All novelists must decide where to begin. This decision may not be as easy as we think.
Fresh readers won’t become fans if they never get past the opening. Even the first sentence must be compelling. Readers have a split-second attention span. Writers must hook them immediately.
You may say, “But my novel is a slow burn story.” That’s fine. However, the writer’s challenge is even greater then. The burn has to be worth the journey. Make me so interested in the characters that I must get to know them and care enough to want to discover why they are in their current intriguing situation. Part of doing so is to make sure their actions are intriguing and their conversations, riveting, whether you’re going for a slow burn or fast story.
The Most Typical Scenario
As for the opening, for the sake of example I’ll refer to the most typical scenario I see. I am fully aware this opens me up in the comments that, “My favorite book begins like this!”
What if the opening is during a journey? This may seem to make sense since during a trip, the protagonist can think about the past and why she’s on the journey. Unfortunately, this technique tends to get bogged down with interior contemplation that’s difficult to present in a compelling way.
The only exception I can make is if a huge development takes place during the trip. Then we have to be on the journey. But make sure we must be there.
If your favorite book begins during a journey, read the opening chapter again. Why was that the right place for that author to start? What happened that caused you to keep reading?
Skip breakfast. No, really. Skip breakfast.
I don’t recommend starting at this literal beginning of the day unless an alien cooked your character purple pancakes.
I’ve seen instances where dinner was mentioned as a transition. We have no idea what the character ate for dinner. When I was writing novels, I offered characters’ menus myself. I would not do so now. While dinner can indicate much about a character, such as wealth, indulgence (or lack thereof because of health, sickness, or poverty), usually you can skip it.
Even a scene set at a dinner party doesn’t need to include a full menu for the reader. If food is mentioned, paint a word picture, such as, “Margaret was so appalled by George’s revelation that she dropped her silver soup spoon in her lobster bisque, splashing her white silk evening dress.”
Waiting isn’t fun in real life, or in a book.
In real life, everyone has to wait. But readers don’t necessarily want to wait with characters. Note that if characters are waiting, something must happen during the wait to move the story. Characters shouldn’t twiddle their thumbs.
Overcome the Urge to Begin Too Soon
As an author, you may want to get to know your characters by going with them somewhere mundane. They can think about what to eat, what to drink, what to watch on TV. That’s fine. Go ahead and write the scene. Write as many pages as you like.
THEN write the inciting incident. Why is she there? Put her right where she needs to be, even if it’s the next day. Even if it’s the next week.
Your story starts there.
The story’s stage is still and dark
and the curtain’s drawn.
Every actor knows his mark, and knows when to go on.
Patient waits the lighting crew,
and musicians in the pit;
they all know just what to do
when called to do their bit.
And now a rumble of the drums,
and now the veil begins to lift,
and very soon the answer comes,
that the author has a gift,
when before one word is spoken,
the spell is cast, intrigue awoken.
So good! The “skip breakfast” advice made me smile — and wince a little. 😂 It’s amazing how often we start too early because we need the backstory. Thank you for the practical nudge to begin where the story truly starts. That allows the motivation of the backstory to come out as the story moves forward
Thanks, Tamela.
I remember learning The Hero’s Journey, which tells us to start in the main character’s “normal world.” I think this is what makes us give too much info (like breakfast or dinner) in the beginning.
I think the normal world can be just one sentence. Not most of the time, but it can be done.
I also think it depends on the genre. Fantasy tends to lend itself to more details than most genres, although readers are so used to stories moving quickly, we fantasy authors don’t have all the words to play with as we’d like. 😉
Where to begin is always the dilemma. Don’t be afraid to delete several pages of your opening chapter once you find the real opening line.