How (and When) to Start Your Story
“Lymond is back.”
It was known soon after the Sea-Catte reached Scotland from Campvere with an illicit cargo and a man she should not have carried.
“Lymond is in Scotland.”
It was said by busy men preparing for war against England, with contempt, with disgust; with a side-slipping look at one of their number. “I hear the Lord Culter’s young brother is back.” Only sometimes a woman’s voice would say it with a different note, and then laugh a little.
Lymond’s own men had known he was coming. Waiting for him in Edinburgh, they wondered briefly, without concern, how he proposed to penetrate a walled city to reach them.
These are the opening paragraphs of one of my favorite books, Game of Kings, by Dorothy Dunnett. I love the way, in a few short paragraphs, she introduces us to her main character, known as “Lymond.” As in the rest of the novel, we see him from others’ perspectives. But what delicious questions these lines pose! We know his name is Lymond; we know he is smuggling himself into Edinburgh, for reasons unknown; we know that the Scotsmen despise him but the women have a different view; we know he has his own men waiting for him. Aside from these tantalizing glimpses, we don’t know why he’s back in Scotland, or what he proposes to do there. But we’re intrigued enough to read on – to see how he gets into Edinburgh, and what happens when he tangles with those men and women who feel so differently about him.
To me, this opening is just about perfect because it introduces us to an intriguing character and an intriguing situation right off the bat: who is this guy? Why shouldn’t he be in Scotland? What did he do? And what does he plan to do now?
It starts the story in just the right place. We don’t need to know where he was and what he was doing before, or why he was in Campvere. Nope, it starts with his arrival in Edinburgh, and pretty soon everyone is going to know Lymond is back (including the brother, Lord Culter, who will be, shall we say, less than pleased). Only gradually will the real Why be revealed, and in fact it will be quite a while before we know whether we fall on the side of those who despise him or admire him.
I don’t imagine Dorothy Dunnett wrote all that perfectly at the first try. Maybe she nailed it down (after many drafts) before she went on with the rest of the story, or maybe she wrote it after finishing the rest of the book. But one problem with perfect beginnings is we tend to think, as writers, we must have it nailed down before we can move forward.
I know too many writers who have their first pages, or first chapter, endlessly critiqued. Whether by a writing group, an editor at a conference, a teacher in a writing class... round and round they go, trying madly to get it right before moving on. This can cripple your whole process.
If you are stuck wondering how and when to create your perfect opening, below I offer some things to keep in mind:
Don’t write your first paragraph/page first – or at least, don’t sweat it for the first couple drafts. Just get something down that seems to you to be close to where the story actually starts. This may change as you write through a draft (or several).
Anticipate that you may write your real beginning last. when you know what the end will be. In this, make sure you create an arc than answers the question(s) posed in the beginning. By the end of Game of Kings, we know exactly why Lymond is in Scotland, and we know why the men hate him (and the women feel... differently. At least most of them). We have come to know this complex, amazing maddening character and what drives him.
As you are planning your story, it can help to know what your Central Story Question is and how it’s resolved by the end. If you can conceive your first and last scenes and how they are linked, you will have a good idea of the throughline of your novel.
Openings are tricky in that you do want to start as close to the action as possible, but if you start in the middle of an action scene, we don’t know the character(s) well enough to care yet. It may also be confusing.
Some story structure methods call for us to see the character in their “ordinary world” before the real action starts. This can work, but we still need a compelling reason to care about the character. A slice of someone’s ordinary life gets boring fast.
You can show the character in a difficult situation – being bullied, for example (and by the end of the story, they have grown confident enough to confront or ignore their bullies)
You can show “the calm before the storm” - the moments before the character’s life is ripped apart (but this still has to be interesting to read; a deep dive into the character’s mind and worldview as opposed to the minutiae of their daily life)
In fantasy or sci-fi, we may need to introduce readers to a very different world and tis rules. Giving them some time to learn and digest this can be good. “In a hole in the ground lived a hobbit.” - J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, which goes on to describe hobbits in detail.
In a mystery, we need to introduce the sleuth (or other characters) before the murder happens. In a romance, we need to show the time before the two would-be lovebirds meet – who are they?
You can start with a character’s vivid voice (in their head, in dialogue, on the page). Think The Catcher in the Rye.
You can start with a memory or action that will encapsulate the story’s theme and prove crucial to the character’s development by the end.
You can start with a scene that shows your character in action, and that shows their character (who they are – or who others think they are.)
You can start with setting – but only if the setting is crucial to your novel. If you’re starting with description, it has to be stellar. There still has to be a sense of being drawn forward into the story. Think: creepy old house in a haunted house paranormal thriller or romance.
You can start with a moment of conflict. Think M.T Anderson’s Feed: “We went to the moon to have fun, but the moon turned out to completely suck.” That’s voice and conflict and setting, all in one great sentence.
You can start with the Inciting Incident – which is what I would call the opening to The Game of Kings. The moment when Lymond arrives back in Scotland launches the story.
The main thing your opening needs to do is get the reader to ask questions – Why? Who? How? What? that leads the reader forward to find out.
A few more Don’ts:
Don’t use a prologue unless absolutely necessary – many agents/editors hate them, and they often don’t add much to the story that can’t be told better another way.
Don’t start in the middle of a high-stakes action scene unless you are a master writer who can simultaneously show us character in a very tight, focused fashion. AN example might be: your protagonist is a professional poker player (or an amateur in over his head) in the middle of a literal high-stakes game. What he does, and how he reacts, will show us who he is, what he thinks, and how he handles conflict and risk throughout the book.
And please, please, don’t start with someone waking up (unless you’re Kafka, and your character has turned into a cockroach overnight).
What’s your favorite first line of a novel? Let us know in the comments!
