This is just one kind of opening, though. Heinlein didn’t talk down to his readers or drown them in made-up jargon, and he gave them commonplace cultural touchstones that were easily understood.

And those 89 words are a marvel of efficiency and economy, communicating so much more than what is written on the text. Here's an interesting point that you might not have noticed that works on a completely subconscious level for readers: since there is no sense of awe or wonder in the tone of the narrator, we can assume that being on a space ship is commonplace. Add the title into the mix and we're practically certain. If he’s “dropping” out of a ship, we can reasonably assume it’s probably a space ship. The paragraph speaks matter-of-factly about our hero being on a ship. For one thing, we’re led to believe that these drops would ordinarily be frightening as hell if scientists hadn’t dulled that fear out of our protagonist. The rest of the paragraph tell us exactly what we can expect. The rest of the paragraph is devoted to making us understand how crazy the concept of a drop is. Looking at it as a whole, the only concept that is foreign to an average reader (especially when this was written) is the idea of a 'drop.' Taking it one idea at a time, it's easier to dissect. It’s so well-designed and well-written that it begs you to keep reading. They easily infer what it means and move on, taking the world-building that's been going on for granted. It throws the reader into a small concept they don’t need to understand. Yes, Starship Troopers is a futuristic military sci-fi novel, but the beginning is so relatable that you barely notice the exposition. Not only is it a great opening paragraph, it's a prime example of excellent world-building, too. So let's look at the opening of Starship Troopers. Or you'll agonize over it and realize that the book doesn't start until chapter two and you need to lose this opening anyway.īut looking at incredibly successful openings to books is a good way for us to learn more about what we should do. Sometimes you'll agonize over what that first sentence will be and realize you've really been writing chapter three. It will take revision after revision to get it right. You need to grab readers with your very first sentence and then the first paragraph as a whole.

It does a lot of things really well, but more than anything it demands that you keep reading. This week we're going to take a look at the opening paragraph of Robert Heinlein' Starship Troopers. When I find one, I love going back, line by line, and figuring out how it works and how it functions. I read a lot of books and for the opening to stick with me as something that needs to be revisited is a rare thing.

Heinlein starship troopers