Starting with the action

I've always thought L. Sprague de Camp's, "shoot the sheriff in the first line" excellent advice to writers. I often find that manuscripts across my desk start several chapters before the actual story. But came across fantasy author Dave Duncan's version of the same advice this evening: "Start with the fire alarm, not an alarm clock."

To which John Park added "The brick-through-the-window opening sounds like the easy part of de Mille's 'Start with an earthquake and build up to a climax'."