A free sample out of my guide. This is directly out of Gumroad's small product lab. Enjoy, and click the link below to get the whole book.
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Whose Hat Is This?
The hat dropped, and he looked at the name on it, wondering if he had an idea who it was for. The hat previously sat atop someone’s head, surely, and now it had collected dust, a sign of its tale — -it’s been unused for a long time. It’s had a long journey as someone’s head gear, and now as no one’s.
But where he found it is a good place to start if he is to find who last owned it. It was nestled in a corner of the street near a coffee shop. The coffee shop itself had long been in that location, and is a local favorite. And for tales, the coffee shop had it’s share of many, some documented, some told, some swept under the carpet, some not to be uttered.
Well, the hat’s interesting and it’s not too far from the coffee shop. What can be had by finding a connection between the two. What can be known about the last owner from going through the shop’s many tales?
Engaged with that thought, Jack, stayed a while and took in the moment, and thought some more. He has to know who this man is, and how the hat ended up where he found it…
Are you reading still? Are you wondering what’s going on? Or what’s going to happen?
Well, there’s the power of a story, and the title of the guide tells why I wrote this. The power of stories have been long documented by many other people throughout history. But for this short guide, let’s focus on it’s power to open your book, to act as a door to your book, to usher in your reader, to be your first few words, your opening lines, your first paragraph, essay, or chapter.
That’s what I want to delve into with this guide. We will be looking at many examples from other books, how effective they were, and how to create yours.
My hope is that if you are new to writing or still learning ( which we all are, at different levels) you will like to take a shot at writing a small, decent length book to get your thoughts out. If so, I think you will like come away with a good idea of how to open your book with a good story and set the stage for your conversation with your reader.
Why
The Doors Matter?
As is more often the case, you walk into a bookstore, Barnes & Noble, let’s say, and you start browsing the aisles. You take a look here, and there, and here again, checking out the titles.
And then one book calls out to you. Maybe the title caught your eye. Maybe it was the binding. Or, maybe it was something you can’t put a finger on yet, but you are still drawn to it. In any case you pick it up and open it up. You already know the title, and the subtitle may give you a better idea of what’s in the book. What do you do next? Dig in, right? Let’s try a sample of it, you will think to yourself.
You definitely had a few things on your mind before you read the first words of the book. Yet, having picked it up, at this point, in this moment, for a brief moment, you are open to what the book has to offer.
You start reading, and then you see a mundane start, a familiar, ordinary opening to the book. The beginning may be like a lecture. “Hohum,” you maybe thinking. You give it a few more minutes, giving it the benefit of the doubt. “Maybe he has something good coming up,” you choose tell yourself, choosing patience.
You read on, some more, and your will begins to wilt. The book maybe good, but the opening is not. And there are many other things that could compete for your attention. If the book does not hold you for a good brief moment, you’ll move on to something else.
This is where good stories triumph, good stories that are used to open books. Stories that take in a reader. Stories that make the reader decide to sit down and read some more.
If they are used well to open books, stories, will take you kindly into a story, get you out of where you are, and usher you into the message in a way you may not know.
Don’t get me wrong. Books are not to be judged by their opening lines, nor their covers, just as people should not be judged by their first acts, or what we feel when we first meet them. We all have had our poor starts at many things, and yet recovered to do well later on. Books can be that way.
Yet the first impression makes a lot of difference, just as starting things on the right foot bodes well for the rest of it.
And for stories, though the same story could be told by two different people, the impact they have on the hearers ( or readers) may not be the same. The facts may be the same, but the presentation could be entirely different. This is where your ability to take a story and present it well to start your book is critical.
You have the facts, and now it’s time to figure out how to weave a story out of it. A story that’s compelling, and is a good opener. And if you are not sure how to do this, that’s the purpose of this guide. Let’s go on.
End Of Sample
