How should i start my fantasy story?

[SociallyAkwardArtist]

Hi! I have to write a story (which I will later send to my teacher) and I don’t know how to start. Well I have some ideas like:

1. Main character tossed a coin into a well and wished that she can get teleported to the magical world. She learns everything about this world. After a few days she returns to earth and everything she saw seems like a dream.

2. Main character was born in magical world, when she turned 15 she starts her magical journey .

3 Main character gets somehow teleported to the magical world (and can’t go back) and now she must learn how to use magic, fight etc.

I already have a magic system, gods, some races, creatures, terrains and characters but I can’t decide how to start. What do you guys think about this?


(I’m very sorry if I messed up some grammar but English is my second language)

 

[Clara Atsinger]

hello! Your ideas all sound great A good first chapter can begin In a few ways

1- Like HP and the Sorcerer's Stone, you could begin by simply introducing your main character, setting, and if you feel so inclined, begin hinting at the problem.

2-You could begin in the middle of a sequence; throw your reader right into an action packed situation to make them a little stunned, but exhilarated. (If you have ever read The Chocolate War, that's an example of that.

3-You could begin with your main character deep in his/her thoughts, considering wether or not to do something. For instance, you could begin with your OC standing by the wishing well.

Hope that helps! Of course, there are certainly other ways of going about a story, but these are the three that came to mind. And of course I'll end with the frequently said advice: Just write!

 

[Lynea]

If you like using fantasy tropes, you could have the wishing well be a magic portal. You could start with the character wishing at a well, only to discover that the well opens up for them. Maybe the portal only opens for certain people?

Another thing to keep in mind when it comes to fantasy: try to avoid heavy exposition at the beginning. Start where something interesting happens.

 

[SociallyAkwardArtist]

hello! Your ideas all sound great A good first chapter can begin In a few ways

1- Like HP and the Sorcerer's Stone, you could begin by simply introducing your main character, setting, and if you feel so inclined, begin hinting at the problem.

2-You could begin in the middle of a sequence; throw your reader right into an action packed situation to make them a little stunned, but exhilarated. (If you have ever read The Chocolate War, that's an example of that.

3-You could begin with your main character deep in his/her thoughts, considering wether or not to do something. For instance, you could begin with your OC standing by the wishing well.

Hope that helps! Of course, there are certainly other ways of going about a story, but these are the three that came to mind. And of course I'll end with the frequently said advice: Just write!

So I finally figured it out:

I’ll mix my 2nd idea with Clara's 2nd and 3rd suggestion and for the first scene make something like this:

Main character is sleeping and thinking about something, then the teacher is waking her up by saying her full name. By that I can introduce readers to the MC, magic system and world!

thank you very much

 

[valiant12]

All of them can work

2. Main character was born in magical world, when she turned 15 she starts her magical journey .

I personally like this one, but that just my taste.

 

[skip.knox]

I love the coin. It's a magic coin only nobody knows that. The MC just thinks it's odd and pretty. But no one will take it so she can't spend it, so on a whim she throws it in the wishing well. Poof! Other world.

She spends a few days in Otherworld, but she is soon missing home. How can she return? Yoiks! She has to find the same coin, in all that wide world.

 

[Nethermoosen]

I always enjoyed a good mystery towards the beginning of a world shifting journey.

Let’s say your protagonist is somehow suspicious of the world or believes there is something beyond what most people know. Protagonist gets involved with the occult, reading any books that would be absurd to other readers. Protagonist spends time at bars, hangouts, public outings and meets people who also deal in the occult just trying to find someone or something that would lead to the discovery of another world.

The discovery of another world or realm could also come from tragedy, perhaps a sacrifice the protagonist wasn’t expecting, unwittingly helping a banished entity return to this other world in the process.

 

[Shonen]

If I was going to write that, I would possibly try and start off the story with the protagonist walking around wishing she could go to a magical world which gives a chance to go into detail about what we need to know about the protagonist, the place she lives in, lifestyle and situation briefly or detailed as you like. She could find the magical coin.
Or...she opens her eyes in the magical world, in awestruck and wonder...exploring around for awhile until the shock gets to her, remembering how she got here exactly.

The only way you could find out is to try and write different scenes and choosing which you think is the best one you personally believe in. Remember, believe in what you write.

 

[SociallyAkwardArtist]

If I was going to write that, I would possibly try and start off the story with the protagonist walking around wishing she could go to a magical world which gives a chance to go into detail about what we need to know about the protagonist, the place she lives in, lifestyle and situation briefly or detailed as you like. She could find the magical coin.
Or...she opens her eyes in the magical world, in awestruck and wonder...exploring around for awhile until the shock gets to her, remembering how she got here exactly.

The only way you could find out is to try and write different scenes and choosing which you think is the best one you personally believe in. Remember, believe in what you write.

ooh! I like that one too! But the story I already wrote was based of a meme about a dragon and a princess sooooo the next story will be about a girl that gets somehow transported into the magical world by mythical creatures, gets cursed and have a tough adventures and some sort of things[ I will upload if it's good enough] I'm also going to make a comic out of it!

 

[KaeSeven7]

I'd say, to avoid falling into some cliche writing traps, consider how you're writing some of your ideas. I have personally always been warned against the "it was all a dream" or the lore dump before a character begins their journey at 15. Not saying these can't be done well though - it just depends on how you write.

I always try to start with something thrilling, though this is personal preference. Sometimes it won't make any sense to the reader, but will draw them in. Sometimes it's from someone else's perspective, so I can describe the character from the outside.

Out of your ideas, I do enjoy the coin idea though. A well is always a cool setting and great transition between worlds. Maybe the coin or well has more significance you could expose in the end, or maybe it could be a dreamscape rather than a dream? Going back and forth between sleep and reality could be cool.

 

[Saigonnus]

Jumping into the action is a way to hook the readers from the beginning. You can always go back via the character's own thoughts/flash backs etc at a later point in the story if there is some relatable moments that need to be expressed.

A few thoughts I just had was: What if the character was FROM the fantasy world and comes to the real world instead of the other way around? The Magic Coin could work better, given the world they are coming from is magical. If you have a modern teen go to a fantasy world; and suddenly can use magic, why not a fantasy teen who can use magic suddenly appearing outside a McDonald's, able to use magic in the modern world. You could even still incorporate the fantasy creatures and whatnot, maybe her traveling ripped a tear in the veil or shroud between worlds and allowed them to come through behind her.

 

[SociallyAkwardArtist]

Jumping into the action is a way to hook the readers from the beginning. You can always go back via the character's own thoughts/flash backs etc at a later point in the story if there is some relatable moments that need to be expressed.

A few thoughts I just had was: What if the character was FROM the fantasy world and comes to the real world instead of the other way around? The Magic Coin could work better, given the world they are coming from is magical. If you have a modern teen go to a fantasy world; and suddenly can use magic, why not a fantasy teen who can use magic suddenly appearing outside a McDonald's, able to use magic in the modern world. You could even still incorporate the fantasy creatures and whatnot, maybe her traveling ripped a tear in the veil or shroud between worlds and allowed them to come through behind her.

Wowowowo this would be cool as hell! And what if he/she could use a baseball bat as a wand so people wouldn't be suspicious?

 

[Saigonnus]

Wowowowo this would be cool as hell! And what if he/she could use a baseball bat as a wand so people wouldn't be suspicious?

Could work, though I think toting around something as heavy as a baseball bat and having to wave it around would be a bit unwieldy. That of course assumes your magic is the traditional type that uses such things.

 

[S J Lee]

Have him fall into the well, and be helped out by ... someone else, somewhere else, somewhen else... personally I prefer" proper, full" fantasy rather than the Narnia closet / Connecticut Yankee approach, but whatever works for you...

 

[SinghSong]

Jumping into the action is a way to hook the readers from the beginning. You can always go back via the character's own thoughts/flash backs etc at a later point in the story if there is some relatable moments that need to be expressed.

A few thoughts I just had was: What if the character was FROM the fantasy world and comes to the real world instead of the other way around? The Magic Coin could work better, given the world they are coming from is magical. If you have a modern teen go to a fantasy world; and suddenly can use magic, why not a fantasy teen who can use magic suddenly appearing outside a McDonald's, able to use magic in the modern world. You could even still incorporate the fantasy creatures and whatnot, maybe her traveling ripped a tear in the veil or shroud between worlds and allowed them to come through behind her.

I'll take it that you've watched The Devil Is a Part-Timer! too then. A man of culture...

 

[Saigonnus]

I'll take it that you've watched The Devil Is a Part-Timer! too then. A man of culture...

Actually, I haven't. I had a dream when I was a teenager when I worked at a McDonald's. I was flinging fireballs from the roof at strange shadowy figures that were trying to kill me.

 

[ButlerianHeretic]

It wasn't a dream. I didn't tell you this. You never met me. Shhh.