Sally Carpenter
Since my stories are always set in the past I always start with a header naming the location and year to get readers on board right away. Otherwise, they’ll assume it’s a contemporary setting and wonder why the characters aren’t using cell phones and other modern conveniences.
Since my protagonist is a musician, all my chapter headers are song titles (this one is from The Mamas and The Papas). It’s an easy way for me to keep track of the action is the chapters and it’s fun looking for titles that have a connection to the story. This chapter, obviously, takes place on a Monday.
Thanks for contributing this post, Sally! I enjoyed reading your comments about the techniques you used to make your opening pages engaging.
Hi B,K., thanks for hosting me. When I write, much of this though process is subconscious, so it was interesting to write it out in detail.