# Best way to start a story?



## Alex (Feb 28, 2012)

What exactly is the best way to write your intro paragraph?  Do you make it descriptive or jump right in?


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## Reaver (Feb 28, 2012)

Depends on the tone you want to set for your story. Is a fast-paced action-type tale or something more subtle?
Do you want to ease your readers into it or start things off with a bang?

Personally, I employ both.  Depends on what mood I'm in mostly.  

Not sure if this helps.  I hope it does.


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## Alex (Feb 28, 2012)

Yeah, I totally get what your saying, that helps a lot. Thanks!


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## Anders Ã„mting (Feb 28, 2012)

I don't think there's a definite best way. You probably just need to figure out what works best for your story and your personal style.

Or, just ask yourself how you like stories to start when you read them.


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## Phoenix (Feb 28, 2012)

It should be a little bit of both. One thing is for certain, hook the reader. Whether the character is reading a book, or on a battle field, do something to catch the reader's attention. If they are reading a book about war, make the first paragraph be about a battle that turns out to just be a passage from a book. Now, if the character is in a battle...well I'm hooked already!


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## Androxine Vortex (Feb 28, 2012)

Try making one up and then a little bit of your story. Go back and read it. Chances are, you're not going to like it, so make some changes. Lots of authors like to give the reader a huge amount of background info all in the first few pages while other like to start off kind of vague and as the story progresses, they give the reader more detail about everything (the world, events, etc.) If you do the later method just try not to overdo it. There was this one book and the author immedietly started off throwing all of these made-up words and phrases and names at you. He really tried too hard to make his world seem real. The problem was that he didnt explain what these words meant. Literaly for the first three chapters I had no idea what the hell I was reading (Good thing I forced myself to push on because it's one of my favorite novels now lol) It honestly felt like i was reading a story where the first forty pages were ripped out.

Thinking back to high school when the teachers tell you to make your first sentance "hook" the reader. Try thinking with that mentality. It may seem very intimidating and it kind of is, but no one is going to read the first sentance of your sotry and say, "Well this seems boring." However you decide to start it off, try to make it have a flow that will catch the reader up to page and keep him/her entertained.

I myself decided to do this : My story has A LOT of background details. They are all important but I don't want to fluster the reader so the first page will act as like a prologue in a way (not sure if this has an actual term though) basically I will give a brief explanation on everything thats going on and all the background info that they will need. Think of it like a movie traielr. They tell you basically what the movie will be about. You now know most of the info that you will need to understand the movie from the trailer. So this short intro desription will act as the "trailer" and the book will be the "movie" if that example makes any sense. My novel involves a lot of war so i'm thinking of starting it off right in the middle of a battle. I'll switch back from a fight sequence and then go a little detail about the MC and back again.

Good luck and if you want so reviews, I suggest posting it here and we can give you an opinion but then again its your call.


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## Darwin (Feb 28, 2012)

This is completely your preference.  Sometimes just jumping into a scene is best for some people.  Maybe it's starting off with some dialogue and then going into what all is going on.  Or it could even be a narrative back story that leads into the current situation.  There is no wrong answer, just do what is best for you and your own writing style.


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## Leif GS Notae (Feb 28, 2012)

I will say this, since everyone else seems to have touched on what I was thinking. Avoid the info dump. Far too many writers fall into the trap (I just read three intros today various places containing huge dumps, but no story) and it is easy to justify because you want the reader to really see what you are seeing.

Give us a hook, get us into the action and sprinkle with some back story or setup. You should do fine.


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## Caged Maiden (Feb 29, 2012)

Okay, so in one book that dealt with two rivals, I wrote thirteen pages of action and dialogue which formed the background information (avoiding too much about the world, and instead focusing on characters' motivations.  Then I began Chapter 1 in the middle of a fight between the rivals.

In another, I wrote about a girl who is being sent away from a dangerous place, and I just jumped right into the current situation and emotions without any real background info until the journey was sort of underway.  

Another favorite of mine is to open in an interesting location, and in a secondary character's viewpoint.  One I began in a brothel, and I really like how the scene sets the tone of the story.

I recommend trying a few different things, and if something isn't interesting enough, cut it out.  I have also done that!


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## MichaelSullivan (Feb 29, 2012)

Now, more than ever you have to have a really powerful start. When bookstores ruled, people would always flip to the first page and give it a read...now with things such as Amazon's Search Inside the Book, and ebook sampling. A purchase will rarely be made without reading a bit at the beginning.

If you are working to get an agent or publisher - they'll decide a lot on your first page...or even your first sentence and paragraph.  The worse thing you can do is bore people.  In general, excessive description, info dumping, or bland dialog is the quickest way to get someone to set down the book and your opportunity lost.  

Also....keep in mind that many book bloggers will routinely post the first line of a book so if if is boring..."I woke up to a clear crisp autum morning." Does nothing to engage a reader.  

As others said the hook is the important aspect.  Here are a few from my own writing:



> Some people are skilled, and some are lucky, but at that moment Mince realized he was neither.



You immediatley know that "something has gone wrong. Mince is in some kind of predictiment and you want to find out more.



> As the man stepped out of the shadows, Wyatt Deminthal knew this would be the worst, and possibly the last, day of his life.



There is immediate and impendign danger.  Who is the man?  Why is Wyatt affraid?  Will he survive the encounter?  

A good opening intriques the reader to find out more.


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## Helen (Mar 1, 2012)

Alex said:


> What exactly is the best way to write your intro paragraph?  Do you make it descriptive or jump right in?



I think descriptive is a trap - too easy to describe things without actually doing anything. 

IMO jump straight in. Get me involved so that I want to read on.


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## Sir Tristram (Mar 4, 2012)

My method... use both.  See if you can find a balance between action and description.  It works pretty well if one can do it right, but it is fairly tricky the first few times. Yaay! my first post.


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## The Dark One (Mar 6, 2012)

In my opinion, there is only one way to start a story if you want to engage the reader from page 1.


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## The Dark One (Mar 6, 2012)

Stay tuned for the answer...


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## Devor (Mar 6, 2012)

I go by the philosophy that the story should carry the detail, and a better story can carry more detail.

By that standard, I usually go with a few paragraphs of character and action, then slip in a paragraph to explain the details.  That way I can introduce the characters and the action and give the reader a reason to care about those details.

Also, I try to make awesome settings.  I think that helps a bit.  Of course, it doesn't always work.


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## Benjamin Clayborne (Mar 6, 2012)

The Dark One said:


> Stay tuned for the answer...



Haha, clever


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## The Dark One (Mar 7, 2012)

As I was saying, the best (if not the only) way to engage the reader immediately, is to arouse their curiosity...especially if you can do it in a way that has never been done before. Exactly how you do that depends on numerous factors - type of story; first or third person narrative etc, but if you arouse curiosity in the first sentence, the reader will read a second and third sentence etc - maybe all the way to the end.

I have evolved my own style over the years - learnt from my mistakes and successes, and the successes of others - and have now had two books published in the last two years. Just as importantly, I'm now really comfortable in my way of creating a story. I have numerous little writing rules (that work for me...may not work for everyone) but two of them are:

- Never lose sight of the fact that every page, every sentence, every word, is another opportunity to entertain.

- Every time you answer a question in the narrative, raise a new one.

There are millions of other things that go into good writing (having a powerful imagination for a start) but I believe that these two rules are what got me published.


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## Steerpike (Mar 7, 2012)

It depends on what kind of story you are writing.

I've seen story that open with very nice, descriptive language, where not much is happening besides setting up a scene and an atmosphere. When done properly, and with the right kind of story, it is effective.

Other stories may raise questions in the reader's mind right off the bat. These can also be very effective.

At other times, you may start with action in the sense that there is some physical act or confrontation taking place in the first paragraph. That can work as well.

What I do is decide what kind of story I am going to tell, and which of the openings best suits that story. Then I just try to make the opening as good as I possible can, regardless of which category it falls into.


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## The Dark One (Mar 9, 2012)

I suppose you would have that approach, Steerpike, when your hovercraft is full of eels...

I guess my point is that there's nothing to stop you from blending a question (however subtly) with description or action or whatever suits your muse. The trick is to immediately get the reader interested in the back story that has brought the character(s) to the point at which the story opens. And you only get them interested by making them curious.


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## MAndreas (Mar 9, 2012)

I think it has to reflect the story.  Starting in the middle of an action scene works, if the book is a slam bam thank you ma'am action adventure.  But sometimes you do need to set a scene a bit (not alot mind you) just to give a sense of place.   I have three completed books and I took the first page of each to a recent writer's conf.  I asked a NY editor just for feedback- what worked what didn't (I totally recommend this idea btw ).  The two he really liked were very different.  The space opera comes on hard - it's an adventure.  The steampunk comes on with atmosphere, not mid-action.  But they are two different books, so they needed different starts.

The one he wasn't as fond of was my fantasy- sadly he's not a first person fan and it's in first person .

Writing is horrifically subjective- including how to start your book .

Marie


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## The Dark One (Mar 9, 2012)

Hi Marie - I'm not sure whether you were responding to my post or just to the thread generally. In any case, nothing you've said conflicts with my point that the central driving force for any narrative is the reader's curiosity to go further and find out what's happening/what will happen. There are a million ways of doing this. In the book I've just finished and sent to my agent, I attempt to arouse the curiosity of the reader in several different ways - including the MC's breathtaking arrogance. I guess this is something I'm rationalising in hindsight rather than something I deliberately set out to achieve, but guinea pig readers have told me they were immediately mesmerised by the MC's obnoxiousness and wanting to know from page one how he was going to get his comeuppance.

In my recently published book (which I won't name so that no-one can accuse me of spamming) the reader understands from the start that something strange is happening just beneath the surface of a seemingly ordinary world and (hopefully) wants to get to grips with what is going on. In fact, the narrative driver in that story is the vague suspicion that many have that there really are shadowy types lurking in the background, secretly pulling the strings that control not just the world but the entire universe. My story leaps aboard that pony and rides it down very strange paths indeed, with the implication being that any of us might one day shake our heads clear of all our petty hopes, fears and obsessions and take notice of what really matters. The universe sends subtle signals out all the time but we are so busy getting on with life in the C21 Machine that we rarely notice, and if we do, we are too busy with other priorities to do anything about it. My main character (as the reader desperately wants him to) does something about it - thus the reader gets to go vicariously on the strange journey that s/he would never choose in real life.

To get back to the main point - inspire curiosity and really deliver on the answers - that's my basic formula for keeping the pages turning (both for reader and writer).


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## Philip Overby (Mar 9, 2012)

The best stories I've read do as others have said.  They make you curious from the beginning. Whether it's through action or dialogue or whatever, it needs to be attention grabbing.   

One of the most awesome opening sentences ever I think is "The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed," from Stephen King's "The Gunslinger."  Immediately I know there's a gunslinger, he's in a desert, and he's following a rather mysterious man in black.  Boom.  Attention grabbed.


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## MAndreas (Mar 10, 2012)

Dark One- sorry for that- no, my response was to the original question - not your specific response. My primary point was just that how an author starts a story will be specific to the author as well as the story.


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## MichaelSullivan (Mar 10, 2012)

MAndreas said:


> Writing is horrifically subjective- including how to start your book .
> Marie



There is no doubt that there is a lot of subjectivity to writing (and reading) but I'm not sure that it is as subjective as other aspects.  The bottom line...there is much more attention on "openinings" now because I doubt anyone will purchase any book without sampling...whether that be reading the first few pages in the bookstore, or using sampling from your ereader, or using the search inside the book feature of Amazon.

You have to be complelling.  You have to "hook" them.  This doesn't necessarily mean that you have to drop in the middle of action, or you can't use description...but if you bore them...you're dead. 

This goes for both self-published books and books you are seeking representation for. An agent, or slush pile editor discards 80%of their submissions before the first paragarph is completed. If they get through the first page, your changes are significantly better. If they get to page 5 -- You're in very good shape.  

Outside of the back of the book description (also used in the query for traditional representation, or marekting for self-pubished) the begining is THE MOST IMPORTANT writing of the entire book.


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## MAndreas (Mar 10, 2012)

Hi Michael,

I agree, that first paragraph is vital- many editors and agents never get past that point. (Which was why I asked the NY editor to just read my first pages- I wanted to know "Would he keep reading?")

  What I was trying to say was that not all books should start in medias res.  There will be differences based on the type of book, hence, it's subjective.  As writers we control the feel our book has, the tone we want the reader to feel as they go through it.  I've seen beginning writers take the "start in the middle of the action" aspect too far sometimes, creating something that doesn't fit their book, may or may not be supported by the rest of the chapter, and may be too much for the reader to care about.

But I think we all agree that however your first paragraph starts- it needs to kick butt (but that may not mean literally ).


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## MichaelSullivan (Mar 12, 2012)

MAndreas said:


> Hi Michael,
> 
> I agree, that first paragraph is vital- many editors and agents never get past that point. (Which was why I asked the NY editor to just read my first pages- I wanted to know "Would he keep reading?")
> 
> ...



To be "compelling" it doesn't have to be "in the middle of action" I didn't mean to imply that to be the case). Compelling may be some amazing prose, or a well turned phrase, it "can" be description although most authors (especially new ones) won't be confident or skilled enough to pull this off well. 

The most important aspect is the enticement to continue on.  The "easist" way to do this is to provide the classic hook.  To plant a question in the readers mind that they just have to answer.  It can be in an acutal question, "Who is John Galt?" Or more subtle...what is in the letters that Archibald is holding that makes him think that possesing them will turn his fortunes around? Why is an eighty-year-old joining a war? What made today the worst day in Wyatt Diminthall's life? Why is Nevrik's teacher trying to kill him? There is a reason that curiosity killed the cat...if you can get someone curious about something then it is easier to feed them bread crumbs to continue deeper.


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## Jabrosky (Mar 12, 2012)

The new story I've started this morning definitely takes the "begin in the middle of action" (specifically a fight between Norse and Zulu warriors) approach. I hate slogging through uneventful backstory anyway.


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