I need advice re: beginnings of stories. I write predominately fiction, science fiction and historical fiction. I have a tendency to jump right into the story, letting the action start somewhat early before backbuilding the scene and history as the story progresses. Frankly, I do that mostly because books that take forever to get to the point or meander on in the first few chapters without any action bore the living daylights out of me and I usually set them down and don't finish them. Any advice? Do you like a story that starts right away or one that builds scene and history first before launching into the adventure? Looking forward to hearing advice! xoxo The Scorpion
It's usually a good idea to start with some action. That action doesn't have to be the 'main' story. Think of the young Indiana Jones at the start of the third film. It can just be a precursor to what is to come. The action drives the narrative about the MC's personality and background. Use an incident to establish who the lead is and what he or she is likely to get up to. The beginning can be a taster.
Thank you. There are so many stories that lay such extensive groundwork and scene-setting before the real story even begins....I have a hard time doing the same. I'm curious if that "immediately jumping in with both feet" sort of thing hurts my writing or not. Maybe I don't lay enough scene or backstory? It's one thing I've struggled with almost my entire writing career (which, insofar, is still strictly amature, but still).
I think that a story should usually start with some sort of conflict/emotion/stakes, but, yes, it doesn't need to be the main conflict. I keep using the example of the movie Reign of Fire, which starts with the protagonist as a school-age child/teenager. He's just lost his scholarship to the good school that he attends. In the context of his life so far, that's a HUGE thing. He goes to see his mother at her workplace to give her the bad news, and so we get a vibe of his life, his background, his parents' divorce, his mother's struggles, all with that high-stakes-emotion fact... ..and then the dragon wakes up. If the opening had just been a pleasant little bland, "How was school, son?" "They had mac and cheese in the cafeteria again," and some narrative summary about the divorce, everyone would have been asleep. The scholarship issue keeps us awake through the exposure of the character's background.
That is a great point, thank you. I don't shy away from conflict or drama in the slightest so that's a positive I guess. The piece I'm currently working on involves a half-blood mercenary trying to keep her history a secret while being paid to hunt down people exactly like her. The opening scene involves her killing someone who threatened to reveal her secret...dramatic enough?
Definitely dramatic enough. Possible considerations: - Is the mercenary your protagonist? - Does the reader have a chance to start to like her/care about her before she kills someone? One issue with starting with a lot of drama is that if the reader doesn't care yet, too much drama might just make them turn away. As an analogy, imagine a great song that starts quiet and puuuuulls you in, so that eventually the song is REALLY REALLY LOUD and you're into it, because you've been pulled it from the beginning. While if you had just started the song at the really loud part, you might cover your ears and say "Ack! Turn that thing off!"
There's nothing wrong as such in 'jumping in' but remember a good story really needs a distinct beginning, middle and end. You should try and avoid the thing just being a load of 'middle'. Think of a sandwich without the bread. You'd struggle to eat it. I certainly wouldn't waste a whole chapter on 'backstory' unless the backstory is crucial to understanding of the story as a whole and is complex in nature. I'd recommend a good book about writing such as Plot and Structure by James Scott Bell, and if you can afford it, Christopher Booker's The Seven Basic Plots. It's a massive book and I've only read bits of it to date. Helps in establishing what sort of story yours is, and then breaking it up into its constituent parts. As ever reading a good cross-section of fiction helps to establish how various published authors begin and develop their stories.
Great analogy, thank you! And yes, she is. The prologue gives a brief teaser as to her origins but you don't find them out for sure until later. In regards to her likeability, I think I've given her some soft-enough edges that the sort-of brutal murder for the sake of self-preservation isn't too much of a slap in the face.
I'd say just tell the story, starting at its natural starting point. It can start with a bang, but keep in mind that if you start with action, the action will drop afterwards. That can be a letdown. However, if it's skillfully handled, it can certainly work as well. Just don't start with action just to start WITH action, if that makes sense. Where does your story actually begin? Ask yourself that question, and then answer it. Usually stories begin at (or just before) a point of change, which doesn't necessarily need to be 'action.' Sometimes it's just a realisation that something is different from what it used to be. Or the protagonist is confronted with a different perspective on what he thought was the truth. Or the protagonist experiences a physical change to his status quo—which might be welcome or not. Heavy action, when unconnected to change or to a protagonist we care about, can be extremely boring. Why? Because it's just whackity whack whack, unless it has context. However, if you do it right, the context will show. Think of the original Indiana Jones movie ...that opening scene that ends with him being chased down a tunnel by a huge round rock. By the time that scene ends, we know he's a reckless adventurer, with a propensity to get himself in all sorts of danger while madly pursuing what he thinks might be valuable artifacts. The next scene, we see him as a buttoned-down professor giving a lecture in front of a bunch of star-struck students ...and we want to laugh. Hey, this guy isn't so suave as you think, girls! We've seen him with his proverbial pants down already. He's a nut case! Run! So the 'action' opening isn't important to the plot—that particular quest that ends with the rolling boulder has nothing to do with the rest of the story—but it's extremely important in developing Indy's character, and showing us the various facets of his life. Don't confuse a low-key start with being 'boring,' though. As long as there is something intriguing to catch the reader's interest, then you're okay. In fact, you are then able to develop rising action, rather than letting your initial burst dissipate. Dumping backstory on a reader without giving the backstory a twist to catch the reader's interest will be boring, though. This is maybe what makes you think you need to start with action instead. Just remember, there are many ways to start a story. It takes a bit of experience to recognise where yours should start.
That's what I was looking for. Thank you. It's the "where does your story actually begin" that I struggle with a little bit. My main character, as mentioned above, is a half-blood mercenary that is hiding in plain sight. She's then tasked with hunting down those like her. I start right before the assignment is handed over, with her killing someone who threatened to reveal her secret. I'm wondering if I should instead start her on a routine day, dealing with a regular hit or client or if beginning with the project is fine.
These days you need a cockerel, a decent load of sunlight, prism effect past the wardrobe, and eight or nine pages of opening your eyes and feeling the blood pump down your legs. Then, maybe a thousand words in French? It will happen, and it will succeed, you mark my words. Fight the power.
You want your beginning to launch your story in the right direction. If you can keep that in mind, it might help. One little trick I find always helps me to begin writing any scene (including the opener) is to ask myself, before I start, "What do I want this scene to accomplish?" The answer needs to be specific. Not something vague like: I want it to start the story. But something specific, like: I want the reader to understand why my character needs to kill this person. Forcing yourself to articulate the purpose of the scene helps you to focus on WHY you are writing it. It helps to give the scene context. Give it context, and you'll be fine.
Ok, so a question regarding the context, the idea I had was with create curiosity on the reader's part. Who is she and why is she going to such lengths to silence this person? The person who is murdered doesn't actually have the chance to finish his sentence so he never actually gets the word out of his mouth. The last line of the opening scene is, "She didn’t want to have to do it, but she’d warned him. The word he had been about to speak would have gotten her killed. She wasn’t about to die now." I wonder if that actually accomplished my goal. Ideally, it makes her seem ruthless, someone who puts preservation of self above all else.
I would hope that what comes previously in the scene would actually make those last lines unnecessary. I'd resist the urge to explain, and instead, show what the readers need to see in order to make up their own minds—that she didn't want to have to kill him, that she'd warned him, that he'd been about to speak words that would have got her killed, etc. If she is the POV character, you can let us know what she is thinking and feeling as the scene progresses. If she's reluctant to kill the other person, let us in on that ...not only by what she does, but also by what she thinks. What drives her to overcome her reluctance. (At what point does this happen?) Don't tell us what happened. Instead show it happening. Make sure YOU know why you're writing the scene. EXACTLY why you're writing the scene. What do you want the reader to take away from it? Then depict what you need to, in order to allow readers to draw that conclusion. Don't tell readers what the conclusion should be, if you can avoid it. It's a much more immersive experience if the readers get to make up their own minds, rather than being told what their conclusion should be. Warning: We are close to entering Workshop territory on this thread, so I'd maybe leave specific feedback for your own writing till later on, once you have fulfilled the requirements to post in the Workshop. I know it's tempting to ask for feedback here, but it's not something the forum allows. So maybe just ask general questions on this thread? I look forward to seeing your work in the Workshop, though. Sounds like you've got some good ideas going.
I think, first, don't worry to much about the first chapter until the rest of the story is finished. THEN go back and rework the first chapter so that it matches the story, which probably is not the same story you had in mind when you wrote the first chapter. The first chapter should, I think engage the reader's emotions and curiosity. My first chapter begins with a bunch of Roman soldiers being beheaded by some people called the Parthians, somewhere in Syria in the Middle East. Then comes reprieve, not sure how, the leave with strange people for the east, with their weapons, singing their marching song. They don't know where they are going, but they are going. Appropriately this chapter is "Carrhae, 55BC: The Past is Prologue." So who were these Roman soldiers? Why were they important in the next chapter, 150 years later? Not only books. Since I write a lot of intertwined threads in my books, I introduce each new thread with something unusual that has a lot of emotion, but little explanation at first. I am working on the sequel to the E&D now, and just finished (today) a chapter that reintroduces two of my characters from E&D. That chapter begins with a character waking up next to his wife, with the sore throat he had yesterday, but now a fever. But something like smallpox is raging in the encampment, so this is serious... and he knows what he has. No more spoilers. Each new thread, not just the main story, should hook the reader with emotion and curiosity. Action is one way to do that. I think you should absolutely NOT spend more than a paragraph or two on the world you have built (fantasy) or the historical background (historical fiction) then is necessary to get to the emotion and curiosity part.
