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Advice For A New Writer, Please? I’m a new writer and struggling a little bit to be creative and would just like some opinions on what opening story line would go better for my thriller.

Rachel’s husband and daughter are killed one night and she is convinced it was no accident. She soon learns her husband was silenced because he knew too much. I’m hoping it be a thriller.

I have two different openings:
1) first chapter is the event of the fire that kills Rachel’s family, she survived only because she was called away from the house late that night. She arrives home to find the house in flames and complete chaos. While fire-fighters are preoccupied trying to put out the fire. A man (who becomes her friend and helper later on, but may have his own hidden agenda) shows up. He tries to make her come with him without anyone seeing. He claims to be trying to “save her life”. Confused and traumatised by what she is seeing, Rachel ignores him, so he uses a cloth with Chloroform on it to drug her. She wakes up in his house, where he lets her watch the news. The News report says her husband killed himself and his child after he committed a violent act (the one he was trying to expose). He has been framed. The man then goes on to explain how he knew her, knew what was going to happen and convinces her the story is a lie. Rachel wants to expose them, clear her husband’s name and avenge her families death.
2) Opens with a prologue of the fire, similar to the first one but “the man” doesn’t feature in it. The first chapter is a 2 year jump, where Rachel is having therapy for the trauma. And struggling with the fact so many people think her husband did this terrible crime, when she is convinced he didn’t. She believes it is a conspiracy and that she is being watched by someone and has been for some times. Doctor’s think she is mentally unstable and paranoid, though not harmful to any one. She soon discovers who has been watching her “the man” and when they meet he confirms all her own thoughts. Her husband was framed by a group of people, they were responsible for his death and the death of her daughter. Rachel wants to expose them.

I wasn’t sure about the “mental illness” thing as I have another character who’s story runs parallel to Rachel’s and he is slightly psychotic as the book goes on. Which opening sounds better to you? On the second one I wasn’t sure about the time jump.

Thank you for you opinions.

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