How do you usually start your story? Why?

[BlackKnightX]

The beginning of the story is very important. You can say that it’s the crucial factor on whether the readers are gonna continue reading your story.

So, there are a lot of way to start, but all great story have one thing in common; they hook the readers in and never let them go.

Some start with introducing characters. Some start with introducing the magical world. Some start right in the middle of the action.

But, what about your story? How do you usually start your story? Why?

 

[K5Rakitan]

Carefully

 

[BlackKnightX]

Carefully

Slow-burn?

 

[Armored99]

prologue that provides the set up for the stories premise.

 

[Ilikewaterkusa]

The beginning of the story is very important. You can say that it’s the crucial factor on whether the readers are gonna continue reading your story.

So, there are a lot of way to start, but all great story have one thing in common; they hook the readers in and never let them go.

Some start with introducing characters. Some start with introducing the magical world. Some start right in the middle of the action.

But, what about your story? How do you usually start your story? Why?

Show off the character’s appearance, and personality. And sometimes the location in depth, if they are to stay there for long

 

[NotaNuffian]

Tell the audience what your MC is like, what he does and what shapes his worldview first, because then I can forecast the MC's goal and not have him "go on an adventure" that somehow derails the mold. While I have no qualms with these lack of info in others' works as some are using the "average working class" for empathy from the readers, I kind of dislike not knowing what the MC's personality is all about.

Case and point, Xavier in Sanguine Paradise as a Mosquito is all about running around and being cautious because he has low HP. That notion of him stayed with me and got badly shattered when he gained a human-elf form where he becomes cocky AF and did some questionable shit. Of course like Ken Kaneki and "torture and trauma and friends" MCs, his shift can be derived from having a "one bad life" moment and he threw caution to the wind when he got the power.

 

[Zirrboy]

Waking up

 

[Kitsura]

Action... Not like action moie actions. But something that sets the plot in motion should happen in the first paragraph.

 

[ElijahRyne]

Truck-Kun!

 

[Leyligne]

I like to establish the setting first, but that’s probably my OCD.

I think it’s better to start with your characters‘ motivations, either through their interesting backstory or a compelling action scene. Opening with maximum flourish to draw those readers in.

...but then you have to go back and establish the setting. And world building is slow.

Just my insanity, I suppose. Gotta crawl before you walk, walk before you run, then run into a stumble, and finally stumble to your end.

 

[Paul_Tromba]

I have experimented with a few types of starting points. Doing a slow burn start that acts as a sort of base for the whole story can work but unless if you do it right then it will not have a good hook. My favorite and most well-received start involved making the beginning of the adventure the start and then following it up with a prologue that explains who the characters are and how they got to this point.

 

[BlackKnightX]

Waking up

Perfect!

Truck-Kun!

Wonderful! Just one word, and I’ll know what the story is all about right away. Just wonderful!

I have experimented with a few types of starting points. Doing a slow burn start that acts as a sort of base for the whole story can work but unless if you do it right then it will not have a good hook. My favorite and most well-received start involved making the beginning of the adventure the start and then following it up with a prologue that explains who the characters are and how they got to this point.

I think it’s called ‘teaser’ in the movie? Like, you hook the readers in with some exciting moment first, and then get back in time to slowly introduce the characters and the world.

 

[Aouliuo]

Some general advice I've heard on this -> Start with a bang. Whether said bang is loud, soft, squeaky or a leaky propane bazooka hastily assembled on a rooftop depends on your story and your story's tone. You'll only attract a specific niche/genre with the synopsis that you have in the first place, so don't worry about the bang being softer in comparison to others. It'll be plenty loud in that genre if you do it right.

The point is not to lie about what readers should expect going onward and get them interested regardless.

That way, you'll have an audience that not only picks up your book, but finishes it.

 

[Andrew_Udell]

I either start with a plot hook or a call to action, but either of those things must be interesting to read. I personally like when things are either action filled or leave me with just enough questions that I want to read on.

 

[Vicky]

Perfect!

*Cough* Waking up, staring at an unfamiliar ceiling.

 

[KoyukiMegumi]

I start as the character is about to tell you their story. If that makes any sense. Or an event that is happening... I like to try out different ways. c:

 

[RedHunter2296]

I think I basically did the beginning of my novel a shock therapy.

Since my story has too many different elements, fantasy, sci-fi, politics, war, military strategy, in the real world, with angels and demons involved.
I wanted to make it clear from the beginning that there would be a lot of different things together, if they supported it or liked it they would surely continue, if not then at least they would find out quickly that my story was not for them. But at least it would not take anyone by surprise if the characters spoke at some point about the foreign trade policy of the United States and in the next scene look for clues about a lost werewolf in the city.

The beginning of my novel is in the middle of the story, many important events happened before chapter 1. An angel visiting an aircraft carrier heading to war. In it the angel talks to the protagonist about things that happened in the past and explains a little why he is on that ship. It is explained that he is not there trying to support his faction to win the war, but because he is helping the angels to recover an object. In return they will heal his sister's illness. So his priority will not be to win the battle but to steal an object and get out there alive, he only has to act until the right time.

Apparently, it has worked quite well for me, because what they have complained about the most was my grammar. And not so much about the great lack of context that the beginning has. Much of my novel is about revealing what happened in the past little by little, so telling everything that happened just to have the context of the beginning would take a toll on me by releasing the same information later on where it has much more weight. An example would be that what the protagonist sought to recover is a stone that fulfills wishes. But that for some reason he refuses to use it, because there is a price to pay, readers do not know that price. Having told that price would have made him see later where he explains why another character should not use, and because he does know the price to pay it would be less shocking.

I also believe that when opening with a lack of information so that readers want to continue reading to find the answers to those questions.Of course, you better know the answers in advance, because each of those information holes that you leave, is a promise with the reader that at some point it will be answered in a credible way.

 

[SakeVision]

mc doing something stupid and getting in trouble

 

[gaylolis]

my favorite way of beginning a story is just telling my readers everything i write is just nonsense, that way i can just go wild and do whatever i want.

i usually include them in the synopsis rather than the prologue tho.

 

[Jemini]

This is the reason I like writing Isekai of the reincarnation style. I get to kill off my characters in ways that foreshadow what their character arc is going to look like.

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Key to the Void: Protagonist sells their soul to someone they take for a demon in order to save their granddaughter. The character arc will involve the protagonist taking morally questionable actions in order to ensure the health and wellbeing of those most precious to (gender-bent) her. In the process, this will spiral into a negative character-arc that jeopardizes the wellbeing of her very soul.

A New Hero God: Protagonist dies physically shielding a student during a school shooting, and then follows this up by grabbing hold of the shooter's leg and clinging onto it with a literal death-grip, maintaining the hold even after death. He goes on to be reincarnated in a DC/Marvel style world with super powers, and becomes a good-guy hero dealing with a very corrupt world.

(The above stories have been released. The following stories are still in the planning or early-writing phases and have been unreleased.)

The Class of Outworlders: Protagonist is drafted into the army during WW3, and is killed by a demon when WW3 turns into the apocalypses. In the next world, he finds himself also being forced into a military role, and fighting demons is his mission.

Demons of Hell (working title): Protagonist dies driving his car with his buddy and his buddy's little sister while blaring out loud music. Crash is mostly his fault for not paying attention, but him and his buddy alike were really being idiots and the little sister was just caught up as an innocent victim. The story is mostly the protagonist trying to redeem himself in the next life, but he starts out in an incredibly shitty situation and winds up needing to take a lot of very brazen risks in order to even get to the starting line of his bid for redemption. His main goal is to find the buddy and sister in this new world, figuring they must have wound up there as well.

(Note: My world setting involves a region of the world that the gods refer to as hell. It is called that because humans live there, and the gods hate humans. So, it's really not the hell everyone is probably thinking of.)

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So, yeah. In other words, I am leveraging the reincarnation Isekai concept as far as possible in order to implement good story-telling technique. No lazy truck-kun junk for me. I actually consider the method and make it relevant to the story.