if you don't know to even start a story, should you be trying to write one? i mentor lots of beginning writers, so if you want some one-on-one help, just drop me a line... be aware, though, that i don't help with work that has any violent content... love and hugs, maia maia3maia@hotmail.com
I like to just write any old line and see where it takes me. Try: Bobbing up and down in the pool, I couldn't work out what I was watching. Or, Paul stood up sharply. As old as time, but funny as hell - that is how his friends' knew him. Need any other first lines and I'll give you them.
You need an idea for a story first. Once you have one, write down a rough plan of what you want to happen (beginning middle and end) and then the words will come when you sit down to write it as a story.
"The name's (last name). (First name) (last name.) I'm a (shady occupation.) Not the best of jobs, but someone's got to do it." When applying this formula, you can get classic results. To tear a page from Bill Watterson's book: 'The name's Bullet. Tracer Bullet. I'm a private eye. Not the most fun of jobs, but somebody's got to do it."
Like others have said, it'd probably be a good idea to figure out what story it is you want to start, and formulate ideas about (roughly) how it's going to pan out. (I notice the old date of this post now... any update for us?)
One post from this user, back in November? My guess is that he or she was trolling, or didn't like the initial responses and left. I suspect the former, due to the vagueness of the question together with the complete absence of any information at all in the user profile.
I realize that the OP is long gone, but i'm going to post anyway in case someone is looking for help and reads this thread. Beginning is important, but it can be polished out in the end, if that make sense. Think about taking a trip, it's very important to get started, but if you don't have a destination, you don't even know which direction to start driving in. Figure out where your going (I believe an outline type approach was already mentioned) then start moving in that direction. Then you can edit it and flesh out the start where it really grabs the reader. I know I've been in both positions before. I've had a good story and had no idea how to start it and I've also had an excellent beginning, but didn't know what to do with it after that. Creating an outline has helped me in those situations. Hope this helps.
