In the beginning ...

written by
Jeannette Zink 

I love a good book, especially its exquisite opening paragraph.  The writer is immediately establishing a pledge of expectation to me, the reader, in those first few chosen words.  A bond of assurance sealed with the author's mark of a pen and the remarkable journey ready to commence.  The rollercoaster ride of text is bound for twists and turns and fine-tuned melodic artistry.  The writer has cautiously cherry-picked a cleverly structured sentence with its impeccable and attractive punctuation.  We can now hitch our proverbial wagon to that undeniable quest for the next grand sentence and the next. The sheer placement of a comma or the companion semicolon may easily stir an emotional longing of remembrance when life's bitter fruit was sweeter and our dreams held a glow so bright that the night wore sunglasses. The rhythm and sound of words, intuitively placing our mind in an upright position and a toe tapping attention to each strung together phrase.

These are the labors and joys of the artistic storyteller ... to garner our willingness to travel this journey of majestic prose.  It may be a risky expedition since we can never be guaranteed, as in life, that the beginning will play out as hinted; the in-between as entertaining as was pledged; or, the ending as we may had secretly hoped by the time the writer's last word is laid to rest on the page. The End provoking a sense of bravery that our time was well spent on a good read.  If not ... oh well, there are always other books.  The infinite possibilities of opening paragraphs - some even grand - await us with each new book.  Our sense of smell tweaked by each glorious page as we eagerly open the gift of that first paragraph.

Read on, my friends ... read on ... because in the beginning... there just may be an exquisite opening paragraph.