Entertaining Beginning
Grab their Attention
Entertaining Beginning
Action!
The bear lept from the water and slammed its
claws into the salmon. I could see it all with my
new binoculars, but I wanted a better look.
Entertaining Beginning
Dialogue!
“We’ve got to get out of here!” screamed Bart
and Lisa. They knew that sneaking into the old
basement might get them into some trouble, but
they had no idea it would be this scary.
Entertaining Beginning
Sound!
The beast’s terrifying roar shook the
ground. I didn’t want to get any closer
but I knew my brother wouldn’t feel the
same way.
Entertaining Beginning
Cliffhanger Question!
The squirrel clung to his acorn for dear life as he
sank deeper and deeper. Suddenly, he was
surrounded by hungry piranas. As I watched the
movie I wondered if there were any piranas in the
river by our house.
Entertaining Beginning
Look at the pictures and read the boring beginnings beneath them. Your job is
to revise 3 of them so they become entertaining beginnings. The first one is
an example featuring each type of entertaining beginning.
Grab the reader’s attention!
Remember: You are writing a very short story so you need to start
your story as close to the Main Event as possible.
On the day of the camping trip I woke up early. I had some toast and
peanutbutter and then I got ready to leave for the woods.
Action: I swung my backpack over my shoulder and headed into the woods. It
would be a great day for a campout!
Dialogue: “This is the perfect spot to set up the tent!” I said.
Sound: HOOO! HOOO! An owl swooped down toward me, complaining that I’d
set up my tent in his part of the forest.
Cliffhanger Question: As I headed out for a hike I hoped I wouldn’t run into
any grizzly bears.
One night I went in to explore a haunted house.
This is a story about how I got chased by a tiger.
One day Jack decided to go fishing at the lake.
I was bored. There was nothing to do. There was
nothing on TV. Maybe I would call Joe and we could go
and catch frogs.
One rainy night I got locked out of my house.
This is a story about me. One day I sat outside. I like
summer. I like to go outside.
Entertaining Beginning: Check Point!
Now that you’ve written a few Entertaining Beginnings, it is
time to stop and see how you are doing. Choose one of your
Entertaining Beginnings to analyze.
First answer this question:
 How does my Entertaining Beginning grab the reader’s
attention?
Now it is time to show your writing to a few classmates. Ask
them to fill in the blank in the following statements:
 The way you _________________________ will grab the
reader’s attention.
 You should try ________________________ to really grab
the reader’s attention.
Use your classmates’ feedback to improve one of your
Entertaining Beginnings.
Finally, you need to show me.