How to Start a Story: 11 Tips From Top Editors
The opening lines of a story carry a lot of responsibility. They act as an invitation for someone who’s glanced at the first page of your book to either put it back down or keep reading.
Whether you’re just figuring out how to start a novel, or revisiting Page 1 of a first draft, here are 11 ways to start a story:
1. Craft an unexpected story opening
2. Start with a compelling image
3. Create interest with immediate action
4. Begin the book with a short sentence
5. Pose a question for the reader.
6. Introduce the plot and characters
7. Build a convincing world and setting
8. Do something new with your writing
9. Create tension in the beginning of the novel
10. Put your mind and heart in it
11. Capture your readers’ attention
1. Craft an unexpected story opening
Think of the opening to Nineteen Eighty-Four, or Iain Banks’s, The Crow Road, “It was the day my grandmother exploded.” Of course, your opening doesn’t have to be as outrageous as these but always aim for the unusual. In other words: think of how people will be expecting the book to start, then take the plot in another direction.
2. Start with a compelling image
Many editors will tell you to avoid exposition — the dreaded info dump — at the start of your manuscript. One of the best ways to avoid this is to begin on an image. By focusing on sensory detail right at the start — sight, sound, taste, touch, smell — and by conveying a particular, defined setting, you can absorb readers immediately within the tangible world of your novel. Context and background will come later, but a compelling image can be a fantastic hook.
3. Create interest with immediate action
Novels that open in medias res (latin for "in the midst of action") are often really effective at immediately grabbing the reader and establishing stakes and tension. A classic example is Lord of the Flies, which starts with the boys on the island and then fills in the details of how they got there later. If you go this route, you need to be sure your opening action is compelling enough that the reader is prepared to wait for character setup later.
4. Begin the book with a short sentence
Start with something sparse that flicks on our curiosity, above all
5. Pose a question for the reader
The reader should be looking for an answer. The opening to your novel should be a question that can only be answered by reading on. This doesn't need to be literal, or overt, it can even be poetic, or abstract, but there must be a wound that can only be healed by reading on.
6. Introduce the plot and characters
There are many ways to start a novel, but in my experience, the most successful beginnings have the magnetic effect of appealing to an emotion that all readers possess: curiosity. Make them immediately ask of your characters: What is this place? Why are they here? What are they doing? Who is involved? Where is this going? If you can pique your readers' curiosity from the very first sentence, you can will them to keep reading before they even know they like your book.
At the same time, it's important that the start of your book isn't entirely cryptic. Your opening must sustain your readers' interest in some way if you are to keep them reading through to chapter two, and reveal more and more information in the plot points to come.
7. Build a convincing world and setting
Something that draws a reader into a literary novel is the sense that the author has a deep knowledge of everything they’re writing about. If the first page conveys a mastery of place, time, and language, I can trust the novel is borne of good research, and I’ll relax into the story. But if the details feel off, or are absent or vague, I won’t read on.
I think compelling writing is a result of specific language married to intimate insights or experience, and that literary fiction has a sense of gravity that’s informed by deep history. The best novels never make us doubt that every sentence was weighed for truth and beauty against the world and the author’s understanding. Literary fiction, in my mind, is at least as true as real life, and just as tough to get right.
8. Do something new with your writing
Consider these two lines:
1) "I'm sitting writing this at my desk."
2) "I write this sitting in the kitchen sink."
Which line makes you want to read on? I'd hazard a guess that it's probably the sentence about being perched at a sink — the opening line to one of my favorite novels, I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith. Say something in your first few sentences that hasn't often been said before! A brief line laden with foreboding and heavy with what has not been said often works well, too.
9. Create tension in the beginning of the novel
Openings should be intense, but that doesn’t necessarily mean “loud” or “explosive.” So many authors are keen to start with a literal bang — something going up in flames, or a car accident, or some other catastrophe. But recall that even a smoldering fire can burn your hand; draw us in like moths to the flame, but don’t let the bonfire rage so fierce we can’t get close.
10. Put your mind and heart in it
Ensure readers that you are not kidding around. You have invested blood, sweat, and tears into this story, and the opening lines should prove that. Compose the first lines of your book as though they were the last lines you will ever write.
When readers are transported into your far reaching insights and soulful explorations, they are yours. Every time I read the opening lines of Hugh Howey’s bestselling self-published novel, Wool, I am drawn into the breathtaking depths of his vision and humanity, and I wrench my heart from my chest, and say, “Here, take it.”
11. Capture your readers’ attention
You want your reader to be swept up in the story— for its entirety, but especially at the beginning. This is your chance to intoxicate your reader and convince them that they can’t not read on. This doesn’t mean your story needs drama, or fireworks, or shocking material; what your story really needs is close attention to language, tone, and pacing. Dazzle your reader from the start, and they will willingly take your hand for the ride.
Establishing best practices for starting a story can be tricky because, as Reedsy Editor Nathan Connolly says, “Fiction should, by nature, seek to defy, redefine or expand beyond rules." It should not be an author’s goal to emulate the words or tastes of another person while writing a novel.
However, many well-loved novels share a thread of commonality when it comes to their first few lines — such as a question, a brief to-the-point line, or in the middle of action. While there’s no hard rule for what works, these are guidelines you can follow when determining how to hook readers down your story’s path.
Writing a book is a monumental task, but very doable once you have momentum and a compliant muse!
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