How do you write the beginning

May 20, 2007 5:29pm CST
OK, I think I have some good ideas for stories and try my hardest to write as much as possible in them but I get so far and start to re-read the beginning only to find out that it is extremely rubbish. Now, the actual idea is good but the beginning is so out of the blue and doesn't really explain anything in the story. I know that the beginning is where you capture and draw the reader in to read more so having a really rubbish one isn't going to cut it. What I am really asking for is some advice on how to start the story. I know describing weather is supposedly a no-no so can anyone give me examples on how to start? If you have any links that may explain it, that would be great. Some people have told me to just write and once I have finished, go back and then change it but it just seems that if the start sounds bad, then everything else doesn't work. OK, enough rambling. Any advice would be great.
1 person likes this
4 responses
@nameerf (99)
• United States
21 May 07
All right. I've been reading the "Write Great Fiction" series from Writer's Digest Books. I've gotten through the ones on Plot and Characterization and am currently working on Description and Setting. Each book has a bit on beginnings. The book on Plot would probably help you best. They are available on Amazon if not the library. Basically if you are not going the literary route, the best way to start a book is by showing the characters in action. They are doing something. The phone rings... The character is jogging and something happens. The important thing is that there is a sense of motion.
21 May 07
Oh, thank you for your comment. I will definitely look up the book. Thank you very much.
• Singapore
21 May 07
your idea seems ok, but i got a question on your thing about describing weather, cause its not bad using the weather as a describtion for your story, i think it can create a emotion of a certain part of the story
21 May 07
Oh, it is a great way to help describe the atmosphere but I read somewhere that starting with something like 'It was a dark and gloomy night' is bad. It's one of those mistakes new writers make even though it helps to set a picture. Adding the weather in afterwards makes the story a bit more real such as 'Driving home after the day from hell was made worse when the worst rainstorm in years started.'. I think it's just the way you describe it and where that makes the difference.
@patgalca (18174)
• Orangeville, Ontario
21 May 07
It is hard to say exactly how to start a story. You know you need to hook the reader right from the start. Your background and setting can come out as you go, better if you can do it through dialogue. I had the first chapter of a novel critiqued by an award winning author. He crossed out the first page or so and said, "Start here". Another person read the same story and said, it seems to start in the middle. Go back a bit. Another award winning author just critiqued a short story I wrote. She said to eliminate the first paragraph and start at the second, although information in the first is important. So I will move the description of the character down a little further. I think the hardest part of writing a story is writing the beginning (well, that and editing). The most important thing is to get the story down on paper. Puke it out and go back and make changes later. You will get bogged down with perfection and never get the story finished if you keep going back and editing. You may need to make an outline of your story so that you get the story you want. It's taken me years to write the two novels I "have written", and in asking other authors, it has taken them years to write their first novels as well. You will get there, my friend. Just stick with it and don't get bogged down with perfection. Good luck!
21 May 07
Thank you for your comment. It's nice to know that it does take time to get it right. I always seem to want to get it right from the very beginning but I think I'm starting to learn that practice and editing and patience is needed. I'm trying to learn that. Again, thank you for your advice, it was really helpful.
• United States
24 May 07
I have read some authors do not do their opening scene until the very end, whether they "started" with one or not. One reason that works is that many writers need to warm up their brain and or give their muse a moment to kick in. So, they use their draft beginning for that purpose. It is really no different than an athlete warming up on the side of the field. Those kicks, throws, and stretches aren't "held against him" once he takes the field, they are "thrown out". In effect it actually makes everything else better! Besides, sometimes you have to know your end before you know where the reader should start.