Young Writers Society

Helo,

This is my biggest question while im writing my fiction novel. It'll be great if someone can help.

So, I already plotted all the scenes, had all the key characters in mind, I have the beginning of the story(chronologically), and some other important keys in a story.

I've been trying to start this novel from various points in the novel's timeline, but all of them seemed to be wrong, for example I might end up having to put too much flashbacks, or maybe the story just started out straightly random.

I thought my problem was describing things, worrying that I should always expect the reader to know everything about the world before they'll understand the story, but I realized that's not the problem. I'm able to keep the reader get along with the story as well as avoiding the info dump and such.

So yeah, how do I determine the beginning? Please give example too, that would help a lot (like in LOTR, the beginning was obvious, when they discovered the ring and gandalf happened to be here).

Help appreciated!

cheers
Tuna

I think everyone has their own way of starting. An important thing I like to keep in mind is that the chronological beginning is not always the 'beginning' of your story. Also, the characters at the beginning aren't always the characters your story is about.

One way of deciding where to start is starting from the source of the conflict. For example, if your story is about how someone uses a magic spell to cause an erruption that will destroy the island, and a bunch of kids who have to stop them, there are a few places you could start from.

1) The casting of the spell. We see the bad guy casting his spell. This is a good place to start because it foreshadows what's going to happen and encourages readers to continue through the less exciting exposition at the beginning.
2) Exposition. Some people just start with a normal (ish) day for the main characters. Usually one that involves some sort of discovery or event that is linked to the main conflict.
3) Going back into the past. For example, you could give readers the history of the island. Or, more interestingly, you could go back in time and introduce the villain at the moment his life turns him towards evil.

Those are just some choices you could have. With a better plot, there are more. (But this was an offhanded example and thus not rich in material).

If someone decides to skim your story to decide if they're going to read it, it helps to start with a hook. One exmaple that comes to mind for me is a book I read (the name escapes me) but the book starts with an extract from a scene later in the book. The main character was in a fix (about to die) and he reflects on how the hell he got into such a situation, which is when the story jumps back to (of course) the day his life took a turn from boring old grind to something fantastic and exciting.

So, in short if you're looking for ways to start there are some good choices:

1) The source of the conflict (ex: if the conflict is about a war, you might want to start by going back to the moment war was declared, revealing the reasons why it's happening)
2) The day the MCs life changes. It will start off a bit slow, so you want to be careful not to bore people.
3) A point later in the plot where the MC is drawn to reflect on how they got into this situation (setting things up for you to go back to a less interesting but still relevant point earlier in the plot)
4) Character history. Pick a moment in either the protagonist's (MC) or the villains life that was significant to their development and share that. Then skip forward to the 'present' so people can see how they're changed. (Works kind of the same as a flash back).

I also suggest trying to make your very first sentence a hook. For example: "The world was coming to an end." The sentence makes people wonder: Who? How? Why? Which gets them interested.

I hope this is helpful, though I'm not 100% sure this was what you were asking. Good luck!

^_^ Keek!

When to start - at the last possible moment, when the protagonist's life changes forever and they can never go back to the way things were, with a unique and interesting scene.

Starting too early is a classic beginner's mistake. It may be necessary for you to know how a routine day goes for your protagonist, and exactly what he/she got up to in the year before the plot starts, but the reader doesn't need that. If everything is ordinary and boring for the protagonist, it's ordinary and boring for the reader.

Start with the plot. Introduce a protagonist, a goal they'll fight for, and a conflict that stops them getting it. Setup, backstory and exposition, like a strong spice, is best sprinkled delicately.

Sleeping Valor wrote:I think everyone has their own way of starting. An important thing I like to keep in mind is that the chronological beginning is not always the 'beginning' of your story. Also, the characters at the beginning aren't always the characters your story is about.

One way of deciding where to start is starting from the source of the conflict. For example, if your story is about how someone uses a magic spell to cause an erruption that will destroy the island, and a bunch of kids who have to stop them, there are a few places you could start from.

1) The casting of the spell. We see the bad guy casting his spell. This is a good place to start because it foreshadows what's going to happen and encourages readers to continue through the less exciting exposition at the beginning.
2) Exposition. Some people just start with a normal (ish) day for the main characters. Usually one that involves some sort of discovery or event that is linked to the main conflict.
3) Going back into the past. For example, you could give readers the history of the island. Or, more interestingly, you could go back in time and introduce the villain at the moment his life turns him towards evil.

Those are just some choices you could have. With a better plot, there are more. (But this was an offhanded example and thus not rich in material).

If someone decides to skim your story to decide if they're going to read it, it helps to start with a hook. One exmaple that comes to mind for me is a book I read (the name escapes me) but the book starts with an extract from a scene later in the book. The main character was in a fix (about to die) and he reflects on how the hell he got into such a situation, which is when the story jumps back to (of course) the day his life took a turn from boring old grind to something fantastic and exciting.

So, in short if you're looking for ways to start there are some good choices:

1) The source of the conflict (ex: if the conflict is about a war, you might want to start by going back to the moment war was declared, revealing the reasons why it's happening)
2) The day the MCs life changes. It will start off a bit slow, so you want to be careful not to bore people.
3) A point later in the plot where the MC is drawn to reflect on how they got into this situation (setting things up for you to go back to a less interesting but still relevant point earlier in the plot)
4) Character history. Pick a moment in either the protagonist's (MC) or the villains life that was significant to their development and share that. Then skip forward to the 'present' so people can see how they're changed. (Works kind of the same as a flash back).

I also suggest trying to make your very first sentence a hook. For example: "The world was coming to an end." The sentence makes people wonder: Who? How? Why? Which gets them interested.

I hope this is helpful, though I'm not 100% sure this was what you were asking. Good luck!

^_^ Keek!

I support this post right here. Great way to really get into it.
This is really the best way to go about things right here.

I like the replies! Thanks!

I guess I also need to believe in the beginning I chose before I whine about it =)


There's one thing that's still in my mind though, but I'm still not able to comprehend it >_<. Well at least 50% of my question is already answered

Thanks again!

cheers
Tuna

My trip is to start the beginning as late as possible.

For my novel, I had a lot of "beginning" before I actually started. The early plot is the MC's sister being chosen as the bride for the crown prince. I could have started there, since her life does get a bit more hektic, but that would have been a lot of scenes to summerize what happened. The hook wears off, things don't pick up again, not good.

Option two was to start the day she meets the Prince. That's the point where I have too many flash-backs.

I ended up picking right before she enters the city. Maximum time to fill readers in, minimum need for long flash-backs.

Here is an article on beginnings you might want to check out. Hope it covers everything. ^_^

~Rosey

I absolutely agree with Rosey.

I spent weeks creating the "past" of my MC before I found the right place to start my story. But then at one point I knew: This is where I want to start.
I write a "past" for every character up to the point where the story starts or he or she is introduced from the first person point of view no matter what point of view I will use in the story. It helps me get to know the characters better in adittion to determenig the beginning.

Edit: Wow. I just checked out the article Rosey gave, it is really good. I was worried that my beginning is too abrupt. Now I don't think so anymore (after fixing it according to the ideas in the article).