What are you're thoughts in making an intro for a novel? It's for an english project of mine, and we are instructed to make an intro that will simply hook the readers to read the story.
The setting for my novel is medieval fantasy (was actually kind of lucky since I would have not liked a love story sort of thing)
Anyways, what are you're thoughts? I think I'd be using a little mystery side so that the readers will like to know what will happen next.
Please share your opinions, 50% of my mark rests here.
Having gone through this with a professional editor while working on my own novel, the basic rule of thumb is that you need an intro in which either something happens that raises questions... or something appears like it's going to happen, which also raises questions. Another rule of thumb is that the protagonist of the story preferably should appear in the introduction, else be referred to, otherwise you'll risk throwing readers off the scent and they'll put the book down.
Murder, secrets, riddles, omens, portents, betrayal, espionage, lies and omissions, or even a conflict and the protagonist's singular hope serves as great starting points for a novel. For example, the one I've written (and had approved) consists of the following:
1) A brief description of a mysterious and somewhat eerie setting (a dead forest, with some hints to the effects of a previous war).
2) The introduction of an unusual main character (is it a bird? Or is it a man? Or is it halfway in between? Noting that I took care to be quite direct with descriptions as the concept was already strange enough as it was).
3) A gradual build to the main event of the introduction: a fugitive and his demise at the hands of the main character (who takes advantage of his hybrid characteristics).
4) A twist to end: despite being mostly bird, the main character can speak! But what exactly is the meaning of what he said?
In that introduction I promised the reader a number of things: they would come to know the context of the story, they would continue with the journey of the main character, and most importantly the truth about whatever implied organisation he worked for. If you implicitly promise things, the reader's curiosity is piqued, so a mystery is a good idea. That said, it'd probably be wise for that "side mystery" to be related or lead directly to the main plot.
