Starting off a story

[CrystalGlacia]

I have full-bodied, fleshed-out characters, plenty of backstory, and a lot of plot, all carefully revised and crafted over the last three years.

But my main concern just seems to be starting it off. How do you guys usually start a story off?

 

[Outcast]

I usaully start them off with a sound of something, people talking about something with an excited or scared voice, a little bit of action, or something unique, like I peom or riddle, just to get there attention.

 

[Der_Neuevenmenschen]

Here's some examples of starting off a chapter in my fic, Tarnished Gold.

December 15, 1998.

"I hear the click-clack of your feet on the stairs
I know you're no scare-eyed honey.
There'll be a feast if you just come upstairs
But it's no hanging matter
It's no capital crime
I can see that you're fifteen years old
No I don't want your I.D.
And I can see that you're so far from home
But it's no hanging matter
It's no capital crime

Oh yeah, you're a strange stray cat
Oh yeah, don'tcha scratch like that
Oh yeah, you're a strange stray cat
I bet, bet your mama don't know you scream like that
I bet your mother don't know you can spit like that.
You look so weird and you're so far from home
But you don't really miss your mother
Don't look so scared I'm no mad-brained bear
But it's no hanging matter
It's no capital crime"
-Stray Cat Blues, The Rolling Stones

At four years old, Barry didn't exactly know what the song meant, but he enjoyed listening to it on the CD Player. His mother, Jasmine, smoked a cigarette in the kitchen, taking a puff, then smashing it onto the ashtray, and then called for him.

Cynthia, the Grand Champion of Sinnoh, was known as many things. Lovely, daring, a dreamer, and a short fuse.
A very, very short fuse.

The date, August 8, 1979. Cynthia woke up in a dark, dirty closet. She had no bed, just a pile of clothes. Today, she had gotten lucky. Her father, a habitual drunk and an aggressive person overall, was getting drunk at a bar. She kicked down the door and looked in the mirror. Where she lived was a rotting trailer, in the woods near Sandgem Town, that was no better than where she had just slept. Cynthia walked to the mirror. What she saw looked surprisingly like a smaller version of her older self, but, instead of a cold gaze, she had a sad, child-like one. Her hair was matted, and her skin was filthy. She had no clothes but a dirty nightgown and pajamas. The night before, Cynthia had decided she could not take anymore, as her father had taken 'it' too far for her. For 10 long years, she had dealt with constant beatings, poor conditions, and the unspeakable things her father had used her for. Today, she would get a Pokemon. Today, she would turn her life around, if for better, or worse.

 

[Lugion]

I generally begin with a Prologue that sets up the story in some way, ie, a major event in the past that affects the main character in some way in the present day.

 

[LightningTopaz]

As most of my stuff is slice of life in nature, I begin with my subjects either waking up or getting ready for something

 

[Legacy]

I tried to start my fic off with a bit of mystery by introducing the strange, mysterious forest in the middle of nowhere as well as something shocking like a murder. My goal was to entice the reader into getting into my story.

 

[Captain GIROG]

Most of my writing starts off with location and very little dialog. In Field Research, for instance, nobody speaks until the the second paragraph of the second chapter. Very close to the same is true in my other project. In fact, everything I've ever written has had a lengthy, silent intro.

I think the start is the most important part to put in location and character descriptions, so it's a terrible thing to waste. I went right into the action once, and it ended up being my worst story from my point of view.

It's all writing style, though. Try everything you see in this thread. If something works for you, stick with it or change it slightly to fit your writing more naturally. Good luck!

 

[Aladar]

Anout the main story, idk. It varies. Mostly start with the protagonist doing something ordinary in the morning when WHOOSH- something happens. But the prologue is always mysteryous and serves more to make the readerr ask himself a ton of questions about what is happening that way, where and why.

 

[revolvingscott]

I either prefer to begin with some action or mystery. Although, in my latest fic, it begins with neither of those so maybe it only works for certain types of fic.

 

[Nagini]

I start with either an exclamation (ie "What the hell was he thinking?!" or "If I told you one time, I've told you a thousand times, Harley, I hate it when you do that!") or a strange action (ie "He ducked under the couch looking for the little scoundrels who stole his wallet." or "Allison was sitting on her nightstand, face in her hands, as the picture flitted to the ground. That picture, as it happens, was the source of the town's embarrassment.")

Lately, though, I seem to be starting off first-person perspectives with a common complaint.

The idea is to draw in your audience with something either so common that they can relate or so unusual that they have to know what exactly you're talking about. In other words: be unique.

 

[CrystalGlacia]

Thanks for the advice! I'll have to try all that out.