Deciding How To Begin

[DwayneA]

I'm still stumped as to how to begin my current work. I've been doing a lot of reading to see how other authors start off their works. Some do with telling, some with putting right into the action, some start off by showing the setting, and some start with dialogue.

For example, one version of Les Miserables starts when the ex-con Jean Val Jean comes to the town where he will eventually come under the care of a kindly bishop. David Copperfield began with a chapter that ultimately ended with his birth. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone began with a description of the Dursleys, the family that raised Harry. And a recent book I finished reading, "The Midwife's Apprentice" started with the protagonist finding a dung heap to sleep upon where she is found by the midwife later in the chapter.

Yet how should I start? Should I start at the moment where the protagonist's story truly begins? The start of the main conflict? How do you start?

[Kateness]

Finding the right place to start isn't always something that's accomplished in the first draft. Sometimes you have to get to the end of the story to know where it's supposed to begin.

my advice is to just pick a scene that you're fairly sure is near the beginning and run with it.

[blacbird]

If "beginning" is bothering you, begin writing somewhere else in your story than the beginning. Beginnings are hellish difficult to write for a lot of writers, and a lot of beginnings get written pretty late in the novel writing process. Go write scenes and sequences of events you want to happen further along in your novel, and you may well find that the beginning you need begins to flesh out as a consequence of those.

Concentrating too hard on "beginning at the beginning" often can be a way of descending into the Okefenokee of InfoDump.

caw

[kaitie]

I'd say go with your gut for now, and then worry about the beginning once you have the whole draft finished. Beginnings are rough, and usually once we get through them it becomes easier to tell if it needs to be changed. Just go into it knowing you might go back and cut out the first twenty pages, or add another chapter if you need to. Allow yourself flexibility. It is a first draft, after all. It's okay if it isn't perfect. :)

[dpaterso]

I'd also say keep reading until you find an opening you like which would suit your story. Borrow the technique and see if it works for you.

Looking at some of my own stuff, I have no idea what made me start a story in a particular way. A random thought burped and my fingers just started typing, or so it seems. Sometimes the story kicks off just as something changes and affects the POV character; sometimes the change has already happened and the POV character is trying to figure what the heck to do next. Or sometimes the change is coming and the POV character must take action to stop it.

That's pretty standard for any story, isn't it? Something changes that affects the main character.

-Derek

[Hayley E. Lavik]

I'll second (sixth?) the other recommendations to just dive in, get things going, and you'll figure out what works best to start the story later on. Don't even think of it as a first draft, think of it as a zero draft, if it helps not to feel pressured to start it 'right.' Start where things get going, or start a week before if you need to figure out the norm before you disrupt it. Or if you need to get to know your character, bring them out and just let them talk, see what they have to say, and eventually it will lead you into a scene.

Anything that helps you get words down and ideas flowing is a good beginning, and that's what matters :)

[Soup]

Todd A. Stone recommends using one of the four D's:
Do - your protagonist does something
Discover - your protagonist discovers new information
Decide - your protagonist decides to try something new
Deal with - your antagonist does something your protagonist has to deal with

[DrZoidberg]

There has to be action from page one, preferably first paragraph. If you don't get the reader hooked in the first paragraph, you've likely lost them. Some may continue to read the first chapter. But the earlier you sink your teeth into them the better.

I always ask myself, "why should the reader care?". Describing a tranquil suburban home where nothing happens will make the later disruption, oh so much more traumatic. But nobody will get that far if you haven't told them (in some way) it's going to happen.

[kaitie]

I think the term "action" here is being misrepresented. There should be conflict from page one, but that conflict does not have to be action. You don't have to start with a shooting or a murder or a fight or anything like that. It might be internal conflict, it might be something relatively minor that doesn't necessarily connect to the main plot, it could be any variety of things. Conflict makes things interesting, whereas if we just see someone going on about a normal boring life, that sounds boring to us.

It always makes me cringe to see the "start with action" suggestion, just because so many people are convinced you need to start with some kind of hard core action movie-esque sort of scene, and really it's unnecessary and (from what I've seen) more often than not is ineffective because there isn't enough emotional connection to the characters to care.

[bois]

I agree with Kaitie: 'action' openings with characters we don't yet care about usually fall flat. However, the opening should begin to intimate what the central conflict of the story will be about. Consider this another vote for just starting the story anywhere and, in rewrite, it will become obvious where the 'beginning' of your story lies. Good luck to you!

[dgiharris]

THe following will apply to pretty much every single thread you've ever started or will ever start.

There is no magic formula, trick, or process to writing the perfect story.

You just have to jump in, try your best, analyze your works, write-edit-revise-write-edit-revise-write-edit-revise... until it is done.

In this case, you just write it. Many times, you don't know where the story should start until you finish it.

The Below thread should help you as relates to beginnings.

Pulling the reader in

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=78571

Lastly, you've been on this site for a while and as such one of the veteran rights of passage on here is to at least attempt the Uncle Jim thread.

I made it about halfway through it and it has helped enormously with my writing.

I suggest you give it a go. It does such a thorough job of answering all of your questions, even the questions you don't even know you have.

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6710

Mel...

[Linda Adams]

If you're in the first draft, it doesn't matter how you start it--as long as you can use it to make progress. A lot of people worry too much about the opening chapter not doing what it needs to do and end up never finishing the book.

All the first chapter is in your first draft is launch point for you, the writer to get started. So if it doesn't start with the action or conflict or is a backstory dump for 50 pages, it's not a deal-breaker because a first draft can be revised. Sometimes, it isn't always obvious where the book should start until more of the book is done or even that it might need to be finished.

How do I start? I'm in the process of starting on one now. I've had a couple of false starts with the story--in part because the story need to evolve in my head a little further. The original opening had the character arriving in the new town to investigate her aunt's mystery house and discovers the magic element (that was important for me to get a piece of that into the story). But it was first person, and she had virtually no interaction with anyone else, so it was too introspective for me. Added a new bad guy, switched it to a ferry that was going to be hijacked, but that still wasn't giving me whatever it was I was looking for. Then I thought about the real problem which was this character is coming into the situation not knowing anything--and I do better with the character knowing something. So I opened with the character's favorite actor showing up on her doorstep. The MC is very circumspect because she knows more than he thinks she does, and by the end of the chapter, an event that triggers the inciting incident happens. Since it's the first draft, I fully expect it to change during the revisions as I learn more about the story.

What I've found useful in helping me the most with first chapters are the agent blogs. Most tell you what grabs them with a first chapter and what turns them off (flaming zombies on the first page).

[Jamesaritchie]

Knowing where and how to start is, I believe, the most important step in writing a publishable novel. This doesn't mean you'll get it right on the first attempt, or that you should delay starting because you can't decide exactly how to begin, but I do think it's highly important.

Starting with action is good, but action doesn't always mean blowing things up, or having a body count on page one. It really means start with story and character so the reader has a good idea what the problem is, and where the story is going.

But just start writing. By the end of the first chapter, you may realize what you're doing right, what you're doing wrong, and where you should have started. You won't know until you do start.

First drafts can be revised, but not always successfully. You may well have to change the opening after you finish the novel, but the opening you do choose is going to be your guide, so take enough time to write a guide that works for you.

[Lady Ice]

Your opening should give a flavour of the rest of the book.

[Parametric]

I agree with Kaitie: 'action' openings with characters we don't yet care about usually fall flat. However, the opening should begin to intimate what the central conflict of the story will be about. Consider this another vote for just starting the story anywhere and, in rewrite, it will become obvious where the 'beginning' of your story lies. Good luck to you!

It's interesting that so many people in this thread are warning about the perils of action openings - those are my favourite. :) When I'm writing openings, my rule of thumb is that the/an antagonist (a person locked in life-or-death conflict with the protagonist) should show up on the first page. Obviously this won't work for every writer and every story, but it works for me. So I'm all for people trying out action openings if they feel like it.

[jvc]

I think they call it The James Bond Ultimatum :D

[InsanitySquares]

First draft, just write where you think it can start. You can cut or add accordingly on edits.

[jvc]

I wrote the first draft, then started playing around with chapter one. I have about a dozen different versions. It'll come to you eventually. As others have said, just write and you'll probably stumble across what works as an opening. If it doesn't work, you can always change it on the re-write/editing.

[Bufty]

Nothing wrong with an action opening provided it's clear what's happening to whom and the reader isn't just randomly lobbed from behind an exploding truck, to the side entrance of the building, then back to the smouldering truck, then to an upper floor window, then out to the waste ground, then up to a second sniper across the street, then into the command centre down the road, then to the squad on the fire escape, then up to the helicopter, a brief glimpse of the TV newscaster, then a quick sidestep to the rising sewer cover, back to....

[jvc]

Nothing wrong with an action opening provided it's clear what's happening to whom and the reader isn't just randomly lobbed from behind an exploding truck, to the side entrance of the building, then back to the smouldering truck, then to an upper floor window, then out to the waste ground, then up to a second sniper across the street, then into the command centre down the road, then to the squad on the fire escape, then up to the helicopter, a brief glimpse of the TV newscaster, then a quick sidestep to the rising sewer cover, back to....
Hmm, so looks like I'm going to have another re-write of chapter one ;) :D

[Parametric]

Nothing wrong with an action opening provided it's clear what's happening to whom and the reader isn't just randomly lobbed from behind an exploding truck, to the side entrance of the building, then back to the smouldering truck, then to an upper floor window, then out to the waste ground, then up to a second sniper across the street, then into the command centre down the road, then to the squad on the fire escape, then up to the helicopter, a brief glimpse of the TV newscaster, then a quick sidestep to the rising sewer cover, back to....

Ah, you've read my latest opening. :tongue

[Parametric]

Hmm, so looks like I'm going to have another re-write of chapter one ;) :D

Ah, you've read my latest opening ... and then ripped it off. Thieving thief who thieves! :tongue

[jvc]

Ah, you've read my latest opening ... and then ripped it off. Thieving thief who thieves! :tongue
:roll:

It was so good, though :D

[Bufty]

Damn -I thought you'd left this thread.;)

Ah, you've read my latest opening. :tongue

[RJK]

You've received some good advice in this thread. Remember, too, your beginning should reflect your ending. If you have a solid ending in mind, you should be able to formulate a beginning that ties your story into a tidy knot.

[Lady Ice]

You may think you're starting one story but then that story may turn out to be completely different. Therefore I'd choose any beginning that propels the story forward for you.

[DwayneA]

while we're discussing story beginnings and where to start a story, can someone explain to me why authors chose to start their books the way they did?

[Tracy]

All good advice re, start anywhere and sort it out afterwards. You could even write a warm-up chapter, and just delete it afterwards and start the real novel with the original chapter 2. :) (http://www.fiction-writers-mentor.com/novel-writing-software.html)

One trick I try to do is to start by planting a question in the reader's mind. Curiosity is a powerful force, and used well it'll force them to keep reading in order to find the answer to the question, and that'll buy you time to plant other needed information and even the big story question.

Even something like, "Would he ever get here, Jane wondered. Today of all days she needed him to be on time."

So he is late - why? Is it important? And why is today so special that she needs him on time today?

That will pique the reader's interest and, as I say, buy you a couple of pages of reading-time. You can't delay the answer too long or the reader will get frustrated - it's a fine art! And by the time you answer it, you should have another question planted to keep them reading beyond the original answer.

[shadowwalker]

One trick I try to do is to start by planting a question in the reader's mind. Curiosity is a powerful force, and used well it'll force them to keep reading in order to find the answer to the question, and that'll buy you time to plant other needed information and even the big story question.

I think this is the main thing I go with, however else I start the story. I tend to let things bounce around in my head before I actually start typing, and the very last question for me is "What's going to pique their curiosity - what's going to make them want to read just a little bit further?" Kinda like "What bait do I put in the trap?" :D

[dgiharris]

while we're discussing story beginnings and where to start a story, can someone explain to me why authors chose to start their books the way they did?

Sure, there is a great thread that discusses this EXACT Question. Here is the link. (http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=178299). Simply read it, its not that long.

and also it is discussed in detail in the Uncle Jim Thread. Here is another link. Enjoy.

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6710

Mel...

[seun]

Looking at some of my own stuff, I have no idea what made me start a story in a particular way. A random thought burped and my fingers just started typing, or so it seems.

-Derek

Ah, the magic of creativity. :D

[The Grump]

One of the few great things about computers is that you don't have to worry where you start your novel. Just write until you have an ending. Then, you can cut and paste until you get it right.

I find I change openings and endings at least several times while I write and revise.