Starting Points – Where Should a Story Start?


This is a common question asked by almost all writers. At which point is the right point to start the story? Where is the best place to start?
The obvious answer is to start at the beginning, because that’s where every story starts, but in truth, the story shouldn’t start at the beginning, not in the literal sense. This sounds like contrary advice, but it actually isn’t.  All good editors and writers will agree – a story should start just after the beginning.
But what does that actually mean?
It’s the general accepted principle that a good story opens at a crucial or significant moment in the character’s life. Often, you will come across the ‘Open with a bang’ statement, which advises to open the story in such as way as to grab the reader’s interest. In essence, this means the story should jump right into the action, and that means the beginning of the story should reflect this.
In real terms, however, this action probably wouldn’t happen until chapter two, when things get going and stuff happens. That’s because most writers make the common mistake of first ‘setting’ the scene and establishing  the story for the reader, which means  they spend the first chapter filling several pages with exposition and backstory before anything significant or important actually happens.
The general advice, then, is to start not at the beginning – not in the true sense – but to open the novel bang in the middle of that important, significant moment or with the action, and forego all backstory and exposition. In reality your second chapter most often should be your first chapter.
Start the story where it’s most appropriate. Don’t bore the reader with pages of backstory or a prologue or huge info dumps. The idea is to grab the reader’s attention immediately and keep them interested. This won’t happen if you spend half a dozen pages explaining everything, otherwise you lose this effect and you lose the reader.
To maximise your opening, starting points should be:

  • Interesting or intriguing or mysterious
  • Action led
  • At a critical moment of the character’s life – a pivotal, decisive turning point.
  • In real terms, the crux of your story would most likely be found in your chapter two, so in fictional terms, make chapter two your chapter one opening.
To avoid problems of boring your reader or not engaging them sufficiently, don’t start the story with any of the following:-

  • Prologue
  • Backstory
  • Indirect exposition
  • Info dumps
Your opening sets the stage for the entire story, so you have to get it right. Start your story mid-way through some action, a significant event or incident or use dialogue to take advantage of your reader’s interest. You can even use very brief description (as long as it is dynamic).
When you hear advice not to start at the beginning, it means you should do just that and start at the moment that is really the most important.

Next week: Developing a story

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Chapter & Novel Lengths

Just how long should a chapter be? What’s the best length? And does a novel have to fit into a set amount of words? These are just two of the most common questions asked by writers.   They assume they have to work to a strict template of X amount of words and X amount of chapters, usually because most novels have around 30 or 40 chapters and around 80,000 words.   Novel Lengths Firstly, let’s dispel a few myths - novel lengths are dictated by the story itself, not the writer or the editor or a specific written formula.   Secondly, writers don’t have to fit their word count into generic set amounts.   Again, the story will dictate how long the novel will be. It’s also worth knowing the different types of novels that work well with different word counts.   Uncomplicated stories containing minimal characters tend to be short – usually around 20,000 to 60,000 words.   These are called novellas. Longer, more complex stories, which contain a handful o...
Read more

What Makes a Story Dark?

If you’re a horror writer or you love to write dark, psychological stories and thrillers, or moralistic tales, this is the one question that needs an answer. Wanting a dark story and writing one are two different things, so how do you actually make a story dark? To answer that you first have to understand what is meant by ‘dark’. We usually define ‘dark’ as quantifiable elements that we know and are familiar with, but it’s more than that. Dark doesn’t necessarily mean scary or gory with a crazy psychopath going around chopping people into bits. Instead we have to think of ‘dark ‘as anything outside our accepted rose-tinted reality. Dark is the underbelly of our society; it’s the handling of ideas, themes, social issues and behaviours that would be seen as morally unacceptable. It’s less about fictional monsters but more about the real monsters that lurk in the shadows, something that is underscored by our fears and anxieties. It’s the unknown, because the things we don’t know ...
Read more

Modifiers, Intensifiers and Qualifiers - Part 2

Unlike modifiers, which modify words or phrases, an Intensifier is a term for a modifier that amplifies the meaning of the word it modifies. An intensifier is used exclusively to modify adverbs and adjectives and is placed  before the word it is meant to modify.  In simple terms, the intensifier emphasises adverbs and adjectives - it makes them more intense . The word is derived from Latin, meaning to “intend or stretch”. In grammatical terms, the intensifier lends no weight to the meaning of a sentence other than to give it an additional emotional nuance to the word it is modifying, however, since they modify adverbs and adjectives, they should be treated in the same way adverbs adjectives – used little and sparingly wherever possible within your writing. This is where learning to spot them will benefit your quality of writing. Intensifiers are attributive and serve only to fill space, so unless there is a valid reason to intensify the meaning and emotion ...
Read more