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Fantasy writers: Some cliche openings. What's your favorite?

• Favorite to hate or favorite to love. What cliche openings do you see in fantasy novels? AND...writers, are you starting your novels with any of these cliches? Be honest! Oddly, enough, all of mine tend to start with someone at a bar having a drink. :D I gotta change that. :) Here are some fantasy openings a literary agent and Tor editor have seen a lot of lately: 1. Man sitting on steed in pouring rain. 2. Woman standing on high wall looking out into the distance at something 3. The city chase scene 4. Aftermath of a battle Source: pubrants.blogspot.com /2011/06/groan-worthy.html [remove the space] In the above post, the agent wanted to link to another post she made about cliche openings that she says is still relevant today. It was quite interesting. Here are the other cliche openings that she still sees in Fantasy, Sci-fi, and Paranormal Romance: ***** 1. Characters inexplicably getting sucked into a portal for no apparent reason This is mostly a YA fantasy device and yes, I realize there is long tradition of portals into other worlds in young adult fiction (Chronicles of Narnia and all that). All I’m saying is that portal needs to be really necessary and not just an excuse to transport characters into another world so you can now finally tell your story 2. A person gathering herbs in the forest Honestly, it can’t happen as frequent as I seem to see it in opening chapters. 3. A battle scene. Goodness, let me get attached to some characters before you start whacking them. Seriously, there’s no connection to the world, characters, etc. Without it, it’s impossible for me to know who to care about. 4. A prologue. I’ve been doing this for four years (granted—not a long time) but I have yet to see a well-done prologue in sample pages I’ve received. Even if you have one, for goodness sake, don’t send it as part of your sample. If I offer representation because I love your work, then you can spring it on me. 5. A distant third person narrative to start (ie. The boy, the old man, the healer) Once again, hard to feel connection to a story that’s about to unfold when this is used. 6. Clumsy incorporating of back story in your dialogue (see handy example) Character 1: I must find the elusive stone of magic (of death, of life, insert appropriate fantasy element here). Character 2: Yes, my Queen, it is imperative we find it but you also need to remember to collect the six other crystals/stones/talismans for without it, you will not have the power of the XYZ and will be unable to rule your domain. Ah, if she’s the Queen, wouldn’t she know all this? This dialogue is obviously for the reader’s benefit and not because it’s necessary to the story unfolding. 7. Launching your narrative via a dream sequence I see this a lot in paranormal romance (but it can still apply to SF & F). It’s a cheap trick. Reader gets invested and then the character “wakes up.” Ugh. It’s such a let down. 8. Heroine waking up alone with a man in her room This seems to be another popular theme in paranormal romance. This is not sexy. Any woman with a lick of sense would be terrified if this really happened. Hard to move the story forward from there. 9. Tired SF or Fantasy staples: i.e.: quest for a magical artifact, typical characters (dwarf, elf, the warrioress who doesn’t know she has magical powers), a modern woman who is really the savior on an alternate world. Pretty self-explanatory. 10. Starting your cover letter for your sample pages with: this is a 250,000 word manuscript… Guaranteed to send me running while screaming. Now remember, this is just one agent’s opinion. ***** Source: pubrants.blogspot.com/2006/05/ recaptop-10-things-id-rather-not-see.htm… [remove the space]

• Answer:

  while reading through these, i imagined each and every one in a book i have recently read. wow, i didnt know that it was so imperative to start a book in a unique way. i have to say that another really cliche is starting the book with someone calling the main character or them waking up. I have to admit that i have start books in that way too. i guess maybe it seems fitting to me, but now i am really rethinking. I have one question though, if this agent does not want to see this, is there anything left? and it is hilarious when people start with something way too obvious and dive into a plot line with nothing supporting it. thanks for these tips of awareness i will be on the lookout for these now.