Beginning the story

[azbikergirl]

I've read a number of posts lately from writers who have trouble with the middle of their stories. While I may struggle from time to time in the middle, by far my biggest weakness is the beginning. Where do I launch from? What scene would best show the characters and their lives? At what point do I need to get the main plot underway? I find getting started on a new story most difficult because of the huge number of options available. How can I possibly choose? Once I get going, it's smooth sailing, but I can sit frozen in indecision for days on end wanting to get a story down and struggling with how to start it.

The obvious answer is to just pick a spot and go, then change it in the second draft if it's not right. For me, this is much, much easier said than done. I feel I need to know where I'm going, and with whom first. I've just finished a novel that I spent 3 years on and I know the characters so well. It's a bit disconcerting to be in a position of not knowing my new MC very well yet. She walks with jerky steps, like a marionette in the hands of a child. Aaaargh!

Does anyone else have this problem? How do you get past it?

[maestrowork]

I find that difficult as well, but am getting better and better at it. I think UJ's advice is really good: start at a point IN THE STORY where the events can't be summarized in one sentence anymore. Practically, I find it easier to just pick a point as far back as possible (but not too far) and start writing. The "real" beginning will show its pretty face once I get into rewrite. ;) I either have to cut out a lot of fat at the beginning of the draft, or I have to add a chapter or two. The trick is to start writing somewhere and keep going...

[hpoppink]

I don't know if you begin with an outline or not, but I don't. (Although I do outline midway through, once I am familiar with the world and the characters.)

With that in mind, here's what I did for my current WIP:

I started by writing one opening paragraph, rather than thinking in terms of overall chapter or scene. I found that thinking beyond one chunk created instant writer's block.

First I picked a random word and made that the theme of my paragraph. Then I used the first thing that popped into my head to "fill in the blanks" so to speak: a person, a place, and an action.

By the end of the paragraph I had a setting, a main character, and the beginning of a plot. I didn't like it, but I kept writing anyway.

Next I started writing inner thoughts to capture the emotion of the person. What does s/he think of the place, and why do that action? What might other people think of what just happened?

Then I thought about who would be the worst kind of person to be in the same place with this character. Of course I created such a character and made the two talk to one another, react to one another. The story started moving, although I still didn't like it very much.

A few chapters into it, I started to like what was happening, and the setting began to take on some life. It was nothing like the setting I started with, although it had its genesis there.

I also injected a secondary character who, it turns out, I liked better than the first character I developed. The first character looked flat in comparison to how I was writing this new one.

That second person became my protagonist, and their first scene became the true beginning of my story.

[Jamesaritchie]

For me, the beginning is about situation. I do think in media res is somewhat overrated, but I also believe a good beginning provides a serious reason for a reader to keep reading. What I strive for in a beginning is putting an interesting character in an interesting situation at an interesting location.

If the main plot isn't underway right from the beginning, it should still be obvious what the main plot is going to be. This does not necessarily mean opening with action, but it does mean opening as late in the story as possible, while still leaving nothing essential out that can't be woven in later.

[azbikergirl]

Thanks, everyone. Those were all very helpful suggestions. I'm feeling a little easier about it.

[Mistook]

God! Against all the priceless advice available on this board, I'm currently agonizing over a Chapter 1 re-write. My MS is only half finished, but in the throes of mid-book frustration, I've decided I can't go on without knowing my intro is solid.

Think of the cliche' image of a disgruntled writer ripping sheets out of a typewriter and crumpling them into balls.

The moon hung...

NO!

(rip - crumple crumple)...

Like a crooked smile, the crescent moon...

NO!

(rip - crumple crumple)

Why am I so obsessed with the moon? Oh yeah, it begins at night. The moon was my clever way of telling the reader that this scene takes place at night.

The night...

AAARRRGGh!

"No Parking when two inches of snow or more," is what the sign read, but that's not what it meant.

Hmmm...

[sunandshadow]

azbikergirl - Do you know what your initial incident is? That's often a good scene to start with. Or some people prefer the first action scene or emotional reaction scene following the initial incident, if the initial incident itself is either boring or supposed to be a mystery until it's revealed later.

The theory goes that a story is a circle or spiral, where a system in equilibrium is disturbed by an initial incident, chemical reactions multiply until, with a boom! a new equilibrium is forcibly established at the climax, and the resolution returns us to the equilibrium state by tying up loose ends, signalling that we can relax and stop listening suspensefully now, the story is over. So if you know your beginning state and end state it's usually pretty easy to figure out where the story should begin and end.

[Mistook]

If you start with an action scene, it might be exciting, but will the reader care about a character who is introduced with the throw of a punch?


Getting the reader to care is the problem of the first sentence, paragraph, and chapter. In many ways it's like a pick-up line at a singles bar, and the subsequent pitching of woo.

Don't ask for the time. Don't mention the weather. Don't dump your life story. Don't rely on a "line" they've heard a million other times. Don't present yourself as something you're not, or you'll run into trouble down the line. Don't wear too much cologne. Don't get so drunk you don't know what you're saying anymore, but don't sit like a stiff eating peanuts.

I once picked up a girl by casually folding a napkin into a swan. Don't think I didn't study oragamy for weeks just to put that move in public. Don't think there weren't a dozen napkin-folding copy-cats in that bar a week later.

[maestrowork]

The problem with starting with an exciting action sequence is that you're setting up expectations. Unless the rest of your book is equally or more exciting, you're letting your readers down. If you start with an explosion, for example, how many bigger, better, more powerful explosions are you going to have?

Know where your inciting incident is, then go just moments before it. That might be a good place to start your story.

[sunandshadow]

If you start with an action scene, it might be exciting, but will the reader care about a character who is introduced with the throw of a punch?

It's not the throw of the punch that's interesting, it's the problem (resulting from the initial incident) and the character's strong emotions as they frantically try to solve the problem.

[Jamesaritchie]

God! Against all the priceless advice available on this board, I'm currently agonizing over a Chapter 1 re-write. My MS is only half finished, but in the throes of mid-book frustration, I've decided I can't go on without knowing my intro is solid.

Think of the cliche' image of a disgruntled writer ripping sheets out of a typewriter and crumpling them into balls.

The moon hung...

NO!

(rip - crumple crumple)...

Like a crooked smile, the crescent moon...

NO!

(rip - crumple crumple)

Why am I so obsessed with the moon? Oh yeah, it begins at night. The moon was my clever way of telling the reader that this scene takes place at night.

The night...

AAARRRGGh!

"No Parking when two inches of snow or more," is what the sign read, but that's not what it meant.

Hmmm...

I think you'd be better off finishing the novel before worrying about it. Beginnings are often ending dependent. It's very common for something to happen in the last half of a novel to make even the best opening inappropriate. No matter what your beginning is like now, finishing the novel might well mean the beginning must change.

[Anatole Ghio]

The problem with starting with an exciting action sequence is that you're setting up expectations. Unless the rest of your book is equally or more exciting, you're letting your readers down. If you start with an explosion, for example, how many bigger, better, more powerful explosions are you going to have?

Know where your inciting incident is, then go just moments before it. That might be a good place to start your story.

I don't agree with this. Look at the James Bond films. They always start with an exciting action sequence, and the rest of the film is hardly a let down.

One of the main problems with starting out with action, is that can be easy for the writer to short change character. It's kind of hard to stop an exciting sewuence in order to develop motivation. So these things have to be written into the events themselves in order to not interfere with the forward motion of the plot, but also to involve the readers in the characters.

Starting out quuickly also gives the advantage of being able to slow things down in the middle and complicate the situations of the characters... as a writer, you will have earned the interest of the reader, and can then begin to do some of the things that were suspended while the action had a prescendence.

Then when you go into the final act, the readers will be both interested in the characters by the development in the second act, and hooked by the action in the first.

BTW - has there been a good thread recently on story middles? It's an area I have interest in.

I haven't been around much, so I may have missed some threads on it.

[Mistook]

BTW - has there been a good thread recently on story middles? It's an area I have interest in.

That's a good idea! Begging your pardon, I'll start one, and we'll see where it get's us.

[azbikergirl]

azbikergirl - Do you know what your initial incident is? That's often a good scene to start with. Or some people prefer the first action scene or emotional reaction scene following the initial incident, if the initial incident itself is either boring or supposed to be a mystery until it's revealed later.

The theory goes that a story is a circle or spiral, where a system in equilibrium is disturbed by an initial incident, chemical reactions multiply until, with a boom! a new equilibrium is forcibly established at the climax, and the resolution returns us to the equilibrium state by tying up loose ends, signalling that we can relax and stop listening suspensefully now, the story is over. So if you know your beginning state and end state it's usually pretty easy to figure out where the story should begin and end.

Thanks! Yes -- I think I've decided what the inciting incident is, and you have a good point about starting with that. For the first draft, there's no reason not to! :)

[maestrowork]

I don't agree with this. Look at the James Bond films. They always start with an exciting action sequence, and the rest of the film is hardly a let down.


Because the rest of the films have even more and better explosions and stunts -- the opening sequence is usually NOT the best action sequence in the film. Read my post again, that's exactly my point.

You wouldn't start with an exciting James Bond action sequence, then settle into a courtroom drama for the rest of the story. Would you?

[Carlene]

Great thread!


I think the inciting incident should be intriguing - ask a question. I remember reading a mystery years ago with the opening that was something like this:

"Besides the dead man, there were four of us in the room."

Now, are you going to put that book down or continue reading?

Carlene

[Anatole Ghio]

Because the rest of the films have even more and better explosions and stunts -- the opening sequence is usually NOT the best action sequence in the film. Read my post again, that's exactly my point.

You wouldn't start with an exciting James Bond action sequence, then settle into a courtroom drama for the rest of the story. Would you?

Sorry, just got this reply.

It's debateable, really... given which Bond film we are discussing, some of the openings have been better than the film that followed it. Especially since some of them have nothing to do with the rest of the film, it's almost like watching a seperate movie.

Take the Baz Luhrman version of Romeo and Juliet. There is a gunfight at the begining that is an homage to the Spagetti Westerns of Clint Eastwood. It took up 1 week of the 2 month shooting schedule, for a 5 minute sequence that appears at the opening of the film. The reason being, the film makers wanted to grab the audiences attention early on with a visceral scene, so that they would be interested enough to pay attention to the character driven conflict of the rest of the story. While the ending of the film was the climax of the conflict, it was not as action driven as this one sequence.

So in a sense, it was as if the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly suddenly became The OC... as written by William Shakespeare.

Whether you like the movie or not, the story telling strategy employed is still valid.

[loquax]

The beginning of Tomorrow Never Dies is amazingly awesome and beats the rest of the film in one foul swoop. But I didn't feel disappointed.

I find it best if your beginning matches, in some way, your ending. Like beginning and ending with the same scene, same characters, only very different emotions, or something cheesy like that. It rounds off the book nicely.

[Julie Worth]

I think you'd be better off finishing the novel before worrying about it. Beginnings are often ending dependent. It's very common for something to happen in the last half of a novel to make even the best opening inappropriate. No matter what your beginning is like now, finishing the novel might well mean the beginning must change.

As a blank page writer, I’ve now written several books where I’ve struggled with the opening after the book was done. That’s so painful that I’ve changed the way I write. Now I don’t begin chapter two until I’ve polished chapter one to near perfection. Then after each chapter, I ask: is this one as interesting/gripping/exciting as the last? If not, I work on it before moving forward. Not to perfection, but enough so that I know it won’t need heavy revision. That’s a killer for me. To rework a chapter in the middle—the horror! This method takes longer for the first draft, but it’s an easier pace, and the total work is less. As for Ritchie’s comment about beginnings being ending dependent, that might be true. But still, it’s a thousand times easier to make the ending fit the beginning, than to fiddle with the beginning after you’re done.

Caution: For anyone struggling with inner demons, don’t try this!

[azbikergirl]

I guess if I knew how my story ended, writing the beginning might be easier. Even after this, I've changed my mind on the inciting incident for the story!

The beginning I struggle with most is the one I mentioned in the Uncle Jim thread -- whether to start with the dad's story, then jump 30 years or so to the daughter's story, or just tell the daughter's story. The true inciting incident happens with the dad, but that's not what I want to write about. The story I want to tell happens because of dad's discovery -- the "end result," basically.

One of my favorite writing How To books says "The end is in the beginning," and I believe it. For the first draft, I know I need to "just do it" and start, but the muddled sensation in my brain makes that really hard. I have four Chapter 1s, each of them very different, and I can't decide which of them (if any) to base Chapter 2 on. Aaaargh!
:Hammer:

[Mistook]

I have four Chapter 1s, each of them very different, and I can't decide which of them (if any) to base Chapter 2 on. Aaaargh!
:Hammer:


Biker Girl,

If it makes you feel any better, I've been struggling with the same problem for about the same length of time. Weirdly, I also wanted to start with my MC's father for similar reasons.

I finally decided to start with the MC, but since then I've written around six different chapter 1's. I finally have a CH1 I'm happy with. But I don't think of those other versions as a waste of time, because now I really do have a much better idea of the MC. I really got to explore every side of her personality through writing those six, never to be read versions.

I still have the challenge of incorporating her father's backstory into the main story, which I'm beginning to hint at in Chapter 2. I've settled on just sprinkling it in as the story goes. It's hard not to launch into a dump about him, but I think it can work.

[aspiringwriter]

I have the hardest time starting at the beginning as well. Many, many, many times I'll start out and think it's the best idea ever... after a few pages it just doesn't seem to grab me like it did. Once I get past the first ten pages or so things seem to settle down.

My biggest problem is that i'll start on something and get tired of it, think it's terrible, ect... I can't figure out what's going on. For instance i'll sit and ponder a story, have it all planned out and set out to write....then nothing.