Someone’s lost their head in the swamp…literally.

As writers, we hear all the time that we’ve got to hook readers in just the first few pages or else. We’ve got to hook agents in the first few pages or else.

Whether you’re looking to get published or just hoping to hook your reader, first impressions are vital. Compelling opening scenes are the key to catching an agent or editor’s attention, and are crucial for keeping your reader engaged.

JEFF GERKE, THE FIRST FIFTY PAGES

Well then, let’s study those first few pages in other people’s stories, shall we?

Today I snagged from the New Release shelf:

Midnight is the Darkest Hour by Ashley Winstead

The opening pages of Ashley Winstead’s Midnight is the Darkest Hour are a real treat to read.

Once we got past the trigger warning of violent things that often happen in suspense thrillers, we are transported to a small Louisiana town working to survive by a swamp. While folks are claimed by the swamp every year, this time a fisherman discovers a bashed-in skull. The sheriff holds a press conference which of course draws in the whole of the small town, our narrator keeping herself off and to the side to observe the spectacle.

Winstead wisely begins the story with the skull and doesn’t dwell much on sensory details. While I’d love to experience this swamp through her prose, as a writer, I appreciate Winstead wants us invested in the mystery first, so the narrative focus is on the skull and how the town reacts to the sheriff’s announcement of—gasp!—a homicide investigation, the town’s first in twenty years. We as readers can easily be shocked that such a long time has passed without some sort of criminal death in a town; in fact, that can certainly be a reason why we read on, for we can then be skeptical of what this town is really like with its five thousand “Christian souls” and few “Godless heathens.” The narrator also drops hints early on that she was expecting this announcement to come from the sheriff at some point, that she’s been waiting for it for years. But why? We don’t know yet, which makes me wonder how reliable this narrator really is. I guess we have to keep reading to find out.

No matter what the season brings, keep reading!

Read on, share on, and write on, my friends!