Oftentimes, at times of heightened emotion, we produce our best work; the energy from those emotions can pour out into your writing, creating something beautiful and authentic, with the bonus of benefitting from a truly cathartic experience. So my advice is - if your head is in the game (sometimes mine is not), channel that extra energy into your writing!
One of the most cardinal rules in writing is to avoid cliché; if I began a book with such an opener, I would immediately stop reading - unless it were a statement inserted for dramatic irony! When writing, you need to find your own voice, not parrot someone else's - or worse - use a glib and clichéd expression! Taking for example, the sentence below, you would need to find a different mode of expression: show, don't tell! So perhaps, instead of, “It was a dark and stormy night,” try something different: “A veil of Stygian darkness enveloped the land, punctuated only by the roar of thunder and piercing bursts of bluish-white lightning bolts.”
Use your imagination to create your reality, paint a picture with your words - and make it exciting, particularly when penning your opening line!
One of the most cardinal rules in writing is to avoid cliché; if I began a book with such an opener, I would immediately stop reading - unless it were a statement inserted for dramatic irony! When writing, you need to find your own voice, not parrot someone else's - or worse - use a glib and clichéd expression! Taking for example, the sentence below, you would need to find a different mode of expression: show, don't tell! So perhaps, instead of, “It was a dark and stormy night,” try something different: “A veil of Stygian darkness enveloped the land, punctuated only by the roar of thunder and piercing bursts of bluish-white lightning bolts.”
Use your imagination to create your reality, paint a picture with your words - and make it exciting, particularly when penning your opening line!