Where to Begin

Sometimes a story doesn't start where you think it does. I've started stories at certain places only to realize that what I thought was the start of the story wasn't the real start.

There are many ways to begin a story. I tend to enjoy stories that start in the middle of something happening, then backtrack. A story that pulls you in from the get-go is one that you'll probably keep reading rather than one that drags along like a slug over gravel.

A book I read recently (Machine Without Horses) by Canadian author Helen Humphries starts this way:

She has never seen a fish before. She stands in the shallows of the river, the water tightening its wire of cold around her knees, while her father calls her name from shore. She bends instead to the pattern of ripples on the surface, to the flutter of the salmon below, drifting slowly past her feet like large, dark birds.

And here's one from the Pulitzer-winning Middlesex:

I was born twice: first, as a baby girl, on a remarkably smogless Detroit day in January of 1960; and then again, as a teenage boy, in an emergency room near Petoskey, Michigan, in August of 1974.

Both beginnings are mysterious. Each one, though very different, places the reader into the story. We're not bystanders but are part of the action as it's occurring.

No really, where to begin?

If you begin your book in the midst of a life-changing event, there's more chance that the author will wish to read on to pick up your trail of breadcrumbs. And all along the way, the reader will be asking, what's going on with the main character and why this, and this, and this? 

Sometimes beginning with describing a setting can get the plot started and incite interest in the reader.

Take as an example The Shining, where Jack is at the Overlook Hotel interviewing for a new job. But what seems to the reader like a fresh start for him and his family turns out to be anything but. Instead of giving the reader pages of exposition about his old life Stephen King starts the novel with Jack at the hotel and the reader is plunged into the story.

Another example is the YA thriller I Know What You Did Last Summer by Lois Duncan. In the first chapter of this book, Duncan goes right to the note that unravels the main characters’ lives: “The note was there, lying beside her plate when she came down to breakfast.”

The book starts with the readers asking: What is the note? Why does it matter? Where does it come from? Straight away the mood is set and the reader knows they're in for an eventful ride.

In the classic dystopian novel 1984, George Orwell’s first line reads: “It was a bright cold day in April, and all the clocks were striking thirteen.” Immediately, the reader knows that this is both a foreign (also unlucky) and familiar world. 

Revealing everything about the character at the very start can be tempting, yet having the first pages more action-driven will pull the reader into the story instead of losing them. You can always add some exposition later.

At the start of the novel, a few telling character traits can go a long way toward having a reader understand a character. 

What's my story?

A first draft is about you getting to know your story, your character, and your setting. It's the broad strokes of your story. Discovering the pace, the voice, getting a sense of what you wish to say and how you wish to say it. You've all written outlines and these can help to guide you, however, your outline will most likely change as you go deeper into your plot.

Sometimes, even if you have an outline, you don't actually get a sense of what the story wishes to be until you get down to the writing of it. Get it all down and don't worry too much about what it looks like. That also means not editing too much otherwise it's hard to move forward. Been there, done that. Not fun.

I've talked before about the two kinds of writers (and yes I know that there are actually many kinds of writers) pantsers and those who enjoy outlining and stick to the script no matter what. Many of us are in between these two categories. Especially when you're writing a first draft, there's a large amount of discovering what the story's about. After all, one of the most thrilling things about writing is the discovery process. If you know it all at the start where's the fun in it?

Discovery process

For a first draft, everything is up for grabs. You'll have lots of questions, most of which will be answered as you write. For instance, you may think that a certain character will be your protagonist, but then a secondary character overtakes the narrative. Whaa?? When that happens you'll need to reassess the story itself and decide whether you want to alter the overarching plot. I've gone through periods of writing where I kept pushing a certain character in the back only to be told by this character--through her very direct actions--that she was the star. Her voice was clear and she had an agenda, so I was forced to have another look at the story and make some changes to accommodate her.

If I look at the first draft of a book project compared to my eighth or ninth draft, there are some similarities in terms of the thrust of the story, however, many things are different. Usually, it's where I put the emphasis. In other words, what I decide is the real story, as sometimes the sub-plots become the primary ones.

This is part of the mystery and livingness of stories, and it's the reason why I put up with the more unpleasant parts. When I doubt I can write a particular book, I remind myself how extraordinarily important it is to tell our stories. 

Keep going

Especially if you've never written a book before it can be daunting on the first try. Many who are just beginning to write are anxious to publish right away. Though one of the wondrous and also annoying things about writing is that it takes time. It's a bit like going on a meditation retreat in that you can't rush it. I mean, of course, you have internal deadlines you're working toward and you have an idea of when you'd like to finish, and all that is worthwhile and extremely important.

Though there's also the hidden timeclock of writing fiction that is different than the deadlines we put on our creative works. As writers, we're constantly seesawing between the two, trying to appease the Writing Muse, while sticking to our writing goals as much as possible. It's a negotiation, a contract if you will that we enter into with our work and ourselves. 

Because a first draft is not easy and we doubt whether we'll ever finish, it's important to count the small wins as I said before, and recognize the progress we've made. Writers have finished novel projects just by writing a couple of hours per week. Then there are those who prefer to write one full day a week. While others may only have time to write early in the morning before the family wakes. Whatever schedule you set for yourself will be fine as long as you stick to some form of a schedule.

I've completed a book on transit while heading to an office in the early morning. I've written a book through the first draft of mostly dictation while driving through the mountains on Vancouver Island, and I've written in a root cellar in the Nevada desert, cottages in Tuscan olive groves, bus stops, cafes, restaurants, bathrooms, office cubicles, airplanes and airports, the woods... It's all good!

The most important thing to remember about writing is to enjoy the process. 

(Source below: "How to Write a First Draft." Reedsy YouTube channel. Oct 20, 2020. YouTube)