[Tamilyn Posts: 213 Status: Offline Fiery Pegasus]

Hi, fantastic fantasy BlueBoarders.

I don't know if you all caught this but agent Kristin Nelson is in New York schmoozing with editors. She reports on a conversation with an editor from Tor about common fantasy openings they've been seeing a lot:

http://pubrants.blogspot.com/2011/06/groan-worthy.html

The blog entry also includes a link to her initial list in 2006. 

Cheers!

[Valerian Posts: 1 Status: Offline]

Oops.  I'm guilty of number 3 on the list, the city chase scene.  In my defense I did change it a couple of drafts ago...but only by perpetrating number 4 (from the initial list), the dreaded prologue.  Maybe I need to take another look!

[Woods]

Nice link to have. Thanks for sharing!

[skate]

Phew! Glad to have missed using any of those. I've seen them quite a few times, though.

[Beth]

Phew! Glad to have missed using any of those....

Same here! The opening is just about the only part of my WIP that I have pretty much set "in stone" (well, as much "in stone" as anything can be in a 1st draft). I'd hate to have to change it at this point - then everything would be up in the air.

[AuntyBooks Posts: 552 Status: Offline AKA Kersten Hamilton WWW]

Tyger Tyger's opening scene includes a plea, a pink cashmere sweater, an ape who thinks she's on a fashion runway and a banana.    Whew! I have avoided cliche...but it is not high fantasy, so who knows what I might have done there?

  eab

[Tamilyn Posts: 213 Status: Offline Fiery Pegasus]

Tyger Tyger's opening scene includes a plea, a pink cashmere sweater, an ape who thinks she's on a fashion runway and a banana.   

 
"Mind if I ape your fashionable opening scene?" Tamilyn pleaded.

[AuntyBooks Posts: 552 Status: Offline AKA Kersten Hamilton WWW]

"Mind if I ape your fashionable opening scene?" Tamilyn pleaded.

Of course!-- so long as you're not just monkeying around. My MC gets very tense about these distinctions. I would never hear the end of it.

eab

[Hannah Posts: 246 Status: Offline WWW]

Ha! Can we make #5 "any horrendous, extended period of purple prose with vague references to magical creatures or sadness or aftermath of apocalypse?"

[Allison Posts: 96 Status: Offline WWW]

I don't know if you all caught this but agent Kristin Nelson is in New York schmoozing with editors. She reports on a conversation with an editor from Tor about common fantasy openings they've been seeing a lot: http://pubrants.blogspot.com/2011/06/groan-worthy.html

The blog entry also includes a link to her initial list in 2006. 

In my fantasy novel that I'm writing, I'm guilty of one of them openings on the 2006 list. Fortunately, my opening isn't set in stone. 

[sandycarl Posts: 36 Status: Offline Untried dreams are not given the chance to fail. WWW]

Thanks for the link, Tamilyn. I love reading what Kristin has to say.
NOW I would like to hear of 10 openings which really work. (Guess it has to do with unique something or other.