What, for you, can constitute a good "in media res" debut for a novel, when you can't count on a really dramatic action to start.
What elements do you think is interesting to put in that kind of beginning, so your first sentences can catch the attention.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_medias_res
Thank you guys for your advices !
Adrina, you reminded me the basics (WHEN and WHERE)
Jeff, I recognized The Gunslinger beginning (The Drak Tower)... coz I got it ;)
I'll maybe post it, but I'm already ripping it by myself :)
What Adrian said. Doesn't have to be action, can be dialogue or descriptive prose if it's interesting enough..
'The man in black fled across the desert and the gunslinger followed.' Stephen King wrote that as an opening line and then didn't start writing the book until ages later.
'The gale tore at him and he felt its bite deep within and he knew if they did not make landfall within three days they would all be dead.' James Clavell's opening to Shogun.
Both these books then are followed with a measure of descriptive prose and backstory that wouldn't have sustained an opening, but we're hooked already.
But it doesn't have to be that 'dramatic', it must be hyper-interesting, to carry our attention onwards. Or funny. Or disgusting. Or scary. You should try and aim at your target audience, and shape it to fit (that's a sortof obvious statement, sorry), if you know who they are.
'Mr and Mrs Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.' Harry Potter - you can see what level's she's pitching it at.
'It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.' Pride and Prejudice.
It's gotta interest the reader on some level, or they'll pick up the next book on the shelf. Pick up your favourite book and see how it did it. Post your own up here and we can rip it to.... er, I mean help out with suggestions...:)
The opening paragraphs of a novel must grab an agent or publishers’ reader attention immediately. This can be an unusual use of language, a unique voice, a startling action, a bit of dialogue, a active description of setting. You may only have three or four seconds before the agent or publishers’ reader rejects your novel.
Ground the reader in the setting. The reader needs to know immediately WHEN and WHERE the story is taking place. Specific sensory details should cue the reader to the exact location, even if you don’t specifically say where we are in the first couple paragraphs.
It's imperative to introduce the main protagonist/protagonists as early as possible.
Give the reader an immediate puzzle to solve, something to worry about, something to read on to find out what happens next. It must start on page one! Not page 3 and certainly not page 25.
I started my novel with dramatic dialogue. I have left the reader a mystery to solve on the first page. The antagonist is ranting about the protagonist. Why does the antagonist hate the protagonist? I believe I have left enough clues on the first page to encourage the reader keep turning the pages.
I hope that helps.
Good luck.