Do you start your story with a bang?

[morfiction]

I started my "RES KID" book "Dove & Crow" with the violent death of a dove. It was bloody but meant as fore-shadowing. The second book, Darkling Romance, begins with a bloody death of female character in love with the protagonist.

Do I regret the decision? Often. It's just how the story presented itself to me. I was a teenager and it appealed to me to have this kinda content. But it isn't friendly content that would get me oodles of young readers. As an adult, I can read this sorta thing. I could argue I attempted a level of sophistication. I am told my writing is clumsy at points.

I think I disliked the beginning of Final Fantasy VII: the supposed heroes blew up a reactor, injuring hundreds of civilians!

 

[Graylorne]

Curious, I just realised that the opening sentence of my first three books are all of a different kind.

1. Four times the bronze voice called from the bell tower over the forecourt. (all action; three boys creeping away in the middle of the night to do some unsanctioned hunting. Next line is MC speaking.).

2. Ghyll leaned back in his chair and stared at the White priest: 'It won't ever get better?' (dialogue; MC gets told he will never lose the limp a possessed knife gave him. Not funny at 20).

3. The Carahaun - sanctuary of Rhidaun-Lorns underclass - a maze of alleys with brothels, gaming dens and seedy bars. (long description of locality, working up to a clandestine meeting of some MC's. Doesn't translate really well.)

But they all should hook the reader.

 

[Ireth]

Hmm, interesting. I don't think the first lines of my novels really do well as hooks. Then again, they all start with quiet normal-life scenes shortly before interesting/dangerous stuff begins to happen.

Winter's Queen: Vincent smiled and leaned on the frame of his front door, watching yet another cluster of trick-or-treaters hurry away down the steps.

Summer's Blood (or Summer's Pawn): Ariel sighed impatiently and ran a hand through her hair, leaning against the wall beside the bathroom door and calling out over the sound of running water in the sink.

Low Road: The stack of dirty dishes wobbled dangerously in Ólan's hands, threatening to fall and shatter on the packed dirt floor.

 

[Lord Darkstorm]

Another method people tend to forget is that the open paragraph, sometimes two (if they aren't boring) can be out of context of a pov character and provides an introduction to the story.

Charles de Lint - Spiritwalk:
On September 23, 1906, one of Canada’s most notorious lumber barons went for an afternoon ride in the Gatineau Mountains and never came back. He left behind a flourishing lumber business and an extensive trail of theories, rumors and conjectures. He also left behind the architectural oddity known as the Tamson House.


And dune..the only action here is a move, and a visitor.
Frank Herbert - Dune
In the week before their departure to Arrakis, when all the final scurrying
about had reached a nearly unbearable frenzy, an old crone came to visit the
mother of the boy, Paul.


This is one of my favorite books, and I love the opening line...those that followed hooked me fast.
Orson Scott Card - Treason
I was the last to know what was happening to me. Or at least, I was the last to know that I
knew.


I think people confuse action with things that are actually interesting. Throw a story starting with a life or death sword battle between people I don't know or care about, and I'll dislike it right away. Have them fighting with living swords that slowly drain the life out of them the longer they fight, I'll give you a page or two. The difference is if there is some reason to compel me to continue reading. Some form of interest.

Raw action that has no real interest is like a scene from any B horror flick (Friday the 13th anyone?) it might have minor gore value, but it isn't really interesting.

 

[Kevin O. McLaughlin]

First lines matter, but not as much as many folks think they do. Action is important, but not in the context of "action movie". Rather, the opening must show something of importance and interest happening. Some form of action - activity - taking place.

Remember, readers will be downloading your sample to their reading device (more and more, as print continues to fade). That makes the first ten percent of your novel crucial. You MUST grab the reader in those words. You must grab them strongly enough that they immediately click "buy now" link when they reach the end of the sample, because finding out what happens next has become the most important thing they can think of in that moment.

How you achieve that is up to you, and every writer will approach the task differently. But that is the challenge every writer must meet.

 

[Kit]

Fisher had tried to enter the hole in the clouds six or seven times- but kept finding
herself back in her body, the wooden raft pressing impassively against her
shoulderblades.

 

[The Dark One]

Fisher had tried to enter the hole in the clouds six or seven times- but kept finding
herself back in her body, the wooden raft pressing impassively against her
shoulderblades.

I quite like this. It does what I think is the most important thing a first sentence needs to do - raise questions in the mind of the reader.

I have two published novels - one starts with action and the other starts with an atmospheric build up (raising heaps of questions - I hope). The action one has been fairly successful, but the other is too new to judge.

 

[MichaelSullivan]

Mistborn starts out with a prologue that is ALL Action. It has Kiesler attacking an outpost and basically killing everyone in it.

Kingkiller does start off with someone coming into the bar with a big dead creature. Sure not in the first paragraph - very nearly on.

I've not read Gentlemen's Bastards.

 

[MichaelSullivan]

A friend of mine is doing a series of blog posts where authors come in and discuss thir "first page". Here is mine, for my book Theft of Swords: The Riyria Revelations #1.

 

[Kelise]

Mistborn starts out with a prologue that is ALL Action. It has Kiesler attacking an outpost and basically killing everyone in it.

Kingkiller does start off with someone coming into the bar with a big dead creature. Sure not in the first paragraph - very nearly on.

I've not read Gentlemen's Bastards.

They're both soon, but not in the first 1,000 words where I've been told to put them. Mistborn actually has a prologue in just before that, I thought. A man coming to see how another man's Skaa population are going and if they're working well enough.

I'm all for action in the first 50 pages, but not in the very, very first scene.

 

[The Din]

I'm all for the bang, though I guess it depends on what sort of tone you want to set. As a reader, I don't like beginning in the action if the next fifty pages are all politics and fluttered eyelids.

 

[Erica]

I tend to prefer a story to start with something that gives me a sense of the people and their situation, so it's helpful if they're doing something or interacting with someone in some way. It doesn't have to be a battle or a sword fight (it could even be something like a conversation at a dinner party) ... but yes, I'd agree starting with a history lesson would probably not grab me.

One of the challenges, of course, with writing fantasy or sci fi that takes place in a made up world of some kind is getting the rules and norms of the society (and the important bits of its history) out there. But I don't think a writer needs to get everything out there in the first scene, or even the first few chapters. I'll often keep reading because of something that piques my curiosity.

Action or no action, novels starting in a 'zoomed out 'zero point of view' make me feel detached, and I tend to lose interest quickly (so if it starts this way, it should segue into a character pov quickly and clearly). I want to know who the story is going to be about. One of the other readers mentioned that starting in the middle of a really intense action scene where you get no sense of who is involved or what is at stake can also be off putting.

I liked the beginning of your Theft of Swords novel, because it gave me a sense of who your protagonists are and what their situation is and it made me chuckle a bit too. There was some action, but also Royce and Hadrian's personalities came out, as I recall.

 

[JCFarnham]

They're both soon, but not in the first 1,000 words where I've been told to put them. Mistborn actually has a prologue in just before that, I thought. A man coming to see how another man's Skaa population are going and if they're working well enough.

I'm all for action in the first 50 pages, but not in the very, very first scene.

Yep that's the prologue I remember from Mistborn. Just goes to show how one author sets up a book with worldbuilding at the for front. We know the score. We know the most import power roles between the Scaa and the nobles. Dissect it, see how it works ... you could do far worse than taking a page from Brandon's bible!



I'm actually considering opening my Faebound books with a "preface" (yeah, yeah, I know, may as well call it a prologue. But in my defense its far too short to be so) - first person narrator talking in a quasi-second person, part that and part hook-y/blurb style.

You see, It's important for the tone of the book that I get to activity straight away. These are after the mystery/thriller tradition after all, so it's almost a requirement. Unfortunately I also need to impart an awful lot of magic system and setting rubbish to set everything in context (not ruining the suspense or surprise of course, this is a major balancing act). These 200 word prefaces are doing it for me and It's currently saving me an awful lot of leg work.

Maybe it works as a hook, maybe not. We'll see when I have a full draft to show for it

 

[Benjamin Clayborne]

It would probably be instructive to examine a number of well-known fantasy novels and see how they start. I'd limit it to only the first book in a series, or standalone books. But I bet you'd find that they usually don't start with strong action/fights.

 

[Ireth]

It would probably be instructive to examine a number of well-known fantasy novels and see how they start. I'd limit it to only the first book in a series, or standalone books. But I bet you'd find that they usually don't start with strong action/fights.

That's very true. Heck, Lord of the Rings begins with a birthday party, of all things.

 

[Devor]

I recently finished the final edits on a short story that I'd set aside for a while. It has an action-packed first two sentences.

A tall man, wide and well-built, leaned back in a chair, holding a silver pipe that was molded into the shape of a dragon and puffing on a jade mouthpiece so that its jaws breathed out smoke. He gazed out over plains of meager trees, canyons and hilltops from a porch in front of a shallow cave, breathing through his pipe and giddy on fumes, waiting for his brother and looking for signs of the ride.

He leaned, and simultaneously he was holding and puffing. And then he gazed out, all while breathing and waiting and looking. That's a lot of action.

I'm both kidding, and serious. It's not an "action scene," but it's extremely verb heavy. Verbs have a way of gripping a reader and creating images in your head, I think and have heard from others, more than any other kind of word. I think a lot of people would do well to strengthen their verb usage, and in that sense, remember that an action-centered scene doesn't actually need "action."

 

[Kit]

**BUMP**

I remembered this thread enough to go digging for it, and sure enough on the 2nd or 3rd readthrough it is still positively SEETHING with helpful information about how to begin your story. What's more, pretty much everyone is in agreement on what is important. Worth another bump.

 

[JonSnow]

The first chapter has given me the most trouble. I have 2 books worth of material outlined and ready to go, its just figuring out how to hook the reader that's giving me fits. I decided to have some of everything (mood/setting, dialog/char.development, and action). The first chapter of my current WIP is situated like this:

1- First 2 pages are mood/setting to give a sense of the landscape, as the main character walks from his home on the outskirts into town. I kept it to quick mood/landscape descriptions and NO history (I believe in developing history at appropriate/natural opportunities as the plot develops)-Descriptions are all relevant to where he is... because more is going to happen here very soon.

2- pages 3-8 are character development dialog (2nd POV character introduced, as well as a peripheral character who will soon die ).
3- pages 9-10 are the first action sequence that sets the plot in motion


My question is this: For the average fantasy reader, assuming the writing is high quality and interesting, is this format generally OK? I don't want to start with an action sequence with characters the reader doesn't know yet. But I also don't want to make them wait too long before the crap hits the fan, either. I BELIEVE the dialog is interesting, relevant, and realistic based on what the characters know (or don't know) about what is happening around them. If it IS interesting enough to get the reader interested, is 9 pages too long before the "action" starts?

 

[The Dark One]

If it IS interesting enough to get the reader interested, is 9 pages too long before the "action" starts?

Depends on the font size...

 

[Lord Darkstorm]

I've read books that have chapters of story prior to the 'action' starting. It all depends on the story. If the only thing interesting was action, then it would get boring quickly. Tension does not require a battle or fight to the death scenes.