I have always been told that i have a great imagination and i generally have no problems coming up with stories, i love thinking up complex stories with lots of twists. I love sci-fi, asimov in particular. I prefer my stories to have a hectic feeling, with the protagonist often out of the loop. The problem i have is never being able to get the start right, i cant seem to start it the right way, i have trouble with the very first line. I never had much practice as i have dyslexia and used to avoid reading and writing, i still thought up stories but just never put them down. Ive recently tried starting with a brief history of the human race post contact (after alien contact) literally giving dates and events etc, the history part ends with a object crash landing on a remote human colony and it being retrieved and hidden by the locals (this part being a hundred or so years before the start of the story) The next step is introducing the main character, he wonders drunk into a local army recruitment booth in a rough ghetto on earth. I just cant seem to introduce this setting, or the main character for that matter.
First and foremost, don't bore the reader. The reader doesn't want a history lesson, they want action. Starting off with a massive info dump on page one is the easiest way to provoke a person to put your book down before finishing one paragraph. That said, start off at the point where you are introducing your MC. Show what he sees, smells, is feeling, etc... Put the reader in their shoes. What is he thinking? What is his motivation for being drunk? Why did he wander into a military recruiter rather than someplace else? Is there a war going on? Any one of these is a good jumping off point for a first chapter.
ditto that! the 'start off at the point where you are introducing your MC' part i can't agree with, as that's only one way/place to start... and not necessarily the best, for this story... each story has its own needs, so there's no one-size-fits-all 'best'...
I wouldn't worry about the start that much as far as "tone" or "feel" etc. go. The important thing is to have a gripping start that catches the reader's interest and holds it. What I mean with the first sentence is that the first draft will always be crap. Sometimes it takes thousands upon thousands of words to get to know and capture the "feel" you want for your story. Then, when you start editing, working on the 2nd, 3rd, and 10th drafts, you know your story much better and have a solid grip on the characters, the plot etc, so it's much easier to implement the desired "feel" into the beginning in the following drafts. I know my and KaTrian's current WIP's first chapter has gone through around 20 edits or so, it's been affected by about a dozen beta readers etc. and it's very different from the 1st draft. This has happened to pretty much every story of ours, hence I no longer worry about capturing the story's spirit right away; it'll come eventually.
The start doesn't have to be great, for the first draft. You may even be starting at the wrong spot, such as too early in the story. That's okay. Start where you believe you should and write, get past that first hurdle you've been struggling with. Finish the novel. By the time you do that...have that first draft finished, you'll have a better grasp of the storyline, characters and setting, so when you go back to revise, you can revisit the weak beginning. If you feel that you need to start with the history...write out that infodump. Then just pay attention as you write the rest of the story and see where that information can be placed (if it's needed) within the context of the story, when it's more appropriate. When you go back to revise that first draft, much of the beginning you wrote won't be needed and you can adjust the story's start accordingly. But if you never get past the beginning, because you can't get it right, then you'll never actually finish the story.
So you don't know how to write the exposition into the story, and you don't know how to write the MC into a conflict? Maybe you could make the exposition into a conflict in of itself. What I'm doing in a sci-fi story I'm working on is writing the first scene about an interrogation, so even just seeing the characters get information from each other has enough tension to get the story started. Most importantly, we get character development right off the bat in terms of 1) what information they are each willing / unwilling to give and 2) how they each obtain / react to the information from the other side. Would you like to try something like that? Maybe the world has been changed by recent technological developments, and the MC gets into a violent argument with a side character about whether those changes are as good as everybody thinks?
Nice stuff so far, thanks guys. Thanks TWE, i had written it up and kept it to one side, i was thinking a large majority of it could be included into his lessons when he joins the army, educating the soldiers as to what and why they're fighting. Might be able to get some debate going to better explain some of the events, i am now mindful of boring people now though. Simpson, that sounds like a good idea, im not quite sure which, now that i think about it the main conflict comes a bit later, the more i think about it the less gripping that initial chapter would be. The gist of his beginnings is: a a young poor factory worker in the lower echelons of society, the manual labourers left on earth to tend the farms etc, he drinks a lot because like most on earth he sees himself with no future, pretty much working to live. The area is very poor, lots of crime and drugs, hardly any policing, he looks after his elderly mother but has no partner, children etc He gets drunk one night after work and tries to join the army, he sees it as a way out (im thinking a conflict here could be his brother died in the army whilst colonising a new planet, he resents the army seeing them as being pointless now that the contact war is over, feels his brother died for nothing) The only way off earth is with money or as a solider. He gets thrown in a drunk tank and sobers up, gets fined for being drunk on army property, his pay is so low it makes paying off debts practically impossible so he decides nothing is left for him and joins the army (the brother issue and his elderly mother could be conflicts here i suppose) he gets sent to the military academy off world and it all kicks on from there. Its nice to have that written up, i guess i can start dissecting it now.
You've got half the stuff you need for an organic exposition dump already. A drunken political argument.
MLM, great idea! i didnt make that connection at all. I could get some real emotion going too, raving about the poverty, the war, his brother etc etc Thanks very much
A great teacher once told me to begin with an image. Initially I took it literally, but have since taken liberties with his advice. I'd recommend the same thing.
In this day and age, I don't feel readers are as patient as they once were. They don't want to be bored with the lore of the environment, the characters, the conflict, etc., they just want to get to the meat of the story; the action and drama...so, in my opinion, an author has to be a bit more creative when considering what to write about in the first chapter of their novel then previous generations of authors. They almost have to throw the reader right into the action from the get go and then fill in the gaps later, using dialog or flashbacks. As a curiosity, I was just wondering how other authors decide on where to begin their story? Are linear stories a thing of the past or could one still get away with writing everything in chronological order?
I agree completely. Modern technology has affected our attention spans in a very negative way. Anyway, to answer your question, I start as close to the end as possible when writing a story. Since you're limited in terms of the number of words, I find it best to introduce a character right away and work from there. You have a bit more flexibility when writing a novel because there's more space to work with. You certainly don't need to start with a conflict right away, but it has to be interesting enough to hold the reader's attention.
You may have a point with regards to certain markets, but in general terms I'd disagree. Yes, life is perhaps lived at a faster (and increasing) pace but a book is a place where people can take refuge from it; somewhere to step off and get immersed in a tale while the rest of the world dashes about doing its thing. A place where time is something that happens to everybody else, if you like.
If you take a look at some of the books that win big prizes nowadays (and become best sellers—Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall, for example) you'll realise that there is still room in the market for 'slow' books. Nothing wrong with fast books either. It's all a matter of taste. I'd say if you write a good story that intrigues from the start, you'll be on a winner, no matter how long, short, slow or fast it is. Intrigue comes in many forms. It can be a world you've never heard of before, a character who 'grabs' you, an idea that captivates or mystifies you, a place you'd like to be, or have already been, a relationship between characters that makes you want to know more about them. There is certainly a good case to be made for avoiding the 'info-dump' at the start of any story, but if your 'info' is presented as an exciting scene or idea, one that draws you in, then it's not a 'dump.' Is it? I'd say 'once upon a time' still works, and probably always will. Of course if lots of people have no attention span for a story, then there isn't much point in catering to them, is there? Let them play digital games instead. Write your books for the kind of reader you are yourself.
it's not just reading... most people today demand everything be done instantly, or sooner... and as easily/effort-free as possible... so, blame technology and basic human nature, as writers are merely keeping abreast of the times and giving the reading publich what most of the expect to get... as for beginnings, anything goes... and linear structure is no more a thing of the past than any other aspect of fiction-writing... all that matters is whether something 'works' or not...
Actually, I don't think most people read to take refuge from daily life. If anything, they're looking for quick entertainment. That's why thrillers are so popular. People like everything to be quick and don't like to think too much about what they've read or watched. Gone are the days of long descriptions and slow characterization. I think writers today need to start considering the fact that the way the average reader consumes entertainment has changed. Whether or not this is a positive change is up for debate.
There was a Book TV segment this morning with an author whose premise was reading online is changing the way people read, making shorter novels more popular, degrading the importance of what we know as good grammar. I'm not sure I agreed with the author. I'd want to know that the difference represented a changed readership. I think it might be possible it represents an expanded readership. There were some interesting insights even though I didn't agree with everything she thought. The segment is 38 minutes and free online to watch: "Always On: Language in an Online and Mobile World"; Naomi Baron
I want to be interested in the story from the beginning. But I can't say for sure though, that the elements you note, lore, characters, conflict, are the key to what doesn't get me reading past the first chapter. I've read books with long drawn out beginnings that still drew me in and some that didn't.
You are right, the attention span of the modern reader has been shortened a bit because we are in a very spoiled society. We are used to immediate gratification, and constant production. People want to see conflict from start to finish and for everything in between to be deep enough to send our minds turning, but quick enough to read page after page. We are spoiled by technology and our social systems which rewards maximum productivity. Even so, the elements you have listed (with the exception of characters and conflict) are not what I would expect to see in the opening chapter of any story. That all sounds like world-building, which is most gratifying for me if I don't notice it. For Example I don't want to be read a map of a fantasy world. I want to explore it as the story takes me through it. Take Harry Potter for example. Rowling, did not give us most of the world even in the first book, but as the story progressed we got to spend more time learning to navigate the world. Linear stories have the potential to make great use of dramatic irony, but leave little room for mystery or suspense outside of character danger. Remember. everyone and everything has a past, starting the story where the action begins is the best way to go because the action of the story is the core, the thing that gives any importance to any other information. As @mammamaia said, it's really a matter of what works or not in the particular story you are trying to write.
Modern readers want more real-time interaction, yes, but several quotes seem to apply: “Don’t inflict the reader with irrelevant background material—get on with the story.” ~ James H. Schmitz “To describe something in detail, you have to stop the action. But without the action, the description has no meaning.” ~Jack Bickham “There are far too many would-be works of fiction in which plot and character are not revealed, but explained.” ~ Peter Miller “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.” ~ Mark Twain As for when to begin, my view is to first define the incident where the protagonist is knocked out of their comfort zone and given the problem that will drive them toward the climax. Then, back up far enough that the reader will understand what drives the character into that inciting incident, and thus have an emotional connection and reaction to it, just as the protagonist does. For what it may be worth, a case in point: For, As Falls an Angel, the incident is when the protagonist falls down a rocky hillside and breaks his leg. In pain, and trapped between a stone and a tree, he calls out that his guardian angel is asleep on the job, only to be answered by an angel who tells him that if he had any brains he wouldn't be in that situation. Originally, I began with Chuck, my protagonist, hiking, and grumping about his girlfriend leaving him, to place him on that hillside. But people said they found it too abrupt and report like. So, I backed up a bit further, and began when he enters his apartment and finds his girlfriend packing, and unwilling to discuss the matter. But people said they needed more intro for that scene, so I started with him in the office to show that he's not thrilled with his job and heading home, glad to be with the girlfriend who is about to leave him and start things off. So in reality, the woman's leaving is the inciting incident. That worked, but wasn't exciting, or related to the theme of the action after he meets his fallen angel. So I cheated. I began the story on the night after he meets her, placed in front of what was already there. I presented his mind state and the fact that it involved an unknown and mysterious her who was able to tear the material of his jeans to remove the lower section of leg without effort. I set a mood, and had him sigh and think back over the events that led to him being there, which made everything after a flashback, but one for which the reader had context, and hopefully, interest because they knew where it was going. It must have worked, because Double Dragon said yes and it's due out this spring.
See, I think you're only partly right here. Yes, SOME people do look only for quick entertainment when they read ...this is why things like (short) thrillers, mysteries, Harlequin romances etc are so popular. (And that's not new; they've been around a long time.) Fair enough. If that's what you want to write, do write it. There is certainly a market for it. However, there are still many others who buy books because they want to immerse themselves in a story. Whatever you might think of the Harry Potter series, it was certainly slow, immersive—and it sold in massive numbers, and appealed to millions of readers, young AND old. There is still plenty of scope out there for this kind of storytelling. As far as the time it takes ...it doesn't take any longer to read a 200,000 word novel than it does to read four 50,000 word novels. So it doesn't really matter if a book lasts, does it? It just means you get more for your money if you go for the longer ones! I'm left feeling very flat, if it turns out a new book I'm reading is actually a 'fast-paced' story. I sprint through it, but it doesn't leave me satisfied, and I'm not entertained by it either. Before my brain and heart have had time to engage with it, it's over. It's like substitituting junk food for a good, solid meal. The day that everybody turns to reading junk novels, just because they have neither the time or the attention span to consume a solid reading meal, is the day I quit writing. Just no point.
I'm one of those people, but I think we're in the minority. I get the feeling most readers are just looking for something to keep them entertained for a short period of time. It depends on how difficult the book is. Reading 50 pages of Faulkner is going to take me longer than reading 50 pages of Dan Brown.
That's fair enough ...but all longer books aren't as complicated and difficult as Faulkner! There are many long stories which are incredibly readable ...like the aforesaid Harry Potter series. (And some short books which are VERY challenging too, by the way.) I take your point, but I hope you take mine as well. I refuse to write for people who can't be bothered to read more than a few pages of shallow, time-filling junk. I'd rather go watch paint dry.
I absolutely agree with you. In fact, I'm the same way. I'm writing for like-minded people (that is, people who like to think about what they're reading and like taking their time with a book). There's a smaller audience for relatively complicated works, but I'm fine with that.
