Rebecca's Tips for Opening a Novel

There's nothing specific in these opening two lines, except the word bed. She wiggled her toes by his head, which actually introduces two characters simultaneously. We're trained to expect that the character who acts immediately after an unattributed piece of dialogue is probably the speaker. So it's okay to be subtle or coy or sophisticated. A chaffinch is as specific as a cracker and in the right hands, just as wondrous. If I write Donald Flick to Saboutio player off the green-based pitch into the fireplace, I'm bored, baby. Let's fuck.