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 Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2014 10:06 am
Good morning, FFS.
Today I would like to talk to you all about that one aspect of a story that we all both love and hate. It is one of the top five most important parts of a story, but also the most maddeningly difficult part.
The Beginning
The beginning of a story is one of the most crucial parts because it is the readers' first impression. Usually, a reader will decide whether or not they want to read a work within the first three to four paragraphs. This in turn places a great deal of pressure on you, the author, to make your beginnings great.
You want to hook your reader and pull them in. Make them ask "what?", "why?", "how?" and most importantly of all, "next?" A good beginning needs to set a theme or an overall tone for the story without overloading the reader with information. But, you don't want to under-load them either, or else they will grow board and move on to other stories.
Finding the balance is difficult.
What are some tricks you've used or read in other works that seem to work for you?
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Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2014 12:39 pm
I like to start either in the middle of a scene and have the reader play catch-up, or else a short burst of action to get them excited followed by some exposition to establish the world and/or premise.
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Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2014 7:54 pm
I like to start with a bit of description to set the tone.....
I also like to use Prologs it always lends the world a bit of scope; makes it seem larger you know?
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Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2014 9:33 pm
I find that the shock factor tends to work really well. Like Renkon Root said about starting in the middle of a scene; but the scene is something very dramatic like intense action or throwing the reader in the middle of some act of brutality. Of course it doesn't have to be on the violent side! sweatdrop
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Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2014 9:26 pm
Well the story I'm doing now begins with a premonition kind of thing asking a question and telling you who this (OC) person is and a little background with it.
Another story I want to start is going to begin with a bit of dialogue to make you wonder what is going to go on. It gets cleared up a little further in the same chapter. Almost like a tease of if you liked it enough to get to the point of seeing who she is then you'll read the rest.
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Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2014 10:06 pm
For the short I'm working on right now, I'm starting with the point right after the catalyst for the main plot line. Namely, I dropped two characters that don't normally interact down a hole. The story starts with them waking up. Eventually there will be a Jabberwocky. I think I just found my summary.
Normally I prefer to lead up to action, but I've done the start in the middle of a big moment thing before. There's just something about the gentle lead in that appeals to me. I like to build anticipation. It make delivering the blow more satisfying.
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