And stop feeding that damned cat.

[ShelbyDawn57]

"And stop feeding that damned cat." My uncle Vic shouted as I tossed my filthy apron in the laundry bin and took my sandwich upstairs.

===

This is the opening to one of my stories. It's pretty immersive right off the bat. Boom, the reader is right in the middle of something...

It got me thinking about the many ways there are to introduce a story and that got me thinking that all the great minds that visit this little corner of the intenetrwebs might just have some ideas to share and some discussion might ensue that could be useful to all of us.

So, Go. How do you begin your stories? What's your favorite method? What makes you choose one over another?

 

[BobbyLaker]

@ShelbyDawn57 I like the example you present... straight in... no messing about.

I'm also a fan of early profanity use to set the tone.

 

[MillieDynamite]

The first lines from an as-yet-unfinished manuscript. This is probably for next year's Crime and Punishment Event.

When I was 12 years old, I killed a boy four years older than me. I used a jump rope and choked him to death, riding on his back, with my knees dug in, hanging there, and twisting the cord tight. Not going to lie; killing him was enjoyable. Unfortunately, I attacked and killed him in front of stunned kids on the playground right after school let out, with a hapless teacher screaming for me to stop.

 

[MrPixel]

Interesting... I've used the middle-of-a-conversation cold open only a couple of times, yet I really like the feel of it. Especially the tension it creates, in a "what did I just walk into?" way. However, what I've usually done is set the stage either in a preface as a set-aside, or two or three opening paragraphs with a short background.

Memo to self - more dialog at the front, push the stage-setting further down into the story.

 

[Candy_Kane54]

"It was a dark and stormy night."

It's short and to the point and sets the mood.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

Interesting... I've used the middle-of-a-conversation cold open only a couple of times, yet I really like the feel of it. Especially the tension it creates, in a "what did I just walk into?" way. However, what I've usually done is set the stage either in a preface as a set-aside, or two or three opening paragraphs with a short background.

Memo to self - more dialog at the front, push the stage-setting further down into the story.

Yup. Stage setting begins in the next line.

I'm just interested in what other writers do to 'set the hook' in their stories.

Doing it like this, I think I get them for at least a page or two. I just need to make the stage setting and beginning of the rising action interesting enough to keep them around after that, but that's another discussion.

 

[StillStunned]

So, Go. How do you begin your stories? What's your favorite method? What makes you choose one over another?

I use all kinds of approaches, but one I've used for my sword & sorcery stories is to start wide and narrow it down: a description of a castle or a desolate plain, perhaps a little history or background, and then zoom in until the characters are introduced, arriving at the castle or travelling across the plain. This works well with the close third person.

Usually this is only a few lines, but Chapter 4 of the Rivals (The Black Tomb) begins with more than 600 words of setting the scene and introducing one of the main characters from a bystander's point of view.

 

[SimonDoom]

I generally like the approach of jumping into the scene right away, either with a sentence that describes somebody doing something or with a line of dialogue. I think it's usually best when the sentence, whatever it is, sets up something that is to happen next.

For example:

"How do you like it?" she asked, her hand tightly gripping my erect cock.

This line plunges us into an erotic scene, and it poses a question that we want an answer to, so we keep reading.

This might be jumping in a bit too quickly for some tastes. Some people want more warm up before getting to the sexy action. But even with a more subtle approach there are a lot of ways right off the bat to set up or foreshadow what's going to happen. I think the first paragraph of the story should be related to what happens in the story.

 

[joy_of_cooking]

The first lines from an as-yet-unfinished manuscript. This is probably for next year's Crime and Punishment Event.

Well, I want to read the next paragraph!

 

[joy_of_cooking]

Thanks for asking the question, @ShelbyDawn57 . I'm already learning stuff from the few replies I've read so far, and I'll be watching the thread for more. It's neat to see vague intuitions laid out so explicitly and clearly:

Especially the tension it creates, in a "what did I just walk into?" way.

start wide and narrow it down: a description of a castle or a desolate plain, perhaps a little history or background, and then zoom in until the characters are introduced, arriving at the castle or travelling across the plain. This works well with the close third person.

I think it's usually best when the sentence, whatever it is, sets up something that is to happen next.

 

[Euphony]

1. Surprise - doesn't have to earth shattering, prob shouldn't be in the grand scheme, but give 'em something to latch on to from the jump.
2. Feels - emotion is story engine. Don't red herring a feels for the hook. Make it pay off or it WILL come back to bite you HARD.
3. Character and goal - no infodumps or soiloques but hint at why we're here. Most stories I'm supposed to quantum leap into. A heads up for me Ziggy.
4. Specificity - grand theme to start isn't needed (or likely wanted) This isn't a thesis paper nor opening arguments. Tease us a little. Let us draw conclusions.
5. Conflict - can be good but, again, red herrings in hindsight as just a hooking attempt will get your reader leniency stabbed.
6. Sensical - shock and awe is a plus but always remember grounding. We don't need to know everything but a sense where on the spectrum of gravity or floating in space we are is body necessity. (establishing tone & expectations)

Openings are oppressively difficult but that makes the payoff unimaginably rewarding (and motivating.) I don't think there's a golden ratio of how much you need to revise the opening vs. body narrative but 10:1+ wouldn't surprise me in the least.

Openings are their own artform.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

Thanks for asking the question, @ShelbyDawn57 . I'm already learning stuff from the few replies I've read so far, and I'll be watching the thread for more. It's neat to see vague intuitions laid out so explicitly and clearly:

This is the kind of discussion I was hoping for, at least off the bat. I don't think there is a right or wrong answer, but the exchange of ideas is intriguing.


And, yes, I too am waiting with bated breath for @MillieDynamite's next paragraph, which of course mean she has published the story.

 

[Euphony]

"It was a dark and stormy night."

It's short and to the point and sets the mood.

With the caveat the weather report needs to forward the narrative and really the protags conflict.

There are a ton of stories where authors clearly feel a responsibility to weather reports and scenic surrounds b/c that's what they remember from lit in H.S.

Tastes and sensibilities have changed. Flowery language is a garnish but way too many are using it as a bulking agent.

 

[joy_of_cooking]

a sense where on the spectrum of gravity or floating in space we are is body necessity.

Sorry, what does this mean? I think you're saying, as a matter of pure syntax, it is a body necessity to know where we are on a spectrum that runs from gravity on one end to floating in space on the other. But the semantics of such a statement elude me.

 

[Euphony]

Sorry, what does this mean? I think you're saying, as a matter of pure syntax, it is a body necessity to know where we are on a spectrum that runs from gravity on one end to floating in space on the other. But the semantics of such a statement elude me.

I added context a second ago.

It's a tonal thing. The obvious consideration here @ Lit is stroke v. Reality but stories aren't always so easy.

Tone sets expectations and let's readers get a feel for where to dial in their suspension of disbelief.

Fast and the Furious is as legitimate as Remains of the Day but you really want to establish early the reality (or fudging) your world allows.

 

[Bramblethorn]

The opening depends on what expectations I want to set for the story. Usually I want to give readers some idea of what kind of story they're getting themselves into, while still baiting their curiosity.

Magnum Innominandum opens with an impersonal account of the disappearance of a young woman (who will be the protagonist), including the advertisement posted by her family while searching for her. That was convenient for establishing some info about her background, but most importantly for signalling that this story isn't going to have a happy ending for her. It's also curiosity-bait: why did she disappear?

Loss Function begins with a scene where the protagonist has just been to her wife Nadja's funeral, and is talking about it to an AI emulation of Nadja. Again, partly to signal a downer ending that I didn't want readers to be surprised by, partly to hook curiosity, but partly also because that scene encapsulated one of the themes of the story - having multiple versions of the same person. I guess also because Nadja's first appearance chronologically is as a badly-behaving bully, and I wanted readers to know that there's more to her than that.

Chronologically, Anjali's Red Scarf begins when Sarah is 23 and Anjali is 16, and then has seven years (about a chapter) of sexless interaction between the two before the smut kicks off. I began that one with a brief in medias res scene where 23-year-old Anjali tells 30-year-old Sarah "I'm thinking of becoming a kept woman" to reassure readers that the story is going somewhere, and also that it's not going to be an under-age story. Again, it's also bait: how does a nice young lady get to declaring something so incongruous, and how's "kept woman" going to work out for her?

The Floggings Will Continue is told in flashback, beginning with a brief post res scene that's partly meant to reassure readers that the protag comes through the story okay, partly to set up a vibe of everyday banality as a starting point before things go down the rabbit hole, and partly also to throw out some red herrings about just how things work out for the major characters to make that a bit more of a surprise than it might otherwise be.

Most of my others begin at the beginning because I had no reason not to.

 

[MillieDynamite]

I spent the next six years in a reformatory. After which, the Corporation recruited me. I’ve been killing for money since then. So, Mr. Accountant, killing you won’t cost me one minute of sleep.

Well, I want to read the next paragraph!

'er, you go.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

'er, you go.

And when can we expect the finished version of this little slice of fun and amorality?

 

[MillieDynamite]

Well, this has been turned into a 750-word story. I'm doing several Featuring my hit woman Ryann Payne, for the 750 contest now. They are excerpts from what will be the full story when, and if, I ever get it finished. So, you can expect to read those during the 750-word contest in February. If I don't use them in the full story, I'll release them for sale in a small collection sometime. It's all up in the air. Ryann was created years ago, had one wild adventure, and has been brewing in my mind ever since.

And when can we expect the finished version of this little slice of fun and amorality?

 

[Bazzle]

My latest smoking fetish story that is posted elsewhere but probably won't go up on lit starts like this "It's nearly six in the evening and my ashtray, plus the others scattered around the house, if you totted it up are now at least sixty-one butts deep. Each filter is stained almost beautifully dark brown."

Takes you right to where the protagonist is - yes on the way to some illness!

 

[onehitwanda]

I began that one with a brief in medias res scene where 23-year-old Anjali tells 30-year-old Sarah "I'm thinking of becoming a kept woman" t

I'm glad you posted Anjali's Red Scarf, because otherwise I was going to. It is still one of the best openings I've ever read and captured me hook, line and sinker.

 

[AchtungNight]

Ryann Payne sounds like someone you want as a friend rather than an enemy. If she’s the honorable John Wick type of assassin, she’s welcome as an ally of my ficverse heroes. Mental and physical health services available along with fun activities at the Garin-Ruiz Resort.

I usually begin with a title followed by an intro that reminds readers my stories are fiction, feedback is appreciated, and other important information. Then I look for a descriptive fun opening phrase or paragraph that fits my narrative. Exact theme and words vary by tale.

 

[MillieDynamite]

The first story is done. Is now in the hands of the editor and will be in the 750-word challenge.

Hitwoman Ryann Payne: The Mark

Ryann Payne sounds like someone you want as a friend rather than an enemy. If she’s the honorable John Wick type of assassin, she’s welcome as an ally of my ficverse heroes. Mental and physical health services available along with fun activities at the Garin-Ruiz Resort.

I usually begin with a title followed by an intro that reminds readers my stories are fiction, feedback is appreciated, and other important information. Then I look for a descriptive fun opening phrase or paragraph that fits my narrative. Exact theme and words vary by tale.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Yep, I'm a fan of in media res. Here are two of my openings:

It was the movement that first caught my eye.

That automatic sequence of movements done by muscle memory, repeatedly and without thinking, dexterous and complete - the red nail fingertips of her right hand, several silver rings on her fingers, flipping open the top of the box. One finger aligned the flipped up lid so the angle was right, then two fingers grasped the filter and pulled a cigarette out.

They could have been touching her clitoris, the movements so precise, the purpose so similarly exquisite.

I was three tables away with a direct line of sight.

"Adam," said Ruby, "that long cock of yours..."

Ruby let smoke trickle from her mouth as she spoke, curling grey ghosts around each word. She took another long drag of her cigarette, tilting her head to release the smoke up into the air. Whenever Ruby talked about sex when she smoked I knew she was horny, she was hot. It was part of her theatre; truly shameless, but she made no pretence about it. I played along.

 

[M_K_Babalon]

This is the opening to something I [shouldn't] have been working on

“My ladies continue to suffer, many have forgotten about me with the advent of those Abrahamic… faiths. Time passes and yes their lives have gotten better, yet… men continue to be a scourge… a bane on human progress. Hera had the right idea with Themescara, but it didn’t exactly solve all the problems. I’d like to help all womankind, but too many have rejected me and it’s all that bastards fault… him and those disciples, telling people I’m evil, what I stand for is evil. A strong woman is the enemy of men. If it wasn’t for sex, even the wretched menfolk wouldn’t exist and they even enjoy it well enough! Hypocrites is all they are! I need a refill!”

I have a tendency to open with conversation or action, it's easier and feels less cumbersome more often than a typical opener that sets a scene, like Snoopy's old reliable, that Candy Kane used.

Sure this sets a scene, but this is an action rather than the typical world/scene building, like I was getting at.

Zack, Darla and Hannah all are sitting in his living room after a long day at the diner, Zack and Hannah are rather tired, both worked more than they have in quite some time, both enjoying a cigarette. The relationship finally reached its first hurdle to complicate things, Hannah’s problem with Darla that traces back to her past, Zack’s concern about Hannah and Darla’s concern, although something seems to have taken more of a precedence over their current Hannah problem. Zack doesn’t want this to fall apart and he doesn’t realize he’s overreacting and hurting Hannah even more, who thinks she’s messing up as she’s been known to do. They sit waiting for the shoe to drop.

This is how the second book to my scifi romance opens. It picks up where the first one left off, but the first one opens the same, with a character doing something, which is the other common way I start.