"To unravel the twisting, turning history (of the boomerang),
you'd have to travel back in time. You'd slip back to an age before
there were airplanes, before there were cars, before the signing
of the Declaration of Independence. You'd travel to a place where
America wasn't yet known, to a time long before William the Conqueror
subdued England in 1066. You wouldn't even recognize the world
you'd enter, the primitive, murky horizons of ancient man."
I deliberately crafted the opening of my book, 'Bout Boomerangs:
America's Silent Sport, to have a broad and sweeping feel, since
my goal was to tell the complete story of the flying stick that
returns. I wanted to present boomerangs as an art and a science,
and as a social, cultural and historical phenomenon. So I chose
an opening containing myth-like language, one that would guide
readers back to the days of the boomerang's primordial soup. The opening paragraph (or even line!) of any book or article
is vital to its success and must dazzle readers. When crafting
an opener for a magazine article, it's important to keep three
items in mind: the tone of the publication, the age of its readers
and the scope, geographically speaking, of the audience. With
those factors in mind, the
writer can then select the most appropriate combination of anecdotes,
quotes and narratives to encourage people to read the article.
Please remember that, while quality openers may or may not contain
information that happened first (chronologically speaking), they
must present an intriguing slant. I've published several articles about boomerangs, both before
and after the publication of Bout Boomerangs, and the meandering,
all-encompassing opening of my book wouldn't have worked for any
of my magazine pieces. One article, published in Women's Sport + Fitness, was called
"She Throws Like a Girl," with a subtitle of "And
in the sport of boomerang, that's better than most of the guys."
The tone of Women's Sport + Fitness was intense, with a tough,
independent, can-do attitude glowering from every syllable. So
I lifted two lines from my book research and that succinct opening
fit the magazine perfectly. "Betsylew Miale-Gix is fearless.
She knows what she has to do and she just does it." In the sport of boomerang throwing, women compete directly against
the men, with no handicaps. And, the opener for Women's Sport
+ Fitness is a quote from a top-level male participant, expressing
his admiration for Miale-Gix's competitive spirit - and success.
To give an example of contrasting tone, I wrote about Miale-Gix
again, this time for the International Encyclopedia of Women and
Sports, Macmillan Reference USA. The audacious opening from the
fitness magazine, however, would not work in the encyclopedia;
instead, I used a straightforward and factual tone, one that would
have lulled readers of Women's Sport + Fitness to sleep. "Boomerang throwing is a recreational and competitive sport
in which participants try to achieve specified effects in their
throws: distance, tricks, extended time aloft, and the like."
Then there's the age of the audience. When I wrote "Boomerangs"
for Boys Quest, I was tailoring the article towards preteen boys,
for whom play is still vital. I wanted my opener to be clear and
enticing, so I wrote, "If you're looking for a terrific sport
to play alone or with friends, try boomerang throwing."
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Kelly Boyer Sagert has sold over 1,000 pieces of her writing to magazines,
newspapers, encyclopedias, literary journals and online venues.
She has also published two small press books and contributed material
to twelve other books. Sagert served as the managing editor of
an award-nominated magazine publishing company for nearly four
years and she currently teaches the following classes for Writer's
Digest online: Creativity & Expression, Focus on the Nonfiction
Magazine Article and Fundamentals of Nonfiction Writing. Sign
up for one or all three at: http://www.writersonlineworkshops.com/viewinstructor.asp?instructorid=1028
Sagert is also available to speak at writer's conferences and
she can be contacted at kbsagert@aol.com
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