I don’t always believe in Show Don’t Tell, but my Lord — “I’m a rogue and a reprobate”?? Imagine if that’s how Han Solo had introduced himself.
My favorite first person openings clue us to the personality of the character via their opinions. I love how much work Elif Batuman does in the opening to The Idiot. The way she’s casually dismissive of her dad saying he’d visited a museum via the internet. That opening didn’t blow me away at the time, but I really like that I never felt like she was showing off. The subtly and humor of the whole novel is present in those first pages.
Well, Moby Dick is pretty good.
I don’t always believe in Show Don’t Tell, but my Lord — “I’m a rogue and a reprobate”?? Imagine if that’s how Han Solo had introduced himself.
My favorite first person openings clue us to the personality of the character via their opinions. I love how much work Elif Batuman does in the opening to The Idiot. The way she’s casually dismissive of her dad saying he’d visited a museum via the internet. That opening didn’t blow me away at the time, but I really like that I never felt like she was showing off. The subtly and humor of the whole novel is present in those first pages.