Last week, I posted here about a couple of cliché methods to start a story that can be real turnoffs to readers — especially if your first reader is a literary agent or acquiring editor at a publishing house.
As I say repeatedly, fiction is creative writing, and there aren’t many actual rules. There are techniques that generally work better than others.
But there are two hard-and-fast rules:
Don’t bore the reader
Don’t confuse the reader
The easiest place to bore or confuse a reader is on page one, and then you’ve lost them.
But what are some better ways to start a story?
There are numerous methods, and this is supposed to be a short post, not an all-encompassing manifesto, so let’s discuss a couple of excellent options.
In medias res
That’s Latin for 'in the middle of things.’ You can start almost immediately with the inciting event that kicks the plot into gear. Maybe it’s a crime novel with a dead body on page one, the detective examining the scene, discovering…
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to A Writer's Block: Robb Grindstaff to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.