. But what i tend to forget is that even with an action opening,one has to take the time to set the scene and characters, to give the reader of sense of who the story is about and what is at stake. This doesn’t necessarily mean a whole chapter devoted to establishing the characters and setting. it can be integrated into the action. I originally started Vienna Waltz with Suzanne walking into the room to find Malcolm kneeling over Tatiana’s body. then i realized I needed a few paragraphs first to set up who Suzanne was, how Tatiana had summoned her, and the sort of marriage Suzanne and Malcolm had. Still later I decided I needed the Prologue to set up Tatiana and some of the other key characters.
In Imperial Scandal, Malcolm has a few moments of interaction with La Fleur and Harry before the shots ring out. And the ambush at the château is intercut with Suzanne at the embassy ball in Brussels so that (hopefully!) the suspense of the action sequence balances the talkier scene at the ball.
With my WIP, set in London in 1817, I once again forgot about the need to establish the characters and the stakes, even in an ongoing series. I originally began with a wounded Simon climbing in through the library window of Malcolm and Suzanne/Charles and Mel’s Berkeley Square house. here’s the original opening paragraph, which is still in the book:
A thud on the window glass cut through the whisky-scented shadows and candle-warmed air. Charles dropped his book. Mélanie nearly dropped baby Jessica. Charles sprang to his feet, disrupting Berowne the cat, and moved to put himself between Mélanie and Jessica and the window. Mélanie tightened her arms round Jessica. Old defensive instincts sprang to life, like hairs responding to a shock of electricity. The Berkeley Square house, still so new, had perhaps never felt so much like home than now, when it was threatened.
Berowne hissed and arched his back. The window scraped against the sash. Charles snatched up a silver candlestick. Jessica released Mélanie’s breast and let out a squawk.
“It’s all right.” A slurred, strained voice came from the window. “It’s me.”
I then decided i needed to show what happened to Simon, so I added a scene which begins:
The lamplight shone against the cobblestones, washing over the grime, adding a glow of warmth. Creating an illusion of beauty on a street that in the merciless light of day would show the scars of countless carriages, horses, and pedestrians. Much as stage lights could transform bare boards and canvas flats into a garden in Illyria or a castle in Denmark.
Simon Tanner turned up the collar of his greatcoat as a gust of wind, unusually sharp for October, cut down the street, followed by a hail of raindrops. His hand went to his chest. Beneath his greatcoat, beneath the coat he wore under it, he could feel the solidity of the package he carried, carefully wrapped in oilskin. Were it not for that tangible reminder, it would be difficult to believe it was real.
Still more recently, I realized that the reader still didn’t know enough about Charles and Mélanie and what was at stake for them, and that with the action of the opening with Simon, I could afford a conversation that set up Charles and Mel (catching readers of the series up with where they are at this point, introducing them to new readers) before Simon climbs through the window. So I added a scene that begins:
Charles Fraser glanced up from his book and tilted his head back against the bronze velvet of the Queen Anne chair. “There’s was time when I thought we’d never have a quiet night at home.”
Mélanie Fraser regarded her husband over the downy head of their ten-month-old daughter Jessica, who was flopped in her arms, industriously nursing. “There was a time when I never thought we’d have a quiet night.”
His gray eyes glinted in the candlelight. “Sweetheart. are you complaining of boredom?”
I’m sure I’ll tweak the opening scenes many more times, but I think I now have a shape for the opening that balances action and character revelation.
Writers, how do you approach openings/ Readers, what are the openings of novels that you find particularly effe3ctive? is it action or character that catches your attention?
I’ve also just posted a new Fraser Correspondence letter from Mel/Suzette to Isobel about Rachel and Henri’s wedding. I love using the letters to touch on things I don’t show in the actual books.
Tracy Grant - Novelist 
October 2, 2012 at 2:53 pm
I do like the added scene with Charles and Melanie having a quiet night at home. Even for readers who are familiar with the series, it helps to orient us and get us caught up to where the characters are, and their current situation. It’s short, but sets the stage perfectly. And I would also want to know how Simon came to be climbing in their window.
By the way, I think your book openings are great! Vienna Waltz was the first book I read, and the opening was a real attention grabber, it made me not want to put the book down. I think I like action better than character introduction at the beginning of the book. To give an example, I’ve noticed that Georgette Heyer liked to set the stage by having other characters talk about the main character, before that main character makes an appearance. She does it in Devil’s Cub and in The Unknown Ajax. I liked the Devil’s Cub opening, but I almost gave up at the beginning of The Unknown Ajax (which is a great book) because the first few pages were dull and confusing- a big confusing cast of characters just sitting around talking.
October 2, 2012 at 5:13 pm
I like the additions! As a reader, I think I like a little of both (character development and action) in the beginning of a book. Often in books I enjoy the prologue will have some action and the opening pages or chapter will set a scene or character. I just finished my first of your books (Vienna Waltz) and can’t wait to read more!
October 2, 2012 at 6:29 pm
Glad you like the added scene, Karin! I like action openings as well and too much talking can definitely be confusing (though I do love some of Georgette Heyer’s “talky” openings). But the lesson for me, that I keep forgetting, is that plunging into the action with no character set up is also confusing and not necessarily exciting. A woman finding her husband kneeling over a murdered woman sounds like a good opening, but if you know nothing about the wife or husband or the murder victim there’s not a lot to latch on to and care about. Similarly, someone climbing in through a couple’s library window is more compelling when you know a bit about the people involved.
October 2, 2012 at 6:34 pm
Glad you like the additions, Raphael – thanks for commenting! As i was saying in my comment to Karin above, I think a combination of character and action tends to work best – you need the character development (or at least revelation) to give the reader a way into the story and someone to care about. An action prologue, as you say, can be a great way to hook the reader with suspense and then allow for some slower scenes to set character, because the reader knows whatever was set in motion in the prologue will soon impact the story (that’s what I did with Secrets of a Lady/Daughter of the Game, which has a prologue with kidnappers breaking into the house, followed by chapter 1 which is a long scene between Charles and Mel setting up their marriage).
October 16, 2012 at 11:47 am
The opening for the novel I’m submitting to agents at the moment has remained the same since I came up with the idea in the first place. Admittedly, it’s about the only thing that has. I love that moment of setting the scene and then weaving the context in around it – it feels like starting in close up and then pulling the camera back so that by the end of that first segment you’re in a wide shot. But they are devils to get right. Your openings feel so inevitable, if that makes sense – obviously a lot of work goes on behind the scenes, but it looks so flawless in the final product. And I think I’ve mentioned how badly I want to see this WIP eventually 🙂
October 17, 2012 at 7:39 am
That’s cool that the opening your novel has stayed the same, Kaite. I find that happens sometimes – the opening just seems inevitable, though other times I move them around. Beneath a Silent Moon originally started in Scotland, about a third of the story than the ultimate opening, in London at the Glenister House ball. Both Vienna Waltz and Imperial Scandal began with the idea for the opening scenes, though I played around with POV and added the Prologue to Vienna Waltz. Love you’re seeing your opening like a camera shot. And glad you want to see the WIP – that’s nice inspiration to keep writing!