In something I'm writing now, the whole short story is a kind of psychological exploration and partial-revelation (up to interpretation, somewhat) addressing the "why" part. I like that about it, although I suspect some readers might find the ambiguity to be frustrating.

Your ideas are really amazing and useful. As a writer, I will try for my writing activities.

Zombie thread, but an interesting one.

I started my first novel way too early and ending up shaving the three original first chapters off.

I started the second too late and had to add 1,500 words or so to the beginning.

Maybe Goldilocks will get it just right next time!

I mull story ideas over for years before I find the right way in, the best place to start or even the best climactic scene. One story idea I had back in 2008 or so (working title: e=MagiC2 [which makes far more sense when the 'agi' are subscripted and the '2' is superscripted]) didn't reveal its MC for over two years and I'm still humming and hawing over the plot even though the climactic scene fell into my lap last year. It's still on the back burner for now.

I just feel lucky to be the recipient of a lot of ideas I really wanna pursue.

I was under the impression that is the point of a synopsis to tell you what the story is about. If you can tell what it is about in 5 words then your story is not going to be much fun to read, and probably way too simplistic. At least give yourself a few paragraphs or a whole page. Then again if you need to hook them in the first five words, then you are a step above grand master of story telling. And therefore don't need to ponder such things. Though I have never read anything that summed up the plot in 5 words right at the very start. Your story should unfold the way you want it too, and if you can do it with less , then great. I will stick to trying to write something that is at least passable as a tale worth reading, at least I try and fail to do so.

Well good luck with the whole 5 words thing, I must be off to write more things of words awkwardly spliced together.

@Tenderiser
Yeah, I think I redid the first 3-4 chapters of WotW like... 5 times.
And even then the characters changed quite a few times.
I had ideas but it only came all together really when I saw it in white and black.

@Sack-a-Doo!
I think WotW I spent nearly 2 years day dreaming about and #savegoatbro2015 about half a year.
Ideas are cool but it takes me a while to give them any real substance and to figure out the whole world building.
I want to have lots of finished manuscripts so I don't have to have a dayjob for the rest of my life so I'm trying to pick up the pace with writing/imagining.

@Cave Troll
What?
You don't use the five Ws right away. That'd be a very boring info dump.
They're a basic guideline for people who try to write chapter one but don't realize most readers will lose interest if they have no idea what's going on.
If you opened a book in a store to read the first two pages and at the end you didn't know the setting, any character, what's happening, or anything else you'd probably put it down, right?
You'd have no mental imagery (no where), you'd have no one to relate to and think about (who) and probably end up reading a very bland exposition of world building or some war that happened 1000 years ago that doesn't matter to the story so far.
The whole point is to ground the reader, give them good imagery, and have them hooked.

I'm not saying "you must name your character" for the Who. He can be "shadow figure #1" in a Where that is "cold and damp, too dark to see your own hands". You just have to be able to present it in a way that intrigues and creates enough strong and consistent imagery for the reader to get interested in finding out more.

I think I know how I want my story. I just need to get over that fact that I am typing on a computer and not chiseling it in a piece of stone.

@DeadMoon
Honestly? Rewriting is exhausting, adding new chapters/characters require lots of work to keep in consistent.
And the edits are endless.

It's not too surprising most shirk at the idea of actually even starting the project.

But it's a labor of love.

Wow!! Thankx for guiding

I think exposition is important, but I think we've all lost what it really is. It isn't limited to long pages of paragraphs of minuscule details of backstory--exposition is also short snippets of dialogue or descriptions strung together that set the stage, inform the audience, and feed into the action & intrigue.

You just have play around with introducing the information in a natural & engaging way. And it's important to play to your audience. Of course a lot of people dislike history lectures, but if you happen to be a fan of the Poetic Edda then The Silmarillion is probably right up your alley! But if you're aiming at an audience who prefer young adult post-apocalyptic fiction, maybe skip inserts of Biblical length genealogies.

But I do struggle occasionally with when & how to start a story. I try to figure out what information needs to be presented, and then play around with what the best form of presentation of this information according to the genre & audience & my personal style. It can be tough, and sometimes it can flow effortlessly.

I know how to start and have a rough idea how to end, it's the bits in the middle that cause the issue.

I never know where the story should start. I just begin. When it's finished, I see where I should have started, and adjust accordingly.

The start of a story launches the reader in the right direction. Until you're finished, you won't know exactly what that direction will be. I'd say don't stress over beginnings. Just start writing, wherever you want. There is a difference!

Craft the perfect beginning later. Work hard to get it perfect ...the right sentences, the right tone, the right amount of intrigue to get the reader to want to read it. But don't stress if the perfect beginning isn't the first thing you write. Writing in chronological order isn't something you need to do.

The first draft of the first chapter is for you the writer, and your readers will probably never see it. It sets YOUR mind as to where you are and who some of your characters are. Get it down on paper and keep going to you get the end, then revise it. Your first chapter will probably wind up completely different... mine did

I think my problem is that I always know how to begin, and always get too enamored of my beginnings to want to go back and change them. Probably a side effect of my being better at coming up with premises than actually writing anything.

I'm the exact opposite.
I love endings and big emotional climaxes but it's the creating the series of events leading to that that are hard for me.