Before people buy your memoir, they’ll check out its opening

Reading time: 2 minutes, 10 seconds

Anne R. Allen points out that when potential buyers check into a book, “. . . All readers want to see that a book looks professional and polished.

“They don’t want to invest time in a book—even if it’s free—unless they feel they’re in competent hands.”

And your competence, or lack of it, will be apparent from the first paragraph and first page so you need to work hard to make them shine.

Craft an opening that catches potential readers’ attention, stirs their emotions, and makes them curious to know more—in other words, an opening that inspires them to plunk down money for your memoir and read it.  

Keep this in mind: You’re not on your own in fashioning your memoir’s opening:   

• You can get outstanding help from a quality critique group, either in person or online. Such groups are invaluable! Let your critique partners experiment with you on crafting a powerful lead (opening, beginning).
• We here at SM 101 are also here to help.

We’ve already covered the following types of leads—The Quote Lead and

The Scene-setting Lead. (If you missed recent blog posts, click on links below.)

So today let’s continue with more options for creating a powerful start to your memoir:

The Action (or Narrative) Lead: “The dusty earth vibrated and bushes crashed, snapping the silence of the tawny African plain. . . . We caught a blurred glimpse of some creature approaching us, carving a path through the dense thorn scrub brush. Two tick-eating birds flapped frantically off a massive iron-grey back as their resting place lunged out from under them. Now we saw clearly what was heading our way. It was a rhinoceros, one of Africa’s most unpredictable animals.” (Dr. Jon Arensen, Rhino!)

(Jon and I worked together in Africa. Besides being a great storyteller and author, Jon is an anthropologist, linguist, Bible translator, and university professor. Look into Jon’s other books on Amazon.)

The Anecdote Lead: Use a short story to illustrate or personalize your story’s broader topic or main point.

For example, this anecdote kicks off a story about a broad topic, the proliferation of gun violence across America:

“Even before the fireworks launched from the French Quarter’s Jackson Square, 2006 went out with a bang in New Orleans—a handful of them, actually. At 7 p.m. on December 31, several of those bangs felled a 42-year-old man, who was found inside his FEMA trailer with multiple gunshot wounds to the back of his head. At 8:45 p.m., another man was shot several times and left dead on the sidewalk. At 10:12 p.m., a third was killed inside his home.” (The New Math on Crime, by Will Sullivan, U.S. News and World Report, January 15, 2007).

A Statistics Lead, if brief, can effectively catch readers’ attention and persuade them to keep reading.

For example, “Around the world, 925 million people—more than the populations of North America and South America combined—go hungry on a daily basis,” and Guatemala “has the highest percentage of chronically malnourished children in Latin America (the fourth highest in the world). In some areas, chronic malnutrition causes 90 percent of children to suffer.” (World Vision)

Lead-writing can be hard work, even for pros. Like Bill Roorbach said,

“ . . . Most first lines weren’t first till after much revision. . . .”

That means: Give yourself permission to take weeks, or months, or even years to settle on your memoir’s opening. 

An effective beginning can motivate a person to buy your book,

but a weak one could persuade him to close your memoir 

and walk away.

Next week: More ways to begin your memoir!

Related posts:

The Quote Lead

The Scene-setting Lead

Does your memoir’s beginning pass the test?

Does your opening make your memoir a must-read?

If you don’t get this right, you’ll lose readers. 

Why should you wait to write your memoir’s opening?

Tuesday Tidbit: Read this only if you’re serious about writing and publishing your memoir

If you’re serious about writing and publishing your memoir, make a commitment to learning the art and craft of each skill necessary.

Consider yourself a student. Devote at least a couple of years to learning how to write, and then how to publish.

Join a writing group. Network.

Read the best books.

Attend writing conferences.

Develop a system for collecting information you know you’ll need in the future.

For example, I have dozens of folders saved on my computer for skills such as writing good dialog. I have ten pages of links and notes on dialog alone!

I have at least that many pages devoted to dozens hundreds of other topics including:

• audience
• author bio (how to write one)
• beta readers
• book descriptions
• chapter titles
• Chicago Manual of Style
• clarity
• copyright info
• covers for books
• critique
• details describing people
• editing topics and resources
• formatting
• grammar

. . . and dozens of other topics.

And here’s another bit of advice: Follow the best blogs.

Recently Anne R. Allen shared a great resource listing the top 100 writing blogs. I have learned from many of them and recommend you look into them, too—they’ll help you grow as a writer. And Anne R. Allen consistently offers rich resources, too. Follow her on Facebook.

And pray! Commit yourself and your writing to God. Ask for His help in practical, specific ways. And watch what He does.

God has often surprised me in answer to such prayers. For example, this morning He brought me a huge help to solve an overwhelming problem with formatting my manuscript for publication. WoooHooo!

If you’re serious about writing and publishing your memoir,

learn the art and craft of each skill necessary.

You can do it!

You must do it!

A must-read for you: Avoid scams and schemes

"These days, there are more people making money off new writers than there are writers making money," says Anne R. Allen.

Read that again: "These days, there are more people making money off new writers than there are writers making money."

"Recently," Anne continues, "I've run into a lot of new writers who do the very things that make them fall prey to unscrupulous scammers."

Don't let yourself fall prey to scammers and fakes.

How do you do that? By becoming a wise, energetic student of writing, publishing, and marketing. Start here with Anne R. Allen's post.

There's a reason Writer's Digest listed Anne's blog among their 101 Best Websites for Writers, and there's a reason Author Marketing Experts, Inc., listed her blog among their Top 50 Websites for Indie Authors, and several others. Week after week, year after year, Anne R. Allen shares information we all need to know.

In her blog post, Don't Fall Prey to Publishing Scams: 7 New Writer Mistakes to Avoid, she covers these and other points:

Writing-in-a-Garret Syndrome: Such people avoid writing classes, writing groups, writing books, critiques, beta readers, editors, and writing blogs and magazines. They fail to educate themselves on the publishing industry, self-publishing, and book distribution. Nevertheless, they believe they're brilliant writers and will soon find their books on bestseller lists. Anne says, "These people are prime targets for bogus agents, editing scams, overpriced marketing schemes, and ruthless vanity publishing companies because they're so easily flattered and bamboozled."

Trying to Publish Too Soon: Here Anne addresses those whose manuscripts "have pacing and structure problems,... cliches,... saggy middles, slithery points of view." She warns, "Bogus agents are happy to take them, though. For a fee. Then maybe they'll sell them to their own bogus 'publishing company,' which will be happy to take more of your money...."

Read the rest of Anne’s valuable post in which she discusses Obsessing about Marketing before you Learn to Write and Expecting to Make Money with a First Book and several other relevant topics.

“Every phony publisher, bogus agency, and scammy editing service with a slick website is waiting out there, ready to pounce,” Anne says. “So do your homework…. Even if you’re only writing as a hobby, if you want to publish at all, you need to learn how the business works or you’ll pay a lot of money for something embarrassing.”

 Don’t miss Anne’s final piece of advice, “Always check out a company at Writer Beware, and never sign a contract without running it by a legal professional. For real self-publish advice, follow Joanna Penn’s blog and The Alliance for Independent Authors. Reedsy and Writer’s Boon can give you lists of vetted service providers. And David Gaughran’s book, Let’s Get Digital, gives a great overview of indie publishing."

Many thanks to Anne for the consistently rich resources she provides with every blog post. I highly recommend you read her blog and follow her on Facebook. Also check out Anne's book, How to be a Writer in the E-Age.

Anne’s bio: “Anne R. Allen writes funny mysteries and how-to books for writers. She also writes poetry and short stories on occasion. She’s a contributor to Writer’s Digest and the Novel and Short Story Writer’s Market. Her bestselling Camilla Randall Mystery Series features perennially down-on-her-luck former socialite Camilla Randall—who is a magnet for murder, mayhem and Mr. Wrong, but always solves the mystery in her quirky, but oh-so-polite way.”

Read Carolina Hinojosa-Cisneros' blog post, Five Minute Friday Retreat: A Reflection.