• Read this: http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?288931-Guidelines-for-Participation-in-Outwitting-Writer-s-Block

    before you post.

No Idea How To Begin

Status
Not open for further replies.

SweetNightmare

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 8, 2013
Messages
56
Reaction score
2
So, I've got a good story in my head. It sounds silly when I say it out loud, but I think that of all my ideas, so I try to ignore that feeling. But one thing always stops me when I sit down to write. The introduction. That first chapter is always the hardest, closely followed by the last chapter. Everything in between is a cakewalk. So, I'm hoping more seasoned writers will have some advice.

There are two places I could start. I could start with the past for the first three or so chapters. My two MCs have a forbidden relationship which ends up cut off when FMC becomes pregnant. (She's expressly forbidden from having children, ever. Her and the MC are different types of magic users, which are forbidden from having a relationship.) She makes a deal with an enchanter to create a necklace that suppresses magical talent. After that I would jump to present day, which would be the child being older, 10-12, and my FMC being her tutor/guardian. No one knows the child is FMC's daughter. There's an event where the necklace is removed briefly from the child, and she's unable to control what power she has. The enchanter reports it to the authorities, considering her too dangerous to be allowed to be free. Both the child and FMC are taken into custody. And that's my beginning. The other way to open it is to start with present day and the event, and mix in the past with alternating chapters. But the other way I have no idea how to even begin.

So, advice? Thoughts? Techniques? This first chapter is driving me crazy.
 

gothicangel

Toughen up.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 29, 2008
Messages
7,907
Reaction score
691
Location
North of the Wall
So, I've got a good story in my head. It sounds silly when I say it out loud, but I think that of all my ideas, so I try to ignore that feeling. But one thing always stops me when I sit down to write. The introduction. That first chapter is always the hardest, closely followed by the last chapter. Everything in between is a cakewalk. So, I'm hoping more seasoned writers will have some advice.

There are two places I could start. I could start with the past for the first three or so chapters. My two MCs have a forbidden relationship which ends up cut off when FMC becomes pregnant. (She's expressly forbidden from having children, ever. Her and the MC are different types of magic users, which are forbidden from having a relationship.) She makes a deal with an enchanter to create a necklace that suppresses magical talent. After that I would jump to present day, which would be the child being older, 10-12, and my FMC being her tutor/guardian. No one knows the child is FMC's daughter. There's an event where the necklace is removed briefly from the child, and she's unable to control what power she has. The enchanter reports it to the authorities, considering her too dangerous to be allowed to be free. Both the child and FMC are taken into custody. And that's my beginning. The other way to open it is to start with present day and the event, and mix in the past with alternating chapters. But the other way I have no idea how to even begin.

So, advice? Thoughts? Techniques? This first chapter is driving me crazy.

Personally, I would start in the present day, everything else feels like info-dumping to me. Secondly, this is a first draft, you are allowed to write crap. I always re-write my first chapter up to three times. First drafts are all about having fun with the story. Write the backstory if you wish, but be ready to delete it before you think about submission.
 

Matthew Hughes

Old Pro
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 1, 2013
Messages
246
Reaction score
49
Location
I housesit around the world
Website
www.matthewhughes.org
So, advice? Thoughts? Techniques? This first chapter is driving me crazy.

A question you might want to settle in your own mind first is: whose story is it? From what you've told us above, I'd say you're better off making it the child's story, rather than her mother's. The hero(ine) who learns that s/he has "powers" is not only a standard trope of fantasy from King Arthur to Dumbo, it also allows the writer to take the character on a journey of growth and discovery, where she gradually comes to understand who she is and what's happened in the past to get her into so much trouble.

And then she has to figure out what to do about it, and get it done.

That way, instead of ladling out info dumps, you can have your character learning in little bits, as she struggles to deal with the trouble she's in. Meanwhile, the reader is carried along on the same journey of discovery. It's a process of peeling back the layers to reveal the nubbin of truth at the center -- in this case, the forbidden marriage and, perhaps, why that came about, which would make for another secret behind the first one.

Peeling the onion in this way gives you a ready-made structure for the narrative, and it's one readers are intuitively comfortable with.

As to where to begin, I find that you can't go far wrong if you have your main character in trouble right from the first page. So I would say, begin with the arrest. The character doesn't know what's going on, and neither does the reader, but the mystery has been posed and, to borrow from Sherlock, the game's afoot.

For more on structure, take a look here: http://www.matthewhughes.org/structure/
 

NellaFantasia

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 8, 2013
Messages
81
Reaction score
6
Website
sararosewriter.blogspot.com
Since it's the first draft, I wouldn't worry all that much in regards on where to start. You'll probably find yourself rewriting it multiple times anyway. The blank page can be nerve wracking for a lot of writers, so try to relax.

That being said, I would stay away from the back story at the beginning. If you trickle it in throughout the book as information to be gained or mysteries to be solved, it's the sort of thing that can raise questions which will intrigue your readers to keep turning the pages so they can learn more.
 

SweetNightmare

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 8, 2013
Messages
56
Reaction score
2
Thanks for all the advice. I'll think about the child's story; one reason I had it the mother's story is the mother had a goal - rescuing her daughter. If the daughter's the real MC, then I'll have to find her her own goal. The bit of story I had in my head may go by faster following the daughter.
 

Matthew Hughes

Old Pro
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 1, 2013
Messages
246
Reaction score
49
Location
I housesit around the world
Website
www.matthewhughes.org
Thanks for all the advice. I'll think about the child's story; one reason I had it the mother's story is the mother had a goal - rescuing her daughter. If the daughter's the real MC, then I'll have to find her her own goal. The bit of story I had in my head may go by faster following the daughter.

To begin with, she's got the goal of escaping from jail, then the goal of finding out why she was arrested, then unraveling the mystery of her origins, then figuring out what to do about it.

My stories start with a character in trouble. That's enough to get me going. Then things get complicated and worse for the character and I keep seeing where the complications lead. I figure out where I'm ultimately heading for as the story unwinds. Then I write towards the end.
 

jdmaccombs

Registered
Joined
Aug 5, 2013
Messages
43
Reaction score
3
Location
Columbus, OH
Website
jdmaccombs.blogspot.com
In general:

A character's goals often become clearer as you write and delve into the fictional world more.

It's said over and over again, but the important point is to write, even if it's jumbled and out-of-order. If you're stuck, skip it and go on. Chances are that you're going to end up rewriting far more than you ever expected anyway.

Specifically:

Go with your gut, starting with the present-day like MH suggested. Backstory can always be added; the more common mistake is writing too much backstory at the start, so write it on notes and outlines, not as chapter filler.

Your initial thought is to jump straight into the conflict with the girl's power, so I think that's a perfect place to start.

Hope I could be of some help!
 
Last edited:

Lance Rocks

Banned
Joined
Aug 10, 2013
Messages
240
Reaction score
21
Location
Newport Beach, CA
If there's been a change to the form in my lifetime, it's the elimination of up-front exposition. Begin in media res, then show, don't tell.
 

SweetNightmare

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 8, 2013
Messages
56
Reaction score
2
Thanks for all the advice. :) Sometimes it's hard to remember that the best thing you can do is go with your gut instinct. Now I just have to sit down and write it!
 

gingerwoman

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 27, 2007
Messages
2,548
Reaction score
228
So, I've got a good story in my head. It sounds silly when I say it out loud, but I think that of all my ideas, so I try to ignore that feeling. But one thing always stops me when I sit down to write. The introduction. That first chapter is always the hardest, closely followed by the last chapter. Everything in between is a cakewalk. So, I'm hoping more seasoned writers will have some advice.

There are two places I could start. I could start with the past for the first three or so chapters. My two MCs have a forbidden relationship which ends up cut off when FMC becomes pregnant. (She's expressly forbidden from having children, ever. Her and the MC are different types of magic users, which are forbidden from having a relationship.) She makes a deal with an enchanter to create a necklace that suppresses magical talent. After that I would jump to present day, which would be the child being older, 10-12, and my FMC being her tutor/guardian. No one knows the child is FMC's daughter. There's an event where the necklace is removed briefly from the child, and she's unable to control what power she has. The enchanter reports it to the authorities, considering her too dangerous to be allowed to be free. Both the child and FMC are taken into custody. And that's my beginning. The other way to open it is to start with present day and the event, and mix in the past with alternating chapters. But the other way I have no idea how to even begin.

So, advice? Thoughts? Techniques? This first chapter is driving me crazy.
It is the accepted wisdom for contemporary fiction to never start in the past. You are supposed to start where things are critical for the protagonist.
 

PrincessFiona

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 31, 2013
Messages
86
Reaction score
3
I think the most important thing is to just start writing. You may ultimately decide to change the beginning as you get deeper into your writing. Sometimes we get so stuck at 'where to start' though that the writing itself never happens.

Pick what feels right for now, go with it, and see where it takes you.

Kris
 

blacbird

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 21, 2005
Messages
36,987
Reaction score
6,158
Location
The right earlobe of North America
Repeat after me:

I don't have to start at the beginning.
I don't have to start at the beginning.
I don't have to start at the beginning.
I don't have to start at the beginning.
I don't have to start at the beginning.
I don't have to start at the beginning.
I don't have to start at the beginning.
I don't have to start at the beginning.
I don't have to start at the beginning.
I don't have to start at the beginning.
I don't have to start at the beginning.

Beginnings are very hard. They need to fit the rest of the story, and that's hard to make right without having the rest of the story, or at least a significant portion of it. Obsessing about the beginning is a quick way to fail to begin to write.

Write scenes. They don't have to be in order. You might wind up throwing some of them out. Nothing wrong with that. Moviemakers do this sort of thing all the time. They are called "outtakes".

But ya gotta write. Planning is not writing.

caw
 

Once!

Still confused by shoelaces
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 22, 2012
Messages
2,965
Reaction score
433
Location
Godalming, England
Website
www.will-once.com
There is a lot of good advice here. Don't worry too much about the beginning at the beginning. Start by starting. You can begin the beguine later. Or something like that. Just get your story on the page, and let the editing do the rest. It will be all right on the night. It always is.

But ... sooner or later you are going to have to decide how to start. And that, for me, begins with a more fundamental question that we need to ask right at the early genesis of the story - why should my readers want to read this?

We write to be read, and that means that the unseen figure of the reader is constantly sitting at our shoulder. We will have failed if the writing does not engage them.

The start of a story is one of our shop windows, along with the title, the blurb and the cover. All of these should say "you need to read this because it will give you <this>"

You need to read this romance because it will show you a character finding true love after a crisis. You will feel good.

You need to read this comedy because it will make you laugh.

You need to read this science fiction because it is exciting.

You need to read this mystery because there is a puzzle in it that you will enjoy unravelling.

Once(!) you have got that idea fixed in your head, pick an early scene, phrase or piece of dialogue which encapsulates that thought. It doesn't matter if that scene isn't the true beginning of the story. We don't start many of our stories with the Big Bang or Genesis. Start somewhere that will (a) capture the reader's imagination and (b) start the contract between you and the reader - "if you give me your time and some of your earth money, I will give you ..."

Star Wars starts with a space battle. Indiana Jones starts with a temple scene (and that marble!). Romeo and Juliet starts with working class characters having a fight.

How do you find these starting points? By looking at how established story tellers do it, and by listening to your readers. Even if that is only the imaginary reader sitting on your shoulder.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.